Tag: screw job

RKJ Construction Kicks deGraffenreid In The Nuts One Last Time For Elevator

RKJ Construction – the company in charge of the overpriced elevator for the Old City Hall project – apparently kicked Finley in his nut sack one last time on their way out the door. Jamming the City for $128,400 on a project initially bid at $119,532.

A quick recap of the elevator debacle:

  • The City sends out the elevator contract for bids WAY back in November 2016. Austin elevator is the lowest bid at $96,605 but our idiot former City councilman “Greasy” Chris Harrison moves to go with RKJ Construction at $119,532 [page 6] to ‘keep it local’.
  • The next time the elevator is mentioned in the minutes, it has somehow morphed to $125,508 [Jan 2018]. I never saw an explanation for this.
  • The Old City Hall renovation is held up for MONTHS because of the elevator.
  • Old City Hall project FINALLY done in November/December 2019
  • RKJ bills City $128,400 for elevator – FAR MORE than originally agreed to.

You’d think RKJ Construction would give the City a small break on price after (1) getting their bid accepted despite it being $30,000 HIGHER than the lowest bid and (2) screwing up so badly and delaying their entire project for months on end. You would be wrong.

In a final act of humiliation for Spinley, the City was billed a grand total of $128,400 for the elevator. A full $8,800 (7.5%) OVER their initial accepted bid of $119,532.

What was even more odd was they broke it into TWO separate checks: LAST month, the City cut a check (#153218 page 41) for RKJ for exactly $100,000 for the elevator. I thought to myself “how nice! They actually gave them a huge break on the price for being so incompetent and holding up the project for months on end”.

WRONG!

THIS month, the city cut ANOTHER check (#153799 on page 51) to RKJ for the elevator in the amount of $28,400.

I realize that being ripped-off for $8,800 is very small potatoes compared to the hundreds of thousands the City wastes annually, but Christ Finley – grow some balls and demand a few concessions from the clowns who couldn’t even get the thing done on time in the first place! You are supposed to pay LESS for incompetent work….not MORE. Absolutely pathetic.

Tyler Technologies, Incode Software and What REALLY Happened During Ransomware Attack – PART I

The City has been paying Tyler Technologies a tidy sum every year since at least 2014. Tyler provides Incode – which (as far as I can tell) is the software than runs all the utility payments for the city, among other things. Below are the amounts paid to Tyler since 2014 (as far back as I bothered to look – not sure how long they have been under contract):

  • 2014 – $33,939.65
  • 2015 – $35,540.42 (+4.70%)
  • 2016 – $37,984.99 (+6.87%)
  • 2017 – $39,820.80 (+4.83%)
  • 2018 – $41,762.43 (+4.87%)
  • 2019 – $43,816.63 (+4.92%) – this is AFTER Ransomware disaster!!
  • Average over five years: +5.82% per annum
  • 2020 – $45,693.33 (+4.28%)
  • 2021 – $47,463.11 (+3.9%)
  • 2022 – available next month…my guess is it’ll be over $50,000

I am really in the wrong business. Only as a government contractor can you raise your prices by 5.8% like clockwork every year and nobody bats an eye. It’s not like this software runs on gasoline and the price of fuel went up 6%….or there are parts made of silver that wear out and need to be replaced. No, it’s a string of code with no moving parts…they just raise it because they can.

MAYBE they raise it because they have to pay their tech support guys more and more every year. Those people who are on the other end of the line when the sh!t hits the fan and Monica/Kristy calls up in a panic asking them to “remote in” to fix the ransomware disaster they are sitting in the middle of. That must be it, right? I mean, for over $40,000 per year, you MUST get SOME kind of customer service, right??

Not exactly.

I requested internal City Hall emails of Monica, Kristy, Finley and Gary covering the period from Aug 15th through mid-September…during the August 16th ransomware disaster (which I estimate has cost the City roughly $40,000 in new computer equipment). Those emails do NOT paint a pretty picture when it comes to Tyler Technologies. Yet, the City STILL renewed their contract AND got bent over for a 5% increase!! Such amazing negotiators over there at City Hall. No wonder developers are flocking to Lampasas with their candy bags and departing with $100k each!

Up next – copies of internal emails during The Great Ransomware Disaster of August 16th.