UNM President denies Pit bid-rigging allegations

UNM President David Schmidly denied any wrongdoing in deciding to award an Oklahoma-based contractor a $60 million contract to renovate The Pit.

In his first week back as university president after a semester-long medical leave, Schmidly is embattled in a lawsuit that alleges the bidding process was rigged to favor contractor Flintco, despite a lower bid submitted by a local contractor.

“I have no special relationship with Flintco,” he said. “I had nothing to do with the scoring of those proposals or the awarding of that contract.”

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of several state construction unions, alleges otherwise, stating Schmidly has had a relationship with Flintco since 2002.

“Flintco used its crony relationship with UNM’s President David Schmidly from his years in Oklahoma to displace the legitimate winner, The Jaynes Companies,” the lawsuit states.

A 100-point system was used in the selection of the contractor and the lawsuit says that Jaynes initially won, receiving 80.4 points, compared to Flintco’s 62. Jaynes also underbid Flintco by $2.2 million, but after alterations, the lawsuit alleges, Flintco won the contract.

Ray Baca, New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council executive director, said his group submitted records requests to get the evidence.

At a news conference last Thursday, Baca pointed out eraser burns on both companies score cards.

The plaintiff’s attorney, John Wertheim, said five people, four of whom work for the University, including Athletics Director Paul Krebs, were part of the evaluation team responsible for rating the companies.

Although he is uncertain about who altered the score sheets, he said the group reported directly to Schmidly and that all four sheets belonging to the University employees were tampered with.

“What is very clear is that the rating sheet, the scores for the award of the Pit renovation contract, were manipulated,” Wertheim said. “There are scratch-outs. There is writing in new numbers.”
The fifth score sheet, filled by a person who works with the architect, showed no signs of alteration.

The lawsuit also points to Flintco’s hiring of Schmidly’s son, Brian Schmidly, calling it a “quid pro quo,” basically a favor for a favor, in return for winning The Pit contract.
Schmidly said those allegations bother him the most, because they are personal attacks against his family.

Baca said a New Mexico company lost out on a high-paying contract because of corruption.

“This is a situation of right versus wrong,” he said.
The lawsuit was filed under the New Mexico Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, which allows plaintiffs to sue on behalf of the state, Wertheim said. The group is not seeking a specific amount but can be awarded up to three times the amount lost.

“We simply want to get to the bottom of this, to make sure the taxpayers and the University are able to recover the $2.2 million they’re owed,” Baca said.

Schmidly said the University will review each allegation before any action is taken.

“We still have our lawyers looking at them,” he said. “My first concern has to remain with the University, and the University is at least indirectly implicated in this, and so I have to be concerned about protecting the interest of the University.”