Resurrecting Invest Medicine Hat (IMH) - Can it Be Done?
The above is a pin that was created during the summer of 2021 during the IMH RFP (Request For Proposal) fiasco by none other than my boss, Tall Bike Tommy. A few of us City Council candidates scooped one up, one of us was successful in getting elected.
Our new City Manager (CM) Ann Mitchell has decided to ask Council to direct administration to start recruiting to fill positions at Invest Medicine Hat immediately. Council supported this at the March 20 Council Meeting. Unfortunately the IMH/Orka debacle in the summer of 2021 has left a very bad taste in many mouths. (IMH has pulled some rather shifty stuff before, more on that later.)
They still have to figure out how the New IMH will be organized but they’re going to start the hiring process. That could take a while, it took them a long time to figure out what they wanted in a City Manager before they actually posted the job and started the search.
The New IMH will be under the direct control of the City Manager. Of course IMH was under the direct control of the City Manager (Bob Nicolay at that time) before. Unless CM Mitchell has a way to overcome the past performance and the perception of underhanded dealings this will be a hard sell; a rebranding may be necessary.
I cannot see the public supporting this if any of the Orka Six are involved in the New IMH in any way, shape or form.
Timeline
Feb 23 2021 Six IMH employees formed an incorporated company called Orka Management Group Inc.
Jason Melhoff – Orka Partner/ IMH Managing Director
Eric Van Enk – Orka Partner/ IMH Director of Investments and Strategic Planning
Chris Perret – Orka Partner/ IMH Director of Land Development and Real Estate
Kelli Ireland – Orka Marketing/ IMH Marketing Specialist
Jan Sookocheff - Orka Business Development/ IMH Economic Recovery Officer
Dayna Felesky – Orka Human Resource Officer/IMH Economic Development Officer
June 15 2021 RFP quietly issued for a what amounted to a 30 year contract. (An initial 10 years with an option to renew it twice, 10 years at a time.) That length of time merits an announcement especially since the Orka Six had a
four month head start.
Questionable changes to the standard RFP conditions include:
- changing the standard RFP to allow current COMH employees to bid
- changing the definition of Conflict of Interest
- changing who gets to decide what a conflict is, giving that SOLE power to the CAO/City Manager
- grammatical and formatting errors in the altered RFP document
BONUS - the entire Value Added section which prompted the union to file a grievance regarding the possible contracting out of union jobs.
July 19 2021 Bid Close Date allowed a mere 34 days for submissions. There were 18 Bid Takers but only one bid was submitted. After seeing the alterations to the standard RFP, why would anyone bother to make a bid? The fix appeared to be in, the Orka Six had a four month head start. There was a large public outcry, especially since Orka was the only bidder.
Jul 23 2021 Orka withdrew their bid, 4 days after the bid closing date.
Jan 9 2023 Orka appears to have been struck off the register.
Did You Know?
The City has since changed the policy so that a bid
cannot be withdrawn after the closing date has passed.
Did You Know?
City Council approved a new Conflict of Interest Policy February 6 2023.
I’ve no reason to believe our new City Manager will be anything but ethical, I’ve not found out anything negative. She may very well be the one to restore a sense of ethics to our City Hall.
To restore confidence, nothing like the IMH RFP fiasco can happen again. The CM can start by shutting the Orka Six out of any IMH resurrection.
When people show you who they are, believe them.
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