Winning competitors for dozens of restaurant and store contracts at the Atlanta airport are expected to be revealed Wednesday, as the city takes a second shot at a massive revamp of concessions operations.
Millions of dollars in food, beverage and merchandise sales are at stake, covering more than 125 locations throughout Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The outcome will set the airport’s concessions lineup for years to come and could add new names such as Manuel’s Tavern and The Varsity.
Also at stake are the jobs of some 1,500 existing concessions workers, whose employers are competing for contracts to remain in place. The new contracts include concessions for the airport’s international terminal, slated to open next year.
A first round of proposals was tossed out in September after city officials said too many lacked required documentation. That would have significantly shrunk the pool of competitors, city officials said at the time.
On Wednesday, if all goes according to plan, the Atlanta City Council’s transportation committee will consider names of concessionaires the city recommends for approval after a second round of proposals. Concessions contracts are not on the committee agenda but can be presented as a so-called “walk-in paper.” Council members were to get a list of winners late Tuesday.
Winners are chosen by a panel of staffers from various city departments, who score applications and send them to the city’s procurement department. The city’s aviation department makes final recommendations to the City Council.
The full council must approve the list. Contracts usually run for at least seven years.
The scope of the contracts -- some of the largest the city has dispensed in years -- and the aborted first attempt has generated concerns about council oversight.
Council member Felicia A. Moore, a transportation committee member, said the period for scrutiny has been cut short because Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration did not deliver documents on the normal schedule. Normally, the City Council’s staff would have had 12 days to scrutinize the documents, she said, compared with less than 24 hours in this case, although the committee could choose to put off a vote.
“I have a problem with the fact that we have not even received the information,” Moore said Tuesday afternoon. “Even if they gave it to us today, I don’t like the process of them asking us to approve something we don’t have the information for.”
The re-do on proposals has raised fears that losing companies will sue the city, and that the planned spring opening of the international terminal will be delayed.
Several City Council members complained recently that the procurement department has stopped giving enough information about financial offers from companies competing for city contracts. Council members used to get more details of the offers before being asked to vote on them.
Earlier this year, Reed pledged to ensure that airport concessions procurement is conducted in a fair, honest, ethical and transparent manner.
“I am aware there have been concerns about procurement practices at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the past,” he said.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation in 2002 found that most airport contracts were awarded to close friends and campaign contributors of former mayors Maynard Jackson and Bill Campbell. Campbell eventually went to prison on federal charges of tax evasion.
This year, Atlanta struck a $3.9 million settlement in a long-running legal battle over an airport advertising contract. Atlanta businessman Billy Corey claimed the city and airport broke the law by steering a contract to a competitor with political connections, and a federal jury agreed. In the settlement, the city did not admit wrongdoing.
The international terminal was originally planned to open April 15. City officials now say they expect a spring opening but acknowledge the April date could be pushed back -- in part to give concessions winners time to set up shop after the protracted bid process.
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