Tandem Motion COVID-19 contract should be canceled
In a press release sent to Alaska newspapers Friday, Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka claims there have been “questions and misinformation” about the Tandem Motion contract I have been reporting on for the past few weeks.
This misleading press release, already published without fact checking by the Juneau Empire, is reprinted at the bottom of this column.
On Facebook, Tshibaka claimed that I am a “fake news” blogger, a “flogger.” She suggests that I have not been truthful. She is free to say anything she wants.
I stand by what I have written. If she has found any errors in my reporting, she can identify them and I will correct the record. She has failed to provide specifics.
I intend to keep writing about this contract because all signs point to an abuse of the state procurement process. The contract should be canceled.
Her press release has created more questions and it contains a good deal of misinformation.
Tshibaka did not mention the obvious steps that she, DEC Commissioner Jason Brune, and others in the administration department took to help steer the contract to Tandem Motion. She also doesn’t mention the unfair labor practice charge against the state.
Or the conflicting stories she has offered about the work Tandem Motion did last year.
On July 27, three days after the state published a request for proposals that cut the normal competitive period by half, Tshibaka wrote on state letterhead that “I highly recommend Cara Griffith and Tandem Motion for complex work involving preparing personnel, supervisors, and leadership for managing performance, improving outcomes, and recruiting and retaining high performers.”
Everyone involved in this contract knew where the commissioner stood. Her letter and five others on state letterhead became part of the Tandem Motion offer for the Pandemic Preparedness Plan.
Here are some quotes from Tshibaka’s press release in italics, followed by my comments or questions:
“In phase 1 of the PPP, departments’ operations were assessed and analyzed to learn how tasks, services and business processes can be modified to allow quality performance in a telework environment.” Where is the Phase 1 report? Is it actually this work that was done before the pandemic? In an Aug. 3 email, Kate Sheehan, director of personnel, wrote, “I don’t believe there was a Phase 1.” On Aug. 13, the deputy personnel director said Alvarez & Marsal did Phase 1. Where is the report?
“We had several bids, but none from an Alaskan company.” There were three bids. One of them was deemed unresponsive. At first, Tshibaka provided five-and-a-half business days for bidders to respond to a complicated RFP. And only one business day to evaluate the results.
“We kept the minimum qualifications broad to maximize competition, we extended the deadline for bids, and in our request for proposals we specified prior experience working in Alaska was preferred, but not required.” Tshibaka “extended the deadline for bids” by two days after a complaint from a potential bidder, allowing seven-and-a-half working days to respond. That deadline prevented others from bidding. The bids were evaluated in one day.
“For this particular contract, DOA does not anticipate spending more than $4 million total.” The contract, signed Aug. 14, is for $4.5 million for six months, with two options for renewal, a total of $16.8 million. The state refused to confirm signing the contract until Aug. 24 or release details. Why?
. “While Tandem Motion was incorporated in 2019, the people comprising the company have more than the requisite number of years’ experience for this work.” The owners of Tandem Motion are Cara and Kurt Grififth. The RFP said the contractor had to have four years experience, not the owners of the LLC. Tandem Motion’s workforce includes several key people with limited experience.
Tshibaka wrote that the workforce arranged by Tandem Motion includes, ”the former head of operations and HR for an international corporation (who also happens to enjoy staying connected with her hometown community by serving as a barista when she visits home).” The former barista was head of operations and human resources at Elavo Supply from April to August. She was a freelance United Way consultant from January to May this year. She was a fulltime barista from July 2018 to July 2019. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College in 2018 and a master’s degree this year. She is listed at an hourly rate of $350 an hour, for a total of $358,400 for six months.
“This work requires a deep level of highly specialized education and experience, separate from work performed by current state employees. Phase 2 has to be completed by the end of 2020 and it would take a minimum of 6-12 months to train State employees on how to perform this work.” Tshibaka failed to list one skill that it would take 6-12 months for any existing state employee to learn. The work has to be done by December only because the state is using COVID-19 bailout funds from the federal government.
This is Tshibaka’s press release:
To ensure worker safety and maximize continuity of government operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Dunleavy asked the Department of Administration to implement a Pandemic Preparedness Plan (PPP). Using federal COVID funding, the PPP improves telework capabilities for public employees to enable compliance with COVID-19 health precautions and continue service delivery.Approximately 40% of the State workforce has teleworked during COVID; with the implementation of PPP, the State hopes more employees will be able to do so.In phase 1 of the PPP, departments’ operations were assessed and analyzed to learn how tasks, services and business processes can be modified to allow quality performance in a telework environment.
The second phase of PPP focuses on providing departments and supervisors the support and tools they need to best manage a significant number of teleworking employees, and to lead and support development of employees in a rapidly changing pandemic-affected workplace setting. Revising our personnel management tools and system are necessary upgrades to the State telework infrastructure in order to ensure worker safety.
There have been some questions and misinformation about the contract for PPP Phase 2. So let’s talk straight: We had several bids, but none from an Alaskan company. We kept the minimum qualifications broad to maximize competition, we extended the deadline for bids, and in our request for proposals we specified prior experience working in Alaska was preferred, but not required.
The company that won the contract, Tandem Motion, was the lowest bidder. It is staffed by HR specialists with advanced degrees. While Tandem Motion was incorporated in 2019, the people comprising the company have more than the requisite number of years’ experience for this work. The project leaders include a former Accenture consultant, Board Certified Organizational Psychologists, Directors at the Center for Organizational Research, owners of a 45-year old business management firm, an organizational strategy consultant who served for 25 years as CEO for a global engineering, manufacturing, and distribution company, and the former head of operations and HR for an international corporation (who also happens to enjoy staying connected with her hometown community by serving as a barista when she visits home).
This work requires a deep level of highly specialized education and experience, separate from work performed by current state employees. Phase 2 has to be completed by the end of 2020 and it would take a minimum of 6-12 months to train State employees on how to perform this work. An employee would have to stop performing all other work in order to master the training and then accomplish Phase 2 tasks. If we hired new State employees to perform this work, we would have to lay them off 4 months later when this project is completed. Instead, we are using the subject matter experts with whom we contracted to train and develop State of Alaska employees in comprehensive workforce management strategies.
Because technology tools are critical to successful telework arrangements, future phases of the PPP focus on implementing enabling technology to significantly advance efforts to permit even greater remote connectivity, collaboration, and digitization of tasks and services.
The State is working swiftly and diligently to supply employees with the ability to telework efficiently and effectively. Similar to other contracts, once the work begins, there may be components of the contract that need to be added, further defined, reduced, or removed from the original scope. This is a standard part of DOA’s process in procurement discipline for every contract. For this particular contract, DOA does not anticipate spending more than $4 million total.
The PPP is time-critical; employee safety and continuity of government operations are imperative during the COVID-19 pandemic. The State is working as quickly as possible, and following all procurement code regulations, to make sure its employees continue to be well cared for during these uncertain times.
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