New RFQ for Briscoe Field?

Gwinnett County’s consideration of initiating a new RFQ process for Briscoe demonstrates that thus far the county may have mismanaged the process.  Whether this mismanagement was intentional is unclear.  On July 8, 2010 Gwinnett opened the RFQ process, requiring companies interested in privatizing Briscoe to submit their qualifications by August 16th. 

One has to wonder why during the worst economic crisis in the past 80 years Gwinnett County opted to only leave the RFQ process open for five weeks for what is the largest and most controversial project ever considered by Gwinnett County Government.  Since Brett Smith, Propeller Investments had been pitching his plan to Gwinnett County for more than one year before the RFQ process began, was the brief RFQ window intended to give Propeller Investments an advantage in the RFQ process and subsequent RFP process?

If Gwinnett County does begin a new RFQ process for Briscoe privatization, parameters should be established and announced in advance to protect citizens and provide transparency to the process.  These parameters should require that companies submitting credentials should meet the minimum qualifications listed below:

1. Demonstrate that they have a profitable operating history for the past five years in the airport management business.
2. Be actively managing at least three airports of similar size to Briscoe or larger – size refers to aviation activity - takeoffs and landings.
3. Be the principle operator and not an LLC which represents or would bring in an operating member.
4. If the company is an LLC, all members of the LLC must be disclosed and identified in the initial RFQ application.
5. All company partners and LLC members must be US citizens or a US entity, no foreign entities.

Adopting and publishing parameters would be a begining in re-establishing citizen trust in government, as would listening to and involving citizens in significant decisions such as Briscoe Field expansion.