The Hollister School District Board of Education awarded a
5-year, $3.9 million contract to Tiffany Motor Company of Hollister
to transport students to and from school. Tiffany submitted a bid
that was $89,000 lower, per year, than Durham Services of Campbell,
the only other company to bid on the contract.
Hollister – The Hollister School District Board of Education awarded a 5-year, $3.9 million contract to Tiffany Motor Company of Hollister to transport students to and from school. Tiffany submitted a bid that was $89,000 lower, per year, than Durham Services of Campbell, the only other company to bid on the contract.
Despite gasoline prices soaring to record highs, Tiffany’s bid for next year was approximately $23,000 lower than the 2004-2005 contract they performed last year.
Owner Bob Tiffany said his company maintains a very good working relationship with the Hollister School District and has been doing business with the district for more than 50 years.
“I can’t think of anything more important than getting kids to school safely,” Tiffany said.
Tiffany said his bid was approximately 10 percent less than Durham Service’s bid.
“I decided that I was going to be very aggressive in that last go around,” Tiffany said. “I was going to do everything I could to get the bid.”
Bidding for the contract began last year in February. At that time, Tiffany and the Gilroy Unified School District submitted bids, but the Hollister School District rejected both bids because of inconsistencies in its bid request.
When a new round of bidding began in May, the GUSD decided not to bid despite having previously submitted the most competitive bid. It’s original bid was less than Tiffany’s original bid. After the rejection, GUSD withdrew from the bidding process because they believed that HSD was not interested in their services, GUSD Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services Steve Brinkman told the Free Lance in May.
Hollister School District Superintendent Judith Barranti said GUSD’s bid raised a number of legal questions and prompted the HSD to revise their bid packets.
Barranti was advised by the school district’s attorney not to contract with GUSD.
“We were informed by our attorney that we would have been entering into an illegal contract,” Barranti said.
In the second round of bidding, Tiffany Motor Company submitted a much lower bid, Tiffany said, because its first bid had already been released to the public and would be known to his competitors. Tiffany said that Durham Services’ bid came in about where Tiffany had bid in February.
“We substantially beat them,” Tiffany said. “I’m proud of the fact that we won the bid.”
Tiffany said having a well-known company provide transportation was most important to the parent’s of children at the Hollister School District.
“It’s very positive to see that a local company can compete competitively with a big out-of-town company,” Tiffany said.
Although Tiffany’s second bid was much lower than his first, he said that level and quality of service or safety that his company provides will not be reduced.
“We have an outstanding safety record,” Tiffany said. “In fact, we have an almost perfect safety record.”
“The Hollister School District has had a good working relationship with Tiffany Transportation for many, many years” Hollister School District Superintendent Judith Barranti wrote in an e-mail to the Free Lance. “They have provided reliable and cost competitive services for our district.”
Although Barranti never looked at the bid packet submitted by Tiffany, the bid was examined by the school’s attorney, Meredith Brown, and Technology and Information Services Coordinator C.R. Roger.
C.R. Roger declined to comment, but said that he had examined the bid packet and contract, but no longer had a copy of it.
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com.
