(12/31/13)

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM A.P.E.

And 2014 gets serious for A.P.E. almost right away: Monday, January 06!

The wheels of justice turn slowly, especially in a lawsuit against the City of New Orleans.  The comedian Thomas Lennon sarcastically tweeted yesterday that "Popeye's new slogan is 'Louisiana Fast' because nothing moves faster than stuff in Louisiana."

(12/20/13)

WHY IS A.P.E. SUING THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS OVER THE UNIFORM CONTRACT? The Prices (Part 2)

So last time we discussed the errors in the price calculation.  This time we will lay out something a little more relevant to you, the NOPD officer.

The bid asked for "Percentage Off" in each category.  This is a fairly straightforward calculation, but the contract "winner" chose to create a calculation called an "average percent off".  This is not what was asked for on the face of the bid.  More importantly, this "average percent off" nonsense meant that the prices the bidder was going to charge were obscured.  If 30% off of a category doesn't mean 30% off of all of the items in the catgory and the bid does not allow a place to put the price actually being charged "within the four corners of the bid" as the city attorney said in court, how does the city know what is being charged?  It didn't, and instead of disqualifying the bid because it didn't have prices on it, the city chose to ask what prices it was going to be charged.

For example, here is the "Trousers" section of the contract holder's bid:

(12/16/13)

WHY IS A.P.E. SUING THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS OVER THE UNIFORM CONTRACT?The Prices (Part 1)

When the city released the bid for uniforms, it split the bid into many different categories: Shirts, Pants, etc.  Within each category, there were several line items.  At the bottom of each category, there was a space for a subtotal (sum of all the line item prices); below that, a "PERCENTAGE OFF" space (to be applied to the previous prices); and finally, a "GRAND TOTAL" space to put the final sum of the prices the City would be charged on an invoice.  Below is a scan of the actual bid form.

(12/12/13)

QUESTION OF THE DAY REGARDING THE UNIFORM CONTRACT:

"How much longer do we have to deal with this vendor? I can't take it anymore."

This is a question we hear every day and one we just heard from an officer who waited weeks for uniforms, only to have them ruined by the staff attempting to make alterations.

(12/10/13)

WHAT DOES APE'S LAWSUIT MEAN ?

The lawsuit does not affect A.P.E.'s ability to serve NOPD officers.  We know- and many of you already know too- that if you need a uniform shirt, pant, hat, etc., the same day or even the same week or month you visit a store, A.P.E. is the place to go.  

THE A.P.E. BLOG

As many of you currently know, A.P.E. is engaged in a lawsuit with the city of New Orleans because we believe that the NOPD uniform contract was awarded incorrectly.  We believe that the current contract holder's bid contained errors that should have disqualified the bid, that participation by certain ownership parties should have disqualified the bid, and that after the uniform contract was awarded, the winner has failed to perform its duties and conform to the prices it bid.