State Controlling Board halts purchase of New Alcohol/Breath Testing Machines

I recently posted on how the State Controlling Board & board member Senator John Carey, a Republican from Jackson County, felt deceived and mislead by Strickland’s point man, Michael Dolan, of the Ohio Lotto and Keno gambling.

Again, Carey and the board are having issues with some of Strickland’s’ schleps.

At issue this time are the new breathalyzer machine’s to be purchased by the state. After the State Controlling board approved $6.4 million for the purchase of 700 breath testing machines, the wheels came off and the Controlling Board put the approval on hold...

"I'm not pointing fingers at anybody, but I think the process somehow got tangled and we need to get more answers," said board member Sen. John Carey, a Jackson County Republican, who asked that a final decision be delayed at least two more weeks.

The board took the unusual step of allowing more than an hour of testimony from the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the health department -- two agencies defending the out-of-state contract -- before unanimously agreeing to take up the issue again on Dec. 15.

Controlling Board President Joe Secrest said he could not recall when the board has pulled back on an item it had already approved, much less allow testimony from parties urging the board to approve an expenditure. (PD)

At issue is the company making the machines, CMI, Inc., of KY has long time ties with the official from the Ohio Public Safety & Health Dept. who wrote the criteria for the purchase. Out of 17 companies that tried for the no-bid contract – CMI, Inc. ended up being the only one qualified. Pretty much the same way Cuyahoga County did with the questionable purchase of E.S. & S. voting machines earlier this year.

Also a concern is information uncovered by the Plain Dealer showing the accuracy of the Intoxilyzer 8000 is being challenged in thousands of drunk driving cases in the states of FL, AZ & MN. The company refuses to cooperate in any of these proceedings and in some instances cases are being dismissed.

The PD points out that some other disturbing items were uncovered in this testimony...

It was also revealed Monday that the state missed a deadline earlier this year for spending the money -- a three-year federal grant awarded in 2005 -- and nearly lost it.

Joshua Engel, chief legal counsel for the public safety department, acknowledged that the state had failed to spend the money within a time frame set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Public safety Director Henry Guzman asked the NHTSA to reinstate the funds and allow the state an extension until September 2009 to spend it, which was granted. Guzman told the NHTSA that he would have the machines approved, state-sanctioned and a few purchased by May -- which means the state is again behind schedule. (emphasis added)

That Strickland selected Guzman to be Public Safety Director in the first place was just mind-boggling.

This is the same Henry Guzman who was the blind mouse in charge of over-seeing minority participation on contracts for the Hopkins Airport Runway expansion. This project was wrought with mind-blowing incompetence and corruption. The project is currently under federal investigation for a wide range of minority contract violations.

In May of this year, the selection of Guzman as Public Safety Director proved to be questionable when he had the whole Ohio State Highway Patrol in disarray...

A scandal has erupted in the Ohio State Highway Patrol and it may have a lot to do with Public Safety Director, Henry Guzman and some backroom political maneuvering. Word has it that Guzman has created complete chaos in his department. More...

And yet once again - Guzman - is in the center of another fiasco. I would say this calls for a promotion of some sort - don't you Gov. Slickland?