View Thompson's Letter on City Snapple Deal

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today urged the Department of Education (DoE) and the New York City Marketing Development Corporation (NYC Marketing) to cancel two agreements with Snapple to serve as the Department's and City's exclusive beverage vendor, citing "clear" conflict-of-interest concerns and charging that the pacts were awarded without "open and fair competition." Thompson delivered a letter expressing his reservations to New York City Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo this morning. The following are excerpts from Comptroller Thompson's letter to Cardozo:

"Given the failure of both the Department of Education and NYC Marketing to follow the most basic tenets of public bidding, the DoE should cancel both its marketing and beverage agreements, and the City should begin a truly competitive process that will ensure that we are entering into the best deal on behalf of the people of the City of New York."

"The fact that the Department of Education, a $12 billion a year entity, has the ability to enter into the contract … without public scrutiny raises serious questions about the Department's governance controls and accountability."

"The scope of the proposed agreement between Snapple and NYC Marketing goes far beyond anything made public to date raising the question that the City may not have received as large an economic benefit as it should have. The fact that the scope of the deal was significantly expanded without complete and consistent information to all potential bidders is extremely troubling."

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