Ttwo of the controversial text messages were sent on December 10.
John Fish, CEO of Suffolk Construction Co., sent a first shot to Scott Bosworth, director of development for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, about a problem with the Oyster Harbors Bridge near the Oyster Harbors Club on Cape Cod.
Two and a half hours later, Bosworth texted Fish to assure him that he was trying to get an agency district engineer to address the bridge problem.
At the end of the day, Fish thanked Bosworth for his support on this issue. “You are a true friend.”
The next day, Bosworth texted Fish that he was “in a select committee meeting” about service bays, a reference to a potentially lucrative construction and concession contract to upgrade and operate Massachusetts’ 18 highway service bays. including 11 along the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Fish and Suffolk were looking to be designers for this work with a developer and concession operator.
Bosworth was a key player in the selection process, and his friendly exchanges with Suffolk would become a focal point of the project’s award process when the losing developer/concession operator tried to block the award.
The controversy touched on the widely recognized need in procurement of request for proposals, of which price alone does not decide the outcome. The idea is to prevent any competitor from gaining an advantage by having inside information about the selection process or undue support from officials involved in the selection.
MassDOT last summer awarded the contract to Suffolk partner Applegreen Ltd., based in Ireland, which beat out competing bidder Waltham-based Global Partners. In the following weeks, Global Partners filed a state court lawsuit against MassDOT seeking to overturn the award, based on dozens of messages between MassDOT and Applegreen and Suffolk during or near the time of the selection process, which were obtained as part of a Freedom of Information request.
Global Partners claimed the messages were evidence of a behind-the-scenes violation of state and MassDOT rules that strictly limit contact between competitors and contract selection officials or their staff.
In its lawsuit, Global Partners publicly accused MassDOT of having its thumb on the scale in favor of Applegreen and Suffolk.
The “inappropriate and prohibited” communication took place during the procurement process, Global Partners claimed in the state court lawsuit seeking to block the award. The company is asking the court to give it access to hundreds of additional documents and records from the hiring process.
Global Partners argued that its proposal, for relatively modest service bays, would save Massachusetts hundreds of millions of dollars, compared with Applegreen’s more elaborate designs.
The state transportation agency decided earlier this month to rebid the contract to rehabilitate the service bays after Applegreen pulled out of the project while negotiating with state officials.
John Fish, CEO of Suffolk Construction Co., has asked MassDOT to review the actions of Global Partners, which is disputing the awarding of highway service bay development contracts to the competing team that included Suffolk. Photo: Courtesy of Suffolk Constructon Co..
Bosworth, a longtime transportation expert who had also been employed as a development specialist for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, earned about $250,000 a year, according to openpayrolls.com. He has worked closely with Suffolk in recent years on the South Station project in Boston, on which Suffolk served as construction manager.
Suffolk: Tower Project Texts Concerned
Bosworth could not immediately be reached for comment, nor could Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials be reached to clarify his role with that agency and in the MassDOT selection process.
in early October, Suffolk had claimed that since Applegreen’s “unfortunate decision” to withdraw from the process, the contractor was no longer required to remain silent. Nothing was reported about service bays on the roads, the company said. Fish and other Suffolk employees had said the same in formal affidavits in which they also claimed that nothing of value had ever been offered to Bosworth. Global Partners had said it was looking for work in Suffolk.
Many of the key texts and emails cited by Global Partners were in fact about the South Station tower project and other matters, but not related to road service bays, Suffolk said.
No communication from Suffolk with MassDOT “violated any law or regulation as part of this RFP process,” the company said.
The Cape Cod Bridge
The contractor specifically pointed to the texts of the Cape Cod Bridge.
Suffolk and Fish staff had “engaged with MassDOT” related to “a bridge weight and maintenance issue” on behalf of the Oyster Harbors Club on Cape Cod. Suffolk stated that the CEO of Global Partners is a member of the club and knows the importance of the bridge. “For Global to act now, as they have for months, as if they don’t know the context around this issue, is both disingenuous and disappointing,” Suffolk said.
As for Suffolk’s contact with Bosworth, many of his messages offered him thoughts and support following “the tragic loss of his father and sister,” the company said. “To now twist this story to fit a manufactured narrative, as Global Partners has repeatedly done, represents a basic lack of common decency.”
Suffolk requested a new bid, which MassDOT later said it would pursue.
