STATE OF FLORIDA DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS GIBBONS & COMPANY, INC., ) ) Petitioner, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 99-0697BID ) STATE OF FLORIDA, FLORIDA ) BOARD OF REGENTS, ) ) Respondent. ) ) and ) ) JAMES C. PIRIUS, ) PRINCIPAL OF JCP ASSOCIATES, ) ) Intervenor. ) __________________________________) RECOMMENDED ORDER Pursuant to notice, a hearing was conducted in this case pursuant to Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes, on June 8 through 11, 23, and 24, 1999; July 19, 1999; and August 2, 1999, in Tallahassee, Florida, before Stuart M. Lerner, a duly-designated Administrative Law Judge of the Division of Administrative Hearings. APPEARANCES For Petitioner: Sidney L. Matthew, Esquire Gorman & Matthew, P.A. 135 South Monroe Street, Suite 100 Tallahassee, Florida 32302 For Respondent: Morris Shelkofsky, Esquire Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General The Capitol, Plaza Level 01 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050 Gregg A. Gleason, General Counsel Florida Board of Regents 325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1950 For Intervenor: James C. Pirius, pro se Principal, JCP Associates 7910 West Boulevard Drive Alexandria, Virginia 22308 STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE Whether Petitioner's protest, challenging Respondent's decision to award to Intervenor, "pending a successful interview," the "Federal Relations Governmental Liaison" contract advertised in Request for Proposal 99-01, should be sustained? PRELIMINARY STATEMENT On February 16, 1999, Respondent referred to the Division of Administrative Hearings for the assignment of an Administrative Law Judge Petitioner's protest contesting Respondent's decision to award to Intervenor, "pending a successful interview," the "Federal Relations Governmental Liaison" contract advertised in Request for Proposal 99-01. On March 3, 1999, Respondent filed with the Division of Administrative Hearings a Motion to Relinquish Jurisdiction in which it advised that "[t]he parties ha[d] amicably settled the dispute set forth herein in DOAH Case No. 99-0697BID." That same day, the undersigned, who had been assigned to hear Petitioner's protest, issued an Order granting Respondent's motion, closing the file of the 2 Division of Administrative Hearings in this case, and returning the matter to Respondent for final disposition in accordance with Section 120.57(4), Florida Statutes. On March 31, 1999, Respondent referred the instant matter back to the Division of Administrative Hearings, requesting that the Division's file in this case be reopened inasmuch as the "parties ha[d] been unable to consummate a final agreed settlement." Thereafter, the undersigned issued a Notice of Hearing advising that the final hearing in this case would be held on June 8 though 11, 1999. On May 17, 1999, Intervenor filed a Petition for Leave to Intervene in the instant case. On May 27, 1999, the undersigned issued an Order granting Intervenor the intervenor status he had requested. As noted above, the final hearing in this case was held on June 8 through 11, 23 and 24, 1999, July 19, 1999, and August 2, 1999. The following witnesses testified at the hearing: Dr. Thomas C. Healy; Intervenor; Dr. Lynda Davis; Nancy Stepina; Clifford Gibbons; Sam Gibbons; Gordon Lightfoot; Dr. Raymond Bye, Jr.; Larry Williamson; Dr. Milton Morris; Susan Evans; Jeffrey Muir; Robert Mills; Dr. Daniel Holsenbeck; Carla Coleman; Janet Owen; Reginald Mitchell; Thomas Daffin; Lucy Hamilton; and Toni Moore. The following exhibits were offered and received into evidence at the hearing: Petitioner's Exhibits 1, 4A-4H, 6, 7, 9, 3 10E, 10F, 10I, 10J, 11, 26, 27, 44, 53-56, 65, 67-69, 74-79, and 81-91; Respondent's Exhibits 1-16, 18, 23-26, 28a-28c, 28e-28j, 31, and 35-38; and Intervenor's Exhibits 1 and 2A-2N. At the conclusion of the evidentiary portion of the final hearing, the undersigned, on the record, established a deadline (ten days from the date of the filing of the hearing transcript with the Division of Administrative Hearings) for the filing of proposed recommended orders. The Transcript of the hearing (which consists of 14 volumes) was filed with the Division of Administrative Hearings on August 16, 1999. On August 25, 1999, Petitioner filed a motion requesting that the parties be given a four-day extension of time (to August 30, 1999) to file their proposed recommended orders. A hearing on the motion was held by telephone conference call that same day. During the motion hearing, Petitioner and Respondent agreed to waive the requirement of Section 120.57(3), Florida Statutes, that the recommended order in this case be entered "within 30 days after the [final] hearing or within 30 days after the receipt of the [final] hearing transcript by the [A]dministrative [L]aw [J]udge, whichever is later." The undersigned was subsequently notified that Intervenor (who had not participated in the motion hearing) also agreed to such a 4 waiver. On August 26, 1999, the undersigned issued an Order granting Petitioner's Motion for Enlargement of Time, giving the parties until August 30, 1999, to file their proposed recommended orders. In his Order, the undersigned advised the parties that he would "make every reasonable effort to issue his recommended order no later than Monday, September 20, 1999." On August 30, 1999, Petitioner and Respondent timely filed their Proposed Recommended Orders. These post-hearing submittals have been carefully considered by the undersigned. To date, Intervenor has not filed any post- hearing submittal. FINDINGS OF FACT Gibbons and Company, Inc. 1. Gibbons and Company, Inc. (Petitioner) is a Washington, D.C.-based firm, 1/ which was incorporated in December of 1993, and whose primary business is advising clients on matters of public policy before the United States Congress, the White House, and federal agencies. It also provides advice and counsel to multinational businesses on market access around the globe. 2. Petitioner's President is Clifford Gibbons, who has been with the firm since its formation. 3. Its Chairman of the Board is Sam Gibbons, Clifford Gibbons' father. 5 4. Sam Gibbons joined the firm as its Chairman of the Board on January 4, 1997, 2/ after serving, with great distinction, for 34 years as a United States Congressman from Florida. 5. Sam Gibbons was an effective and influential member of Congress. He was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and head of the Florida delegation (which, with 23 members, is the fourth largest state delegation). 6. Before his election to Congress, he served ten years in the Florida Legislature (six years as a member of the Florida House of Representatives and four years as a member of the Florida Senate). 7. As a Florida legislator, he played a key role in the passage of legislation that created the University of South Florida, Florida Atlantic University, and the University of West Florida. James Pirius 8. James Pirius is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a double degree in political science and journalism. 9. After graduating from college, Mr. Pirius (who has a certificate to teach in the State of Illinois) taught eighth grade communications and social sciences for two years. 6 10. The following two years, he taught at the National College of Education in Evanston, Illinois. 11. In 1975, Mr. Pirius returned to Minnesota to become the Minnesota State Senate's Director of Public Information. 12. In 1977, Mr. Pirius went to work for Minnesota Congressman Bruce Vento as Congressman Vento's executive assistant. He was responsible for managing the Congressman's Washington, D.C. office (which was located in the House of Representative's Cannon Office Building). He remained in this position for four years. 13. After the United States Department of Education (U.S. DOE) was created, Mr. Pirius received a call from Richard Moe, Vice President Walter Mondale's chief of staff, who asked him (Mr. Pirius) to be on the team to "open up the Department of Education." 14. Mr. Pirius accepted the offer and became the Director of Legislative Policy at the U.S. DOE. As the Washington, D.C.-based Director of Legislative Policy, a position he held from 1981 to 1987, his primary duties involved lobbying education issues in the United States Congress. 3/ He was one of the agency's three key lobbyists on Capitol Hill. 4/ 15. Mr. Pirius left his position with the U.S. DOE to become the Washington, D.C./federal relations representative 7 for the Florida Department of Education (Florida DOE). He was hired by then Florida Commissioner of Education Betty Castor (who subsequently became the President of the University of South Florida). 16. Mr. Pirius was the Florida DOE Washington, D.C./federal relations representative from 1987 to 1995. For the first four years, he provided such representation as a state employee. From 1991 to 1995, he operated as a paid consultant. 17. After leaving the employ of the Florida DOE and becoming a paid consultant, Mr. Pirius was hired to become a Vice President of APCO Associates (APCO), a Washington, D.C. public affairs/governmental relations firm. Mr. Pirius headed the firm's education practice. APCO's Chief Executive Officer allowed Mr. Pirius to maintain his Florida DOE consultant contract "separate from [his] work at APCO." 18. Since 1995, Mr. Pirius has served (as a paid consultant) as the Washington, D.C./federal relations representative of the University of South Florida. Although he does have direct dealings with the President of the University, Betty Castor, his immediate supervisor is Kathleen Betancourt, the University of South Florida's Associate Vice President for Government Relations. 19. Mr. Pirius has also represented in Washington, D.C. (as a paid federal relations consultant) the Indiana 8 and Minnesota Departments of Education. The Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities has also been among his clients. 20. At present, Mr. Pirius is technically on leave of absence from APCO.