Originally published Sept. 18, 2019
By Beth Kassab and Jason Garcia
The board that controls Orlando International Airport backed down Wednesday from a plan to give no-bid contracts to new lawyers after Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings pleaded with the other five members to “fix this.”
The seven members of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority scrapped a controversial proposal approved last month to name a pair of law firms to serve as co-general counsel for the next six months. Instead, they agreed to solicit proposals from any law firms interested in the temporary job, with plans to pick the new lawyers in November.
“I do believe the process was flawed,” Demings said.
He and Dyer were on the losing end of a surprise, 5-2 vote on the matter in August that prompted Demings to question whether other board members had engaged in “inappropriate” conversations.
But on Wednesday the board cast two unanimous votes — one for a new process to hire the temporary attorneys and a second to form a committee to recommend how the permanent job will be staffed as well as look into “best practices” for concessions and procurement.
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