Posts Tagged ‘D.C. Lottery’
New D.C. Lottery Bids: Woodson, Wiggins, Green Emerge as Local Partners
The new bids on the long controversial D.C. Lottery contract were due today at 2 p.m.; this is what LL has thus far been able to suss out.
Rhode Island-based GTECH, which ditched longtime partner Leonard Manning in May, has found a bevy of local partners with appeal across the local political spectrum. Long story short, their team has been meticulously constructed to ensure broad support on the D.C. Council, which derailed the last contract award.
From the Fenty axis, you have Darryl Wiggins. A local businessman, he's been a longtime political ally of Fenty's dating back to the his first council campaign. He also was a key member of Hizzoner's transition operation in 2006. He owns Document Managers, a business that's done a lot of business with District government and has experience in managing large tech enterprises, which is what running the lottery involves. (For further Fenty ties, his political guru, Tom Lindenfeld, has been hired by GTECH as a consultant.)
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D.C. Lottery Update: CAGE Is Out; Who’s With GTECH?
Two weeks from today, bids are due on the D.C. Lottery contract.
But who will step up?
The big question is: Which local business types will each of the three major global lottery equipment providers tap for a partnership? Tapping locals earns each company points in the procurement process and also helps grease the political skids.
Last month, LL ran down the possibility that Caribbean CAGE, an outfit backed by BET founder Bob Johnson and old D.C. politico Bob Washington, might pursue the potentially lucrative contract with big fish GTECH or Scientific Games.
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GTECH Splits With Longtime D.C. Lottery Partner
The parties behind Lottery Technology Enterprises, the firm that’s run the District’s lottery for more than 25 years, have split up, likely ending the chances for politically connected businessman P. Leonard Manning to continue his control over the city’s numbers games.
According to three sources with knowledge of the situation, lottery provider GTECH and Manning’s New Tech Games will not partner on a bid for the latest lottery contract, bids on which are due June 26. The decision ends a relationship between the companies that stretches back to the early 1980s, when Manning and GTECH together started the District’s first daily lotto game.
Bob Vincent, a GTECH spokesperson, confirms that his company is no longer committed to partnering with Manning et al. “We like and respect those folks,” he says, “but we are in fact looking at various options in respect to the upcoming bid.”
Manning did not respond to requests for comment.
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$144M Powerball Jackpot Claimed
That's what the Washington Post is reporting!
But we may never know who's claiming it, though we do know it's a couple:
An attorney finally got in touch with the lottery office this week to claim the winnings on behalf of his clients. Hernandez said the money will be handed over at 11 a.m. on Monday, but the lottery commission and the attorney are still wrangling with details about the handover.
"They physically may not come," Hernandez said. The attorney said his clients want to remain anonymous and are trying to have him claim the prize for them.
The part of LL that's all about transparency is outraged that someone can win a government lottery secretly. The part of LL that read this story is glad that they have that option.
W2I Protests New Lottery Contract Solicitation
Just in case you were wondering, this lottery contract business isn't going to get resolved anytime soon.
W2I, originally awarded the contract last year, has filed a protest to the rebid on the contract issued earlier this month. The upshot: The protest holds that a recent rebid should be halted, but for the time being, it will proceed, says David Umansky, spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
What brought us here? Long story short:
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Lottery Contract Vote Liveblog!
OK, the D.C. Council is about to take up an approval resolution on the W2I lottery contract---the last stand in a nine-month-long drama. If you have no idea what LL is talking about here, either read up or move on, 'cause there's a lot of backstory here.
Long story short: Mayor Adrian M. Fenty wants the meaure to pass because it saves a lot of money; much of the council doesn't want it to pass because of issues with one of the partners in the contract.
The vote will be close. The CW going in is that there's six solid votes for the contract---Evans, Cheh, Bowser, Wells, Catania, and Schwartz. Beyond that, it's hard to see where a decisive second vote would come from. Don't expect Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray to do Hizzoner many favors here, if for no other reason than the fact he won't want to hand Fenty two consecutive victories (after the Peter Nickles confirmation).
Procedurally, this will probably happen fast. Someone will likely move to retable---a motion which is not debatable. If it comes off the table, it'll mean the contract will probably pass---after a whole lot of bloviating.
Check here for updates.
4:10 P.M.: The lottery contract IS NOT APPROVED. Paging Scientific Games!
4:09 P.M.: Wasn't even as close as LL thought it would be. Even Tommy Wells votes against. Final tally is 5-8.
4:07 P.M.: Numbers, numbers, numbers. "I'm gonna vote no."
4:04 P.M.: As Gray prepares to call the roll, Marion Barry says, "Just a brief point here." Evans caught on mike: "What's that mean? We're about to vote..." Barry goes on to cite W2I's profit-and-loss statement to no particular effect.
