Update: Local Lotto Partner Doesn’t Sound Very Local
Remember the messy way the D.C. Council awarded the city's lucrative lottery contract? Long story short: the council and then-Mayor Adrian Fenty fought over who the local partner on the deal would be. Fenty lost, then-Council Chairman Vince Gray won, and the local partner wound up being Veteran Services Corp., a little-known company formed by Emmanuel Bailey in the summer of 2009, which now has a 51 percent equity stake in the $38 million lotto deal.
Including a local partner in the lottery deal was the price of admission for Intralot, the Greek gaming giant that won the contract. But plenty of questions have been raised about just how much (or how little) VSC was vetted. The Washington Times did a lot of legwork last summer in uncovering VSC's spotty background.
Now Marie Drissel, the city's most vocal opponent of the District's plan to legalize online gambling, has unearthed a city document that raises more questions about the local company. The document is a site visit report by two city employees who visited VSC's listed address in August 2009 to make sure they were eligible to be certified as a local business, or in city-speak, a CBE. VSC's "office" was in Barbara Bailey's family room in her home on Mississippi Avenue SE. (Barbara Bailey is a former city government employee who reportedly worked with Gray back in the '90s; she's also Emmanuel Bailey's mother and is currently listed as VSC's chairman.) VSC's entire office consisted of two computers, two desks, a printer, and two chairs in Barbara Bailey's family room.
From the report:
Barbara explained that the two desks were utilized by her son Vernon (not present during site visit) and herself. She displayed several stacks of paper in which she explained her ideas to achieve contract negotiations, motivational speaking and third party arbitration. Emmanuel added that Barbara was not very computer savvy.
Emmanuel Bailey told the city employees that "he primarily works from home (Burtonsville, MD) and in the field. He stated that he came into the office occasionally." Bailey could not be immediately reached for comment.
The employees note in their report that the CEO needed to "perform [his] managerial functions" at an office in the District before getting a CBE certification, and therefore, they couldn't certify VSC as a CBE. VSC must have been able to overcome the problem somehow (Bailey's currently listed as the COO, not CEO), because they are currently listed on the city's website as a CBE. Their address is still listed as Barbara Bailey's home.
It's worth asking whether this is the kind of "local" business that deserves special preference from District government when doling out contracts. CBEs can wind up winning District business even if they aren't the lowest bidder, because of the preference points they get from being a local company. But if a guy from Maryland can put a few computers in his mom's family room and call it a day, that's not only unfair to taxpayers, but to legitimate local companies as well.
Update:
LL and Emmanuel Bailey have been exchanging emails. "VSC made a prudent decision (as millions of small business have made and continue to make) to legally begin operations from its approved home offices," writes Bailey.
So then why put VSC's office in his mother's family room instead of his house in Maryland?
"As is standard business practice for large and small firms around the world, many firms locate their base of operations near their key customers. Why is this news?" Bailey writes, who also notes: "The Bailey family has resided in the District of Columbia for nearly 100 years."
He also says that the office space at his mother's house "is the entire first level of the property—larger than the typical home office. Importantly, none of the lottery operations business is conducted from this location." (In the above mentioned report, the city employees noted that the office/family room "was occupied with home furniture including [a] television, sectional sofa, family photo, and other personal items.")
LL also got a very angry call today from David Umansky, the spokesman for Chief Financial Officer Nat Gandhi whose job description also apparently applies to defending Bailey's company. Umamsky noted, as did Bailey, that the company formed between Intralot and Bailey that actually runs the lottery, called DC09, has offices on M Street SE and recently was recognized for employing a high percentage of D.C. residents.
That's great and all, but LL's still not sold that VSC was a "local" as the city says it was back in 2009.
12:37 pm
Yay Gray! More incompetent cronyism!
1:06 pm
But this is DC, where scamming is in the blood! Good thing our DC officials are so easy to hoodwink. Of course an office can be a few computers, desks and chairs in someone's living room. Even if the "owner" doesn't live there (except when he visits mommy).
What a joke.
1:11 pm
To be fair, it's apparent that the cronyism component of this contract was extremely competent.
Not sure a few stacks of paper and a few computers are worth 51% of $38 million per year, though. Is there an audit of expenses and deliverables in the works?
1:14 pm
The same Marie Drissell who had to resign in wake of her violating DC laws using our tax $ to cozy up to big business? I bet she has a financial interest in this. http://ocf.dc.gov/cfd/cfd.asp?_year=2002
1:45 pm
Wow. Character.Integrity.Leadership
Nice work, One-Term Vince. Can't wait to hear you take the fifth, or blame you staff for all of this.
2:40 pm
I hate to say I told you onecidiots so, but I did. Over and over and over. The lotto scam was well documented months before low information folks voted to make its chief architect (Gray) mayor.
Can't wait for his depo in Payne's case. Cronyism, contract steering, and political payoffs. That's what One City's about.
2:45 pm
I am still waiting for the usual cast of miscreants to come in here and some how make this a conversation about dog parks and race.
3:42 pm
I'm back. What did I miss? One City accomplish anything yet?
@TH, please credit me with the OneCitidiot phrase - I'm trademarking it!
3:48 pm
TH, I know you get GrayHardOns but you do realize that the Wpost reported that your maleloverfenty (no not drez) oversaw the districts habit of overpayments, contract extensions w/o proper competition and politicization of the process - don't you?
4:07 pm
God damnit, a day should not pass where Harry Thomas Jr. is not mentioned. So, Fuk you HTJ.
5:02 pm
What if she had 3 computers? Or 4? Or 10? What's the difference? How does that justify spending more public money on this obviously shitty contractor? The whole CBE program is crap. Time to flush it and replace it with something that doesn't ruin the government's ability to do its job, like, say, a grant program for local small businesses.
5:24 pm
Nah, Rake, you didn't miss much. The guy below you is still stalking me, doesn't yet realize Gray's the mayor, and keeps talking about Fenty. Guess that's his way of coping with one city's recidivist incompetence. Doesn't even realize I'm ignoring him.
Yes, you did indeed coin "OneCitidiot". Their ranks are thinning out.
8:13 pm
Interesting about DC09. In a press release last year, Intralot described the local partner this way:
INTRALOT is also pleased to announce our D.C. partnership with Veteran Services Corporation of Washington D.C. Veteran Services Corporation is led by its CEO, Emmanuel A. Baileyand its President of Gaming Division Rebecca Dirden Mattingly, who was the former Secretary of the Florida Lottery. They will add value to this project by applying their intimate knowledge of the local market. Our state-of-the-art products and exceptional services combined with their local knowledge and resources will make significant contributions to the future success of the Lottery.”
http://www.intralot.com/content/1509/intralot-wins-line-contract-washington-dc-13th-contract-11-jurisdictions-usa
11:15 pm
"Loose Lips is not convinced?"
How about you report, and we'll decide!?
When did the press become the deciders?
The press corps that covers the Wilson Building performs their job much...ummm...differently than the rest of journalism.
1:52 pm
Anoymous, I agree with you, the City Paper act like the judge and the juror. Get a life.
2:56 pm
Thanks Anon and deborah. Glad to see the Wilson building weighing in...
3:18 pm
Truth Hurts, I hardly call commenting on a subject AFTER you did - stalking.
And to show you how foolish you sound, how in the hell do you "ignore" someone by responding to what they said in another post?
It's like you denying that you stepped in dog's shyt AFTER you scrapped it from your shoe.
"I did NOT step in dog shyt, I just wiped dog shyt it from my shoe." Hunh?
But I didn't need to be convinced that you always read my posts anyway. It's a logical thing to do whether you respond or not. It's rather silly to suggest otherwise.
9:20 pm
Hey Rake, aka Blevins, see what I'm talking about? Is cyber stalking a criminal offense? Girlfriend's on the edge of her seat batting those eyes and hiking that skirt.
2:16 pm
I wonder why Vince "Shady Azz" Gray cannot be viewed within his own silo for severely lacking in integrity and sound leadership. Juxtaposing him to a defunct mayor (Fenty) is not smart, at all, particularly when Gray is the "bigger" of the two evils. And he's just one year in!
@TruthHurts -- I know what you mean by “stalking” as that has happened to me too, but I had to take out an online charge of kick azz to make that sick behavior cease and desist. In fact, I told the ignoramus that he or she is "an early stalker" in another post. What can you say when there is a wanna-be erudite on the loose perpetrating without realizing they're in a situation of dramatic irony. Like Cheers, “everybody knows your name.” But "girlfriend" hardly, I surmise "Down Low gay man" because of all the protrusions to homosexual musings about others where no proof is there as in like knows like. This is nothing more than "projection." When someone "is" a certain way, he or she will project that by calling out others he or she believes is that way as well. Projection is a dead giveaway! Ha ha ha ha…I must say I get some hellavu laughs from these forums.
Now, back to the article, yes, this contract was commenced when Vince Gray was chairman and dude drew blood from Fenty in a chopsocky match to ensure his deal with VSC didn’t go up in dragon smoke. Vince trusted the son of his decades-long pal girly, Barbara Bailey, to pay him as promised and on time to secure that lottery contract. Now look at him. Vince the Vampire has now been seized by the light of day. I wonder how much V. Gray has at stake in what would be a $20 mil takeaway for VSC. That would definitely afford him a “real” office, wouldn’t you say?
12:29 am
Yeah, it was all his repetive "nuthugger" pottymouth namecalling that caused me to cut him off months ago. Btw, I don't think my "girlfriend reference is inconsistent with down low analysis.
11:29 pm
I think this is all bull shit . this is what you call lack of bad writing. who ever did this article does not know what in the bloody hell sheor he is talking about . that is the reason this is a Piece of Shit news Paper and nobody can by it they have to get it for free . And please one more thing When ever you write about this come to me . and let let me know first nobody writes about this exept me people belive me even if i write shit that is not true or accuarate so you dont have the right to steal my story .