WE STARTED IT, RAN IT FOR 36 YEARS AND NOW THEY WANT TO GIVE OUR BUSINESS TO SOMEONE ELSE

 

What this about

In 1969 I went before the Austin Parks Board and made a two-page proposal for opening a canoe rental in Zilker Park. It was enthusiastically received, and in May of that year, we opened with 10 canoes. On the first day we rented two canoes. Keep in mind that this was our idea, and at the time Town Lake had no boat rentals of any kind, nor had there ever been a rental concession on Town Lake. We were by ourselves.

Dorothy and I gave up our weekends to keep the rental open, and while I worked at a State job, Dorothy rented canoes during the week while our young daughter played in the park. It took three years before we were finally able to afford to hire some relief. Over the next 36 years our fleet grew from 10 to 100.

 

During those 36 years we have endured many hardships. Our business has been washed away by floods six times, and there have been many years when it rained almost every weekend, we struggled to make the payroll and support our family.

But none of the natural disasters equal the threat we see now. We came in third in a bidding process, and now our business of 36 years is in danger. We were put in danger by a skewed bid evaluation process called "the matrix," a system that attempts to be objective, but is nevertheless subjective. Here's why.

The matrix scores you proposal like this:

Evaluation Factors = 100 points:

Business Organization = 15 points

Proposed Concession Business = 20 points

Project Plan = 30 points

Prior Experience = 10 points

Revenue to the city = 25 points

 

With this "matrix" the existing concessionaire is a sitting duck, and the longer he has been in business, the bigger target he becomes. This is because during the many years in business, he will try a number of things and reject those things that don't work. These will never make it into his bid because he knows his customer base.

So if the concessionaire is successful and has a good record with the City, how does a competitor create a bid which will win? Well, he takes his shot in the Proposed Concession Business and Project Plan area of the matrix, which equals 50 percent of the evaluation, and he has to be creative. He creates flights of fancy, improbable programs and, possibly insincere proposals, and hopes to hit a responsive chord with the bid reviewers who may know nothing about the rental business or business in general.

We have a suggestion box and public hearings were held to see what additional services were wanted or needed. We have not had one suggestion, and no one came to the public hearing to suggest anything else. In other words, the public likes our service just the way it is.

Since we were not allowed to see the matrix, we can only assume that the other bidder added a lot of bells and whistles, superficial ornaments which will probably fall by the wayside when they are deemed unfeasible in the real world.

Note that the "Prior Experience" portion counts for only 10 points. Evidently your "vision" counts for more than your ability to implement it.

So, because we chose to submit an honest, realistic bid, we came in third, and now our livelihood is in danger.

If this stands after the council votes, the winning bidder will have two business.

We will have none, and after 36 years of services to the community, we face a bleak financial future. Our income will now be someone else's income, a person who already has one successful business and now will have ours. If we had built a business elsewhere, we could sell it as a business. As it stands now, we will be kicked to the curb with no compensation for starting from scratch and building Zilker Park Boat Rentals to what it is today.

How can it be to the best interest of Austin to treat people this way?

For more information e-mail Howard Barnett at hbarnett@austin.rr.com .