Follow-up: Missouri's Rejection of Bid Not Submitted Electronically

In an earlier blog posting, I reported that the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) had rejected a bid as non-responsive because the low bidder submitted their bid on paper, rather than electronically.  MoDOT awarded the project to the second low bidder at an additional cost of $83,000.

I was somewhat surprised by MoDOT's decision as it appeared to me, based on the facts I had, that the failure to submit the bid electronically was an immaterial irregularity, and that the bid should have been considered responsive.

Public Disclosure Request Denied:  I filed a formal public disclosure request with MoDOT for additional documents.  I just received an e-mail back from MoDOT denying my public disclosure request.  They cited that the non-responsive firm, Steve & Associates, has threatened litigation, and that under Missouri's Open Records Law, the documents I requested were therefore not subject to disclosure at this time.