Court Opinion

ID: 9622969
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:25:46.679507+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:21.865347
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE CARRIGAN
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
The people of Denver, in their charter, adopted a policy generally requiring competitive bidding on city purchases of goods and services whenever practicable. Article XII, Secs. A12.3-1(2), A12.4 to .4-3. The charter grants to the Department of General Services management and control of city auditoriums and arenas. Article XII, Sec. A12.3-5. “Exclusive power and authority to grant or refuse the license or privilege of operating concessions . . .” in such facilities is also granted by charter to the Department of General Services. Article XII, Sec. A12.3-6.
It is apparent from reading these charter provisions in their context, and from considering their interrelation, that the people of Denver have required competitive bidding for concessions at sports facilities such as Mile High Stadium. In a well reasoned opinion the district court so concluded.
The contract in question, which purchased concession equipment and services without competitive bidding in exchange for an eighteen-year concession monopoly, could not have been entered into without public bidding if control of the stadium had not been transferred out of the Department of General Services and into the Department of Parks and Recreation. In my view the charter did not authorize that transfer.
The majority opinion relies, at least in part, on Article XII, Sec. A12.3-2 of the charter as granting the mayor authority to thus transfer control of the stadium between departments. The language relied upon, however, is taken out of context. The full section reads:
“A12.3-2 Control of centralized services. The Department shall have the management, operation and control of all facilities owned or established by the City and County to provide centralized, departmental services common to several departments, agencies, boards, commissions or authorities and which services have been consolidated and centralized by the Mayor for operational and administrative efficiency, including, by way of illustration and not by way of limitation, the following: Bulk or general warehousing, storage and issuing of supplies, equipment and personal *336property; printing and duplicating; messenger and delivery; addressing and mailing; and telephone service; provided, however, that the Mayor may assign to another department, agency, board, commission or authority a specific centralized activity or facility which is unrelated to the general scope of duties of the Department, and further, the Mayor may assign a specific segment of a centralized service to another department, whenever such assignment is in the interest of economy, organization, administration and efficiency of the city as a whole.” (Emphasis added.) Apparently the majority interpret the word “facility” in the proviso clause of this section to cover the stadium.
A careful reading of the entire section, however, demonstrates that it grants the Mayor no such broad transfer power. It only empowers the Mayor to redistribute among departments, agencies, boards and commissions certain service functions which he might have consolidated or centralized in the Department of General Services for operational or administrative efficiency. This section was not cited or relied upon in the briefs or at oral argument. It is plainly not applicable. The majority’s strained interpretation stretches this section far beyond its obvious purpose and thus negates the plain language of other charter provisions requiring competitive bidding for concessions.
While there is no claim of any improper motive to avoid competitive bidding in the instant case, we must look beyond the immediate case when we interpret charter provisions. Our decision making is not merely an ad hoc process; today’s decision is tomorrow’s legal precedent. For that reason the effect of the majority opinion on the integrity of the Denver Charter’s bidding requirements is of utmost concern to me. These competitive bidding requirements, adopted by vote of the Denver people for their protection, should not be subject, in the future, to avoidance by the transparent device of shifting control of a particular sports gathering place — whether called an arena, stadium, coliseum, park or field — from one city department to another.
I would affirm the judgment.