Card Game

Jim Host, chairman of the Arena Authority, is not one to let bureaucracy get in the way of the new University of Louisville basketball arena. Apparently going to ignore a request from a state agency to delay demolition of buildings on the site.

“We don’t have time to wait for two or three months until somebody, somewhere makes a decision,” he told the Courier-Journal. “We’ve made it and we’re going ahead.”

At issue is a protest filed last week with the state by CRS Demolition, a Louisville company that unsuccessfully bid on the job the authority awarded to O’Rourke Wrecking at its January meeting.

In a letter to Finance Secretary Jonathan Miller, CRS Demolition claims that the authority failed to meet state procurement law when it selected a demolition contractor through competitive bidding.

According to the CJ, price accounted for half of the selection criteria, and experience made up about one-third of the 100-point evaluation. Other factors included a proposed schedule and minority business participation.

Jim Host. A lot to like about this guy, letting nothing stand in the way.