Report: Michigan failed to hold Aramark accountable

LANSING — The administration of Gov. Rick Snyder repeatedly failed to hold prison food contractor Aramark Correctional Services accountable for problems, and it’s questionable whether oversight will be any better under the new prison food vendor, the group Progress Michigan said in a report released today.

“Simply changing the vendor without changing the culture that allowed such egregious actions will do nothing but cost taxpayers more money,” said Lonnie Scott, the liberal nonprofit group’s executive director.

The state is replacing Aramark midway through its three-year, $145-million contract after a series of reports in the Free Press detailed problems with food shortages, maggots and Aramark workers smuggling drugs and other contraband and engaging in sex acts with inmates.

The state cited billing concerns in July when it opted to replace Aramark with Trinity Services Group of Florida, which is now in a transition phase and is to take over the prison kitchens completely on Sept. 9. As reported by the Free Press, the Trinity contract contains terms more favorable to the company than the Aramark contract did and is estimated to be worth $158.8 million over three years.

The report released Tuesday by Progress Michigan is based on more than 25,000 pages of e-mails related to the Aramark contract that the group received from the state through Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act at a cost of more than $10,000, Scott said.

He said the records show that of 3,707 issues with the contract identified by the state, 1,791 were persistent or recurring and not resolved.

“This experiment of privatization is certainly a glaring example of failure to hold them accountable,” he said.

Aramark spokeswoman Karen Cutler said in response to the report: "We know that public/private partnerships work and are proud to have served the state during a major groundbreaking shift to privatization that saved Michigan taxpayers over $20 million."

Chris Gautz, a spokesman for the Corrections Department, said the report is based on old stories about a company that is on its way out of Michigan prisons. Clearly the department was doing a good job of overseeing the contract, because problems identified by the contract monitors form the basis of the Progress Michigan report, Gautz said.

A spokesman for the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, which now oversees the contract, did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.

In August of 2014, Snyder acknowledged problems with oversight of the contract, announced a $200,000 fine against Aramark for contract violations and said oversight would be moved away from the Michigan Department of Corrections.

In September, the state hired Ed Buss, a former corrections department director in Florida, to oversee the contract for $160,000 a year, reporting to the director of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget. Buss left in January under circumstances the state has declined to fully explain.

Though the report does not separate the incidents before and after Snyder acknowledged a problem with contract oversight, Progress Michigan communications director Hugh Madden said there was no noticeable change after August and September.

The report's recommendations include an investigation into the Aramark contract and its monitoring by Attorney General Bill Schuette, as well as a requirement that the state make all contract monitor reports available on the Internet within 30 days of issuance.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.