October 19, 2005: Travel Firm Claims Influence Gave Competitor Wisconsin Contract

The Omega World Travel agency claims that it was improperly denied a $750,000 contract by the Wisconsin state government in favor of another firm with ties to Governor Jim Doyle (D-WI). The other firm, Adelman Travel, is owned by Craig Adelman, a major contributor to Doyle’s political campaign. Adelman and a member of the firm’s board of directors, Mitchell Fromstein, both donated $10,000—the maximum allowed under the law—to Doyle’s re-election campaign. Omega contends that the bidding process was rigged to favor Adelman Travel. State purchasing division supervisor Georgia Thompson (see 2001) says Omega and Adelman Travel were essentially tied as frontrunners during the bidding phase. Doyle denies any involvement in the selection of Adelman Travel as the state’s supplier of travel services. Doyle’s opponent for the 2006 gubernatorial race, Representative Mark Green (R-WI), says the affair has “cast a cloud on state government.” [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 10/19/2005] Omega declined to formally contest the contract award. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 10/21/2005] Department of Administration Secretary Stephen Bablitch will say there is no evidence that Adelman Travel was awarded the contract improperly, and will note that the firm lost out on three of the four contracts it bid for. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 1/24/2006]