Despite problems, Ohio prisons seek food contractor renewal

Maggots in prison food and sexual misconduct with inmates haven't turned officials off of renewing the state's food service contract with Aramark.

The current contract expires June 30 but was written in a way for the state to easily re-up for another two years without rebidding or renegotiating the contract.

The Department of Administrative Services, which handles state contracts, confirmed that the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction requested the contract be renewed, and a letter was drafted Oct. 30 and sent to Aramark.

The renewed contract can't be signed, though, until April 1 at the earliest, prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said.

"The request was made ... based on the significant operational improvement we have seen," Smith said.

The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association is disappointed with the department's intent and is working on a new proposal to win back control of food services. Contractually, the prison is obliged to at least consider the union proposal, which it has requested to be submitted by March 1.

Association President Chris Mabe said the department didn't notify them of the letter of intent with Aramark and that officials found out "under the cover of darkness" more than a month after the letter was sent to the private food vendor.

"I think we're going to be successful and have a bid that's competitive with Aramark," Mabe said.

The intent to stick with Aramark was foreshadowed in a September response from Director Gary Mohr to recommendations for Aramark submitted to the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee.

"The contract with Aramark has exceeded financial expectation as it relates to savings and the majority of prisons are experiencing few if any incidents," Mohr wrote, also noting that the deal helped keep the Hocking Unit of the Southeastern Correctional Complex open.

By contracting with Aramark instead of using state employees, the department reported a $13.3 million savings in last fiscal year, which ended on June 30, and has projected $16.9 million in savings this year.

The union's proposals – one offered before Aramark was awarded the contract and the other this summer – were not able to meet or exceed the savings promised by Aramark. The first proposal would have saved about $15.5 million over two years and the second proposal $21.6 million.

Mabe contends that the savings with Aramark aren't as great as stated because they don't take into consideration things such as increased monitoring and pulling officer staff to supervise Aramark staff. Earlier this month, a lieutenant had been pulled to run the chow line at Richland Correctional Institution and had been for "a while," according to a report provided by the union.

"I don't think we'll ever get a true apples-to-apples comparison (of our bid to Aramark)," he said.

The Aramark contract slightly raises the daily meal costs for each year of the contract, including the two years of the proposed renewal. The current contracted rate is $3.71 per inmate per day, and if renewed, it would rise to $3.83 next fiscal year and $3.94 the following year.

The contract also allows for a second two-year renewal, but that process would require the contract be renegotiated.

Although Mohr continues to report that Aramark has improved, Mabe calls that assertion "ludicrous." He pointed to a handful of recent incidents, including a Dec. 29 report that an Aramark employee had been locked inside the butcher shop with six inmates and no means of escape at Marion Correctional Institution.

Another report indicated potatoes were "bad" that same day and pulled from the food line. On Jan. 8, an incident report shows cookie bars were thrown out when an inmate discovered they were contaminated with mouse droppings.

Aramark workers also have been fired and banned at nearly the same rate as they were before issues came to a public head in July.

Currently, there are 135 former Aramark employees banned from working in the state's prisons, up from the 96 banned in the first 11 months of the contract. Firings have been for a variety of reasons, including taking contraband into the prisons and sexual contact with inmates.

In an effort to combat employee issues, the department is crediting Aramark up to the $272,200 it was fined for contract deficiencies to boost employee training. That additional training, provided at the department's training academy, began this week, Smith said.

Prisons officials also have stepped up oversight and are requiring Aramark to submit action plans when performance drops below 84 percent, a benchmark that was at 80 percent before July.

During a recent overview of the past two years, the oversight committee's management and administration specialist Adam Jackson said the state has "made significant strides in monitoring Aramark." Jackson also noted that inmate surveys expressing dissatisfaction with food services are about the same as when union employees ran the kitchens.