WNYC; Beth Fertig; Snapple School Deal Rejected by Controller.
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- NEW YORK, NY (2004-03-19) A deal giving Snapple the exclusive vending rights for beverages in all city parks and public buildings was rejected by the City Controller. Bill Thompson's decision has no bearing on Snapple's contract with the city schools. But the controller, who's considering a bid for mayor, did accuse the Bloomberg administration of striking a tainted deal. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more. Ever since the Snapple contract was announced with great fanfare last September, critics have wondered whether the beverage company was given too sweet a deal. Mostly because the city didn't follow the typical rules requiring competitive bidding. Yesterday, as expected, the City Controller rejected Snapple's 126 million dollar contract. Thompson said his decision was triggered by an audit of Snapple's separate, 40 million dollar contract with the public schools that left him questioning the bigger deal. He said Snapple initially offered the Education Department less money than other beverage companies. THOMPSON: I mean they went through a process, at least that they indicated, they took best and final offers from these companies. Well they negotiated - the only company they negotiated with weren't those that provided more for the city, it was almost the company that provided least for the city. So I think in looking at that and looking at emails we've just been stunned. Thompson found emails sent by a city official that appear to contradict claims by the Bloomberg administration. Officials have maintained that Snapple's contract with the schools was negotiated BEFORE the more expensive citywide deal. But five days before Snapple was recommended to the Education Department, a city marketing official told Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff of vending companies that had expressed an interest in quote, a larger city deal. This email also mentioned parks department officials who wanted to be part of that agreement, says Thompson. THOMPSON: Regardless of their public statements, city officials were working on a stealth citywide marketing deal before Snapple was selected by the department of education. Thompson also claims a potential conflict of interest may have steered the contract. He said the education department hired a private marketing agent to select its vendor. And that agent also represents Cadbury - which is owned by Snapple's parent company, Cadbury Schweppes. Thompson said there was no evidence of anything criminal. But he called this a classic example of corporate cronyism. Mayor Bloomberg has held up the Snapple deal as a model for raising money from private businesses. Yesterday, he defended the contract. BLOOMBERG: There's no cronyism here whatsoever, we've hired the best person the city's been able to find. A very competent guy to try to do, find ways to innovatively raise money so that the public can get the services they want and we can keep taxes down. The Education department has said the email referring to a larger citywide deal didn't mean it was wedded to Snapple, but was merely exploring opportunities. It also says it didn't need to follow the same bidding rules as other city agencies. Snapple released a statement saying it's already begun to deliver millions of dollars for school athletic programs. Snapple's contract with the schools is not affected by the controller's refusal to register the contract for citywide vending services. Nonetheless, Jill Levy, who heads the principals' union, says she's glad the Controller examined the deal because many of her members are complaining. LEVY: The principals have been reporting that they under the Snapple deal have not been receiving timely money back into their budget nor have they been receiving the amount of money that they used to get. In fact, many schools have reported making less money now with the new Snapple juice and water machines. Mayor Bloomberg says he will try to reason with the Controller. Thompson is a Democrat who's considering his own run for mayor. After a week in which critics have accused Bloomberg of a heavy handed approach for removing dissenting members of his education panel, Bloomberg may be less prone to conflict. But the feud isn't over yet. The controller can refuse to register a contract and the mayor can overrule him. And both sides have said they're prepared to go to court if necessary. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.
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WNYC-FM
Identifier: 38121.1 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Duration: 00:03:46
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WNYC-FM
Identifier: 38121.2 (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: audio/vnd.wave
Generation: Dub
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- Citations
- Chicago: “WNYC; Beth Fertig; Snapple School Deal Rejected by Controller.,” WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed July 16, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-51vdp059.
- MLA: “WNYC; Beth Fertig; Snapple School Deal Rejected by Controller..” WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. July 16, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-51vdp059>.
- APA: WNYC; Beth Fertig; Snapple School Deal Rejected by Controller.. Boston, MA: WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-51vdp059