An Alaska-based veteran-owned business has filed a formal protest against the Municipality of Anchorage, claiming the city violated state and local laws in its handling of a $1.2 million housing project funded by opioid settlement money.
Zack Gottshall, owner of Cama’i Enterprises, submitted a detailed letter on Thursday to Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, Anchorage Community Development Authority Director Mike Robbins, and Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. The letter alleges the city’s procurement process for the “Microunits for Recovery Residences” project unlawfully disenfranchised his company, a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, by failing to apply legally mandated scoring preferences for veteran-owned and Alaska-based businesses.
Gottshall wrote that during a mandatory site visit, he raised concerns about the RFP’s omission of required bid preferences with a representative from the mayor’s office, but was told the scoring matrix would not be changed. He argues this amounts to a violation of Alaska statutes and Anchorage Municipal Code, and that the decision disadvantaged protected business classes, including his own…