MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Gov. Bob Riley is lashing out at critics of a $13 million computer contract that his administration gave to a firm without a business phone listing or a Web site.
At a news conference Friday, Riley said the state would vigorously fight a lawsuit aimed at stopping the contract, which was given to Paragon Source LLC without taking bids.
Riley said it's wrong for news stories to refer to it as a no-bid contract because a committee of state employees ruled that Paragon was the only company that could do the work and bids did not have to be sought.
The Republican governor called criticism by the Legislature's Contract Review Committee and it's chairman, Democratic Rep. Alvin Holmes, is motivated by politics.
Holmes said he is not playing politics, but trying to stop a bad contract.
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