No more freebies, gifts for DuPage Water Commission

Free jelly beans, DVDs, spa sets and panini sandwich grills that come with shipments of office supplies at the DuPage Water Commission will no longer be accepted.

Commissioner Liz Chaplin discovered the freebies while auditing receipts of office supplies she recently acquired after a protracted battle to obtain copies.

At the commission's administrative committee meeting Thursday, members agreed to cease the practice.

The full board later agreed to add language to its bylaws prohibiting the practice in all purchasing orders. They also are going to ask the commission's legal advisers about prohibiting perks for doing commission business, such as frequent flyer miles.

"I understand it's the perception, so we're going to end it," said Robert Martin, the commission's general manager.

Chaplin said she's satisfied with the decision because the accounting for the free gifts was vague. She was told some items were donated to teachers or charities, while others were taken by employees of the commission. Others were broken upon arrival and thrown out.

"When we donate office furniture, we see a resolution, but we've never seen a resolution saying they've donated some of these items to charities," Chaplin said. "And if the gifts are coming in damaged, are any of the products coming in damaged as well?"

Martin said the office supply procurement process is handled as needed. There is no annual contract.

"I don't think anyone can hold the price of paper for a year," he said.

The commission's office manager checks the prices with three vendors and makes an order based on the lowest price.

Typically, the vendor with the lowest prices has been Quill. That company's policy is to send out free gifts with large purchases.

Martin said no one at the water commission selects the gifts; they are simply added into the shipment. He will be speaking with Quill about receiving office supplies without the gifts in the future and seeking some type of rebate instead of the freebie.

"If you can't sell us something without a gift, we don't want to deal with you," Commissioner Larry Hartwig said. "We just want to make sure there's no misunderstanding as it comes to gifts."

Many taxing bodies stray from vendors who offer gifts for purchases to avoid conflicts. But the targets for getting rebates are often hard to come by.

DuPage County's office supply contract calls for a 1 percent rebate if they spend more than $500,000 a year. But the county's office supply annual expenditures usually are in the $35,000 to $50,000 range, officials said.

As for Chaplin's audit of the commission's office supply purchases, she said she still has concerns about monthly spending and continues to investigate the data she has received. She didn't bring up any of those concerns during Thursday's meeting but voted against the monthly expenditures.

Water freebies

Here are some of the gifts that arrived with office supply shipments to the DuPage Water Commission.

10: 5-piece spa sets

5: 4-piece bath basics bags

3: Jelly Belly 50-flavor gift boxes

3: Mrs. Fields sugar cookie Tins

3: "Aristocats" DVDs

1: "I Am Legend" DVD

1: "101 Dalmatians" DVD

1: "Bee Movie" DVD

1: DVD player

1: Mrs. Fields toffee popcorn

1: Panini sandwich grill