Did politics influence call center pick? By Paul Hammel WORLD-HERALD BUREAU LINCOLN — Two Omaha lawmakers and the state employees union are upset that the state's largest city — with the largest number of experienced welfare caseworkers — was overlooked as the state selected sites for new welfare call centers. The unhappiness arose after a Fremont site was chosen over Omaha sites for a 150-employee call center. Though state officials maintain that it was a simple case of economics, the critics question whether the selection was politically influenced. Fremont is Gov. Dave Heineman's hometown, and the selected site is owned by Fremont State Sen. Charlie Janssen's future mother-in-law. Staffing levels The sites selected for ACCESS Nebraska centers — which will handle state welfare applications and questions — and staffing for each: >> Fremont, 150 workers >> Lincoln, 100 workers >> Scottsbluff, 100 workers >> Lexington, 50 workers Omaha State Sens. Jeremy Nordquist and Heath Mello have asked for more information on the selection process, as has the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, which helped prepare the Omaha proposals for the 10-year leases. Union officials say they fail to understand how Omaha didn't get a call center. They said 20 experienced caseworkers live in Fremont compared with 314 in the Omaha area. “It's certainly good for Fremont, but I also feel that politics is being played here,” said Julie Dake Abel, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees/AFSCME Local 61. Fremont officials point to the winning bid, which was more than $225,000 a year under the lowest Omaha bid. “The community was very hungry for this,” said Kevin Wilkins, executive director of the Greater Fremont Development Council. Janssen, a member of the council's board of trustees, said he had nothing to do with the selection. “I urged lots of people to bid,” Janssen said. “My primary intent was to help anyone in Fremont get that call center.” A spokeswoman for Heineman said the selections were made by the Nebraska Health and Human Services Department, not the governor. “He's not involved in RFPs (requests for proposals) or the decision-making process,” spokeswoman Jen Rae Hein said. “He simply does not have time to do that.” The switch to call centers under the ACCESS Nebraska program was controversial even before the sites were announced: The goal, officials say, is to modernize by moving away from requiring applicants to walk into a social services office for help. An online system to apply for benefits is up and running, and the call centers are to be operational by 2012. “In the future, it doesn't matter where (workers) are located,” said Todd Reckling, director of the HHS Division of Children and Family Services. Such centers, he added, are how most businesses now field service calls. The change would eliminate an estimated 225 jobs statewide. Current caseworkers would be first in line to apply for call center jobs, state officials said. Union officials and workers say the switch will be a hardship for welfare recipients who don't have computers or who require face-to-face contact. They maintain that experienced Omaha workers won't want to make the 39-mile commute to Fremont and warn that the state could lose about $800,000 a year in federal bonuses for accurate processing of welfare claims because of inexperienced workers. With the switch, welfare recipients won't have the same caseworker nearby, and instead will deal with whoever answered the phone or followed up on an e-mail request. State officials say that some local social services offices would remain open, so applicants could still deal face-to-face with a caseworker, and that training for new employees should keep service levels high and error rates low. Last April, three sites in Fremont and 15 in the Omaha area were among 45 sites in 17 communities making the final cut for review statewide. Under Department of Administrative Services rules, the existing work force within 60 to 70 miles was considered, which allowed Fremont to count 480 HHS caseworkers in Omaha and Lincoln. Two Omaha sites — the Gretna Crossing outlet mall and an industrial building at 9634 M St. — tied for the highest scores for suitability for the largest call center. But after location costs were figured, a site at 839 S. Broad St. in Fremont leaped to the top. The building is owned by Sen. Janssen's future mother-in-law, Ann Fauss. She leases it to her former husband, Rick Fauss, for his construction business. Each proposal also received a “final evaluation” score. Again, the Broad Street site in Fremont got a perfect score, the only site to do so. The two Omaha senators and the state employees union official said they haven't received a good explanation for the scoring, particularly the “final evaluation” points. The Fremont site had a final score of about 1,190 while the best Omaha site received about 740. “I fail to see how Fremont scored so much higher,” said Dake Abel, whose union represents the caseworkers. The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce asked state officials recently for an explanation of the scoring process and why Omaha was not picked, spokeswoman Karla Ewert said, “but I think that's how we want to leave it.” Reckling, with HHS, said communities were given a second chance to “give us your best offer.” That led to the “final evaluation” scores, which he later clarified where “all or nothing” in nature. The Omaha proposals, by contrast, stated that incentives were unlikely because HHS was an existing employer. Wilkins, with the Fremont development council, said Janssen's legislative office was used as a “communication conduit” to obtain information about the bidding process. Wilkins said it was coincidental that Janssen's future in-laws' building scored the highest. “Look at the scoring. It was the most cost-effective building,” Wilkins said. The Fremont site's final annual rent was $275,030 — including a $12,000 tax incentive — compared with the top Omaha site's annual rent of $501,000. Rick Fauss, who was seeking a new owner for his ex-wife's building, said Janssen knew about his bid. “But there really wasn't much he could help with. He didn't have a vote,” Fauss said. “HHS said they were going to award on cost, and that's what they did.” Whether Omaha-based caseworkers will apply for jobs in Fremont remains to be seen. Wilkins said those who live in west Omaha will have a commute similar to their current commute, so that shouldn't be a factor. But Dake Abel, the union official, said it won't be convenient for every Omaha caseworker. She estimated that more than 100 will likely lose their jobs. “The bulk of the people who need the services are in the Omaha area. It just doesn't logically make sense to not have (a call center) in Omaha,” Dake Abel said.