“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” – John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton
One of the greatest challenges with covering the #CodeGate story, is navigating through the seeming complexity of a tangled web of cross purposes and conflicting interests, in an effort to get at a simple truth . . . is there something seriously wrong with the NIGP?
Not long after yesterday’s Deep Throat story had been posted, others stepped forward to share information regarding a situation that appears to have been simmering beneath the surface for some time.
While the fact that more people are starting to talk is in and of itself interesting, it is the information I am now getting that is most telling. Reminiscent of the original Deep Throat’s advice (I am talking about Watergate Deep Throat now), I am being told to follow the money.
So today, I sent an e-mail to the NIGP requesting the organization’s three most recent Form 990 and Form 1023 submissions. The e-mail through which I made the request, has been received and confirmed as being read by the organization’s Executive Director of Finance and Administration Tina Borger. Although I have no way of knowing if it is Borger herself who opened it, I have not yet heard back as to whether said information will be sent. I will keep you posted.
It has been suggested by more than one source, that this information may prove to be most enlightening.
I was also advised to look into VIP dinners, expense accounts and a Marriott Hotel contract.
At this stage I do not know what I will find, but one thing has become increasingly clear . . . we are heading toward a collision course that will likely play out at this year’s NIGP conference in August.
The above notwithstanding, and no matter where my investigation leads, I find it interesting that Rick Grimm’s statement that the organization’s consultancy RFI was a “competitive” RFI, seems to be a point of contention for procurement professionals.
For some reason, and despite everything else that has transpired since I began covering this story, this apparently innocuous statement and in general, his comments on two separate posts, for many reflects an arrogance that goes against everything for which the NIGP stands.
Like discovering duct tape on a door, it is ironic that it is sometimes the smallest thing that creates the biggest ripples. To this day, I will never understand why Grimm commented not once, but twice on this blog.
In the end, and perhaps more than anything else, his comments on the Procurement Insights blog may one day be the thing he regrets the most.
Just started following the NIGP #CodeGate story? Use the following link to access the Post Archive; https://procureinsights.wordpress.com/nigp-codegate/
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Procurement Insights 
piblogger
April 30, 2015
Update . . . shortly after publishing this post, I received the following e-mail from NIGP Chief Executive Rick Grimm regarding my request for the 990 and 1023 documents:
Good evening Jon:
Tina Borger informed me that you have requested copies of the NIGP’s three most recent Form 990 and Form 1023 filings. We would be happy to send those to you at the address provided.
Best regards
Rick
Kelly Barner
April 30, 2015
Taking to direct email for discussion (or updates) makes so much more sense. I never understood Grimm’s decision to comment on your blog in the first place. It’s not that your blog doesn’t deserve comments – as we’ve discussed – it’s just that the CEO of NIGP should want his own post/article, wherever that happens to be.
There is just something about contentious exchanges in blog post comments that somehow degrades the whole exchange, as James Earl Jones and Malcolm McDowell illustrate perfectly in the following Sprint Commercial titled ‘Steve’s Facebook Post.’
MM: You went rogue, now look at us, having it out in the comments section.
JEJ: Dude, you’ve turned into a monster.
MM: You made me this way.
piblogger
April 30, 2015
Interesting perspective Kelly.
As indicated in the post, the issue with many seems to extend beyond the fact that he actually commented, but has more to do with what he said.
Starting with the suggestion that an RFI can be “competitive” – in essence equating it with an actual bid RFP/tender process, to what is being viewed as a dubious list of respondents, and even the quality of the RFI itself – which is not commensurate with someone of Neal Couture’s expertise or stature.
In conjunction with his Gettysburg comments regarding Periscope’s stewardship of the NIGP Code, these instances seem to be the underlying indication of a much larger concern.
What that is, remains to be seen at this point.