News

Perry Police Department switches gas provider

By MICHAEL PETERSON Argus-Press Staff Writer

Thursday, July 3, 2008 10:39 AM EDT

PERRY - After being tabled two meetings in a row, the City Council chose Citgo as the police department's fleet gas card provider.

The department currently uses Sunoco gas provided by Glitzy Ritz in Perry, a convenience store and truck stop owned by John Plowman, a local resident.

Police Chief Kyle Bawks said he first considered changing gas providers after receiving numerous complaints from his officers that the station would run out of gas.

“The whole reason why this issue came up was that I had officers reporting to me that throughout the night -and occasionally in the daytime - they were unable to fill up their patrol vehicles due to a lack of fuel at Sunoco,” Bawks said. “This turned into some other issues (involving) which grade of gasoline was available and if we would be rebated for what the cost of regular gas is if only premium or ultra-premium were available.”

Bawks said they use to have gas bids on a yearly basis, but Sunoco has not had to compete in bids against other companies since 2002.

“When I first started looking into this, I was told that the gasoline budget was revisited every year for review,” Bawks said. “So, when I started this, I was determined to do just that.”

A bid from Mobil was also made in addition to bids from Citgo and Sunoco.

All the bids provided tax exemption on their fuel, but Citgo provided many other perks, such as free car washes for police vehicles and free drinks for police personnel on patrol. They also will receive 10 cents off every gallon of gasoline purchased at a Citgo for the first 90 days, and 5 cents off a gallon after that.

There are some discrepancies, however, about Citgo being foreign-owned, and if they chose Sunoco, they would be helping a local business.

“I think the safety of the people in the city overrides (helping local businesses),” Councilman Terry Woods said. “You've got to have gas.”

Councilman Mark Landers agreed.

“I prefer local if we could have it, but if we are not getting the service that we need, then we don't have much of a choice,” he said.

Councilman Tom Chaput suggested they amend the motion so after the next fiscal year they could decide to stay with Citgo or switch back to Sunoco. The City Council agreed.

“I would certainly like to see a local person have the opportunity to win this bid,” Chaput said.

The council voted 5-1 in favor of accepting the bid from Citgo, with Councilman Greg Wekwert dissenting.

“Basically, I've looked at Sunoco being American and Citgo being foreign, and that is my major concern,” Wekwert said. “The council made their decision and - of course - majority rules.”

Bawks said he felt the decision was in the best interest for the city.

“I hate to see this switch hands, but my primary concern is having fuel in my vehicles,” Bawks said. “I look forward to visiting this again next year.”

Glitzy Ritz owner John Plowman did not attend the meeting and declined to comment after a call was made to his home.

- Contact Michael Peterson at 725-5136 extension 223 or mpetersonarguspress@gmail.com.

Comment on this Story

taxpayer local business owner wrote on Jul 6, 2008 5:07 PM:

" If Mr. Plowman cannot run his business correctly and continuously runs out of fuel, he deserves to lose the contract. When you are in business, you have to serve your customers, no matter who they are, or they can and will go other places.
For those of you that don't wish to frequent businesses owned by foreigners that is your right, but before you throw stones at the city council you may want to do extensive checks into ALL the places that you do business. I think you may be surprised at how many "American" companies are owned or held by "foreigners". "

Perry Citizen wrote on Jul 3, 2008 12:51 PM:

" I think it was Mr. Plowman's job to make sure the police department had fuel if he wanted to keep their business. "

Stan wrote on Jul 3, 2008 12:32 PM:

" Don't these people on the Village Council know that Citco is owned by dictater Chavas of Colombia who hates America and vows to destroy us
Whats wrong with there thinking. They shouldn't use Citco fuel for any reason "

Lynn wrote on Jul 2, 2008 6:59 PM:

" What a shame, I know that the Perry Police department has relied on a local business for years. It is a fact that our economy is at an unbearable low right now and the local businesses need all the help they can get. At a time like this when local business should be able to rely on those they have provided service to for years, the city of Perry has abandond them! The facts are that niether Sunoco or Mobile provided a bid because they were unable to have the opportunity. The saftey of Perry was never an issue considering that Perry has FIVE patrol cars!! The fact remains that when businesses are struggling the Perry Police Department has turned their backs on them, the questions is what will they do for the regular citizens when we are struggling? Will they step up and be there for us or turn their backs again? "