A downtown Erie business is leaving the Erie County Courthouse because of a disagreement with the Davis administration.

For the last five years, a local catering company called Dinner is Served by Lisa has run the Courthouse Café.

In Sept. 2020, County Council reached a three-year deal with the company to provide healthy lunch options in return for a rent-free lease, but County Executive Brenton Davis wants to change that.

His administration contends offering the space rent-free could violate the county's original request for proposals (RFP) for the space, which required a minimum rent of $600/month.

Café managers say his administration wants to move a gym into the space, and when they were told of plans to re-purpose the café area, they decided to leave by the end of the month.

Davis says the gym proposal is merely an idea, and he will survey courthouse employees before deciding how to reuse the space.

Below is legal advice the Davis Administration received from County Solicitor Bill Speros.

“Regarding the Courthouse Café contract:  Chef Lisa’s initial contract was awarded in September 2017 pursuant to RFP No. 14-2017.  On p. 12 of that RFP, the County set forth a minimum rent of $600/month:”

Erie County is asking $600.00 per month rent for the first three (3) months and thereafter 5% of sales with a $600.00 minimum. 5% up to $150,000/yr 4% $150,000 - $200,000/yr 3% $200,000 - $250,000/yr 2% $250,000 and above/yr

“In September 2020, the County renegotiated Chef Lisa’s contract for a renewed 3-year term.  That contract expressly referenced RFP No. 14-2017, and did not include any terms supporting a sole source award to Chef Lisa.  The new contract provided in clause 12 that she would not have to pay rent:”

12.  The Vendor will pay the County $0 per month in rent and agrees to keep the menu item prices at the current reduced rate.

“Thus, the no-rent term in the renewed contract is not in compliance with a mandatory minimum requirement in the RFP.  That is a clear public procurement error, as there could have been numerous businesses that would have been interested in submitting a proposal for the 2020 contract under no-rent terms, but none were given the opportunity.  Perhaps the previous Administration and Council were amenable to executing a contract that violated the initial RFP’s terms, but Brent made it clear to me that he was not.”