A report by JSOnline says that a no-bid contract given to a Barrett donor stinks.

Two metal recycling firms have accused the City of Milwaukee of illegally shutting them out of bidding for contracts to remove and process abandoned vehicles, work they say has gone exclusively to a third company under illegal contracts.

The worst part is that the city is likely overpaying for services.

Scott Hansen, an attorney with Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, said in the notice that the city could save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by accepting competitive bids from his clients and others.

According to the notice of claim, state law and Milwaukee ordinances require that all contracts for services in excess of $25,000 be subject to competitive bidding unless the commissioner of public works determines the work can be done better and more cheaply without a formal contract.

MacIver reports that the company that got the contract has given significant donations to Mayor Barrett:

Now, I'm not alleging a quid pro quo. But you would think a reporter doing a story on allegations of political favoritism would have done a cursory search of campaign finance records. It took me all of three minutes. Then again, maybe the author of this story did that, too, and his reporting didn't survive his editors' review???

Considering Barrett is a candidate for next month's gubernatorial recall, isn't this relevant? Miller compressing employees are heavy political contributors to members of both parties, including Governor Walker. But since this story is about allegations of favoritism with City contracts, you would expect this story would include information regarding their political giving to City of Milwaukee officials.