Pepsi and Coke (University Of The District Of Columbia)
| Multi Request | Pepsi and Coke |
| Submitted | Aug. 7, 2018 |
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Communications
From: Carolyn Komatsoulis
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the DC Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
- A copy of any and all contracts (including associated amendments and exhibits) awarded to Pepsi, Coca-Cola, or any subdivision thereof, for the provision of beverages or other goods in any facilities under the purview of this organization, including all activities and buildings associated with athletics, sports, dining services, or otherwise. If this agency does not have a contract with either of the named companies, please provide the equivalent agreement with the currently employed company.
- If the contract(s) was cancelled, any and all materials related to its cancellation.
- If the contract was cancelled, the statement from the university about cancellation.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 15 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Carolyn Komatsoulis
From: Carolyn Komatsoulis
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following DC Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on August 7, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: University Of The District Of Columbia
Dear Ms. Komatsoulis,
Thank you for writing to the University of the District of Columbia ("UDC") with your request for information pursuant to the District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), DC Code § 2-531 et seq.
On August 7, 2018, you requested the following documents:
* A copy of any and all contracts (including associated amendments and exhibits) awarded to Pepsi, Coca-Cola, or any subdivision thereof, for the provision of beverages or other goods in any facilities under the purview of this organization, including all activities and buildings associated with athletics, sports, dining services, or otherwise. If this agency does not have a contract with either of the named companies, please provide the equivalent agreement with the currently employed company.
* If the contract(s) was cancelled, any and all materials related to its cancellation.
* If the contract was cancelled, the statement from the university about cancellation.
UDC is in receipt of your request and will provide you with a response letter granting or denying your request, requesting supplemental information, or requesting an extension in accordance with DC Code § 2-531 et seq.
You asked in your follow-up email to our FOIA Officer, Karen Hardwick, to let you know if we needed further clarification of anything. I'll take you up on that invitation.
First, you ask for materials relating to the provision of "beverages or other goods" at any of our facilities. Are you looking solely for items pertaining to beverages and food? Goods often implies consumer goods or durable goods, but from your question specifying Coke and Pepsi, it seems you may be interested in beverage and food concessions.
Second, you ask for "any and all materials related to its cancellation" for any cancelled contracts. What are you looking for? A letter providing notice of the termination to a vendor? As written this is overly broad and hard to understand how to respond to. It could also lead us to privileged documents that would be subject to exemptions from disclosure.
Finally, from the construction of your request, it appears you're interested not in any contract the University has EVER awarded to Coke or Pepsi, or any division of those companies (how far back in time?), but rather a copy of any current contract we have them. You provided in your request that if we do "not have a contract with either of the named companies" you'd like "the equivalent agreement with the currently employed company." Your use of the present tense "have" supports my conclusion that you're really asking, does UDC currently have a contract with Coke or Pepsi to provide food and / or beverages on campus? And further, if the answer is no we don't, you're interested in the contract(s) we have in place right now with any company currently providing those food and/or beverage services. Is that an accurate reformulation of your request?
As you may know, UDC recently conducted a solicitation for an exclusive "pouring rights" vendor and is actually in the process of finalizing a contract for "pouring rights" with one of the two companies you mention in your request, but the contract has not been finalized and therefore cannot be produced for you.
I have already initiated a search for documents responsive to your request, and expect to have something to you before August 28th, which would be the 15th business day following your request, but it would help if you could clarify as requested above.
Sincerely,
Jeff Zinn
Attorney, Contractor
Office of General Counsel
On Behalf of FOIA Officer Karen Hardwick, Esq.
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW | Washington, DC 20008
d: 202.274.5956 | f: 202.274.5320 | c: 443.604.1211
Admitted to active practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia; inactive in Massachusetts.
From: University Of The District Of Columbia
Ms. Komatsoulis -
I have not received any response to my request for clarification below, so I will proceed with my narrow, but reasonable, interpretation of your FOIA request from August 7th.
Jeffery N. Zinn (Jeff)
Attorney, Contractor
Office of General Counsel
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW | Washington, DC 20008
d: 202.274.5956 | f: 202.274.5320 | c: 443.604.1211
Admitted to active practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia; inactive in Massachusetts.
From: Carolyn Komatsoulis
Good afternoon,
I'm sorry for the confusion. Let me clarify.
1. By goods, I mean food and consumer goods. For example, cups, t-shirts, water bottles, vending machines, chips, cookies, etc. etc.
2. Any materials or reports that capture the school's reason for cancelling the contract and any letters or materials that were provided to the company related to cancellation. Also, any materials related to violations that led to the cancellation of the contract. I don't need every email about cancellation, I just want more summary information.
3. I want any contract(s) you have ever had with Pepsi and any subsidiaries of Pepsi (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/77476/000119312511040427/dex21.htm), any contracts you have every had with Coke or any subsidiaries of Coke (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21344/000119312508041768/dex211.htm), and any current contract you have with any of the aforementioned companies or subsidiaries. If you do not have contracts with the aforementioned companies or subsidiaries, I would like the equivalent contract with the equivalent company.
4. I would also like the request for proposal for the contract that is currently being finalized.
Let me know if you need further clarification.
Thanks,
Carolyn
From: University Of The District Of Columbia
Can you give me a call at some pre arranged time today or tomorrow to discuss this?
Jeffery N. Zinn (Jeff)
Attorney, Contractor
Office of General Counsel
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW | Washington, DC 20008
d: 202.274.5956 | f: 202.274.5320 | c: 443.604.1211
Admitted to active practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia; inactive in Massachusetts.
-
~WRD000
From: Carolyn Komatsoulis
When is the best time to reach you today and tomorrow? And what is the best number to reach you?
From: University Of The District Of Columbia
Are you on east coast time? For me, the best time today would be 5:30 or 6 pm EST. If that’s too late for you, then tomorrow morning, say 9:30 or 10 a.m.
The (d) number below would be best at those times.
Jeffery N. Zinn (Jeff)
Attorney, Contractor
Office of General Counsel
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW | Washington, DC 20008
d: 202.274.5956 | f: 202.274.5320 | c: 443.604.1211
Admitted to active practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia; inactive in Massachusetts.
From: Carolyn Komatsoulis
I'll call you at 5:30 today.
Thanks,
Carolyn
From: University Of The District Of Columbia
thanks
Jeffery N. Zinn (Jeff)
Attorney, Contractor
Office of General Counsel
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW | Washington, DC 20008
d: 202.274.5956 | f: 202.274.5320 | c: 443.604.1211
Admitted to active practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia; inactive in Massachusetts.
-
~WRD000
From: University Of The District Of Columbia
Hi – thanks again for calling. Just to clarify one thing…even if the answer is, we have no other pouring rights contracts, I can still send you a copy of the RFP we issued. That’s probably going to be posted to our website at some point in the ordinary course of business, but I’ll email you a PDF of it.
The contract that results from the present negotiation is also required to be posted to our website – it’s just a matter of when the folks responsible can get to it.
Cheers,
Jeffery N. Zinn (Jeff)
Attorney, Contractor
Office of General Counsel
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW | Washington, DC 20008
d: 202.274.5956 | f: 202.274.5320 | c: 443.604.1211
Admitted to active practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia; inactive in Massachusetts.
-
~WRD000
From: University Of The District Of Columbia
While I’m thinking of it, if you Google Rutgers and Pepsi you should find an article among the top results that has an embedded copy of the Pepsi / Rutgers pouring rights contract, with very little redacted. I was able to print it. The bulk of that agreement is nearly identical to the draft we received to review from Pepsi, so it’s a good source for you, notwithstanding being 10 years old.
Jeffery N. Zinn (Jeff)
Attorney, Contractor
Office of General Counsel
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW | Washington, DC 20008
d: 202.274.5956 | f: 202.274.5320 | c: 443.604.1211
Admitted to active practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia; inactive in Massachusetts.
-
~WRD000
From: University Of The District Of Columbia
Ms. Komatsoulis,
Please find attached a letter from the University of the District of Columbia responsive to your August 7th FOIA request. Also attached is the only responsive document to your request, an RFP issued late last year.
Best regards,
Jeffery N. Zinn (Jeff)
Attorney, Contractor
Office of General Counsel
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW | Washington, DC 20008
d: 202.274.5956 | f: 202.274.5320 | c: 443.604.1211
Admitted to active practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia; inactive in Massachusetts.
-
~WRD000
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