From: To: Cc:

Subject: Date:

Larry Downs Jr Bill Reynolds; Ashton Hayward Ericka Burnett; John Asmar; Don Suarez; Chuck Good; sky125dive@cox.net; dbird@hajoca.com; james.s.rodgers@store.lowes.com; donald_e_gray@homedepot.com; brian.dunn@ferguson.com; mdmccrory@winnelson.com; jeffreyking@southernpipe.com; brad.wilcox@johnstonesupply.com; 1tmandel@att.net; tdowns1211@aol.com; downsplbg@aol.com; district1@co.escambia.fl.us; PNJNews; news@weartv.com Re: Formal Complaint on Energy Services of Pensacola and Director Don Suarez Wednesday, May 09, 2012 10:42:07 AM

Mr. Bill Reynolds, I do not understand your response to my formal complaint. Are you inviting myself and my plumbing company to participate in a price fixing program that does not allow fair competition in the free market to all local tax paying businesses?I also do not understand how this response from you, Mr. City Administrator, Bill Reynolds, addresses my original formal complaint. Will you please advise me of the City of Pensacola's policies and procedures addressing formal complaints and I will also add one further request, to be able to speak to the City Council members at the City Council meeting on May 10th to address this issue. Again, please respond to the formal complaint that I have filed. My contact number is(850) 554-6414. Sincerely, Larry Downs Jr Owner Larry Downs Jr Plumbing Company

-----Original Message----From: Bill Reynolds <BReynolds@cityofpensacola.com> To: 'Larry Downs Jr' <ldjrplumbing@aol.com>; Ashton Hayward <mayorhayward@cityofpensacola.com> Cc: Ericka Burnett <EBurnett@cityofpensacola.com>; John Asmar <jasmar@cityofpensacola.com>; Don Suarez <DSuarez@cityofpensacola.com>; Chuck Good <CGood@cityofpensacola.com>; 'sky125dive@cox.net' <sky125dive@cox.net>; 'dbird@hajoca.com' <dbird@hajoca.com>; 'james.s.rodgers@store.lowes.com' <james.s.rodgers@store.lowes.com>; 'donald_e_gray@homedepot.com' <donald_e_gray@homedepot.com>; 'brian.dunn@ferguson.com' <brian.dunn@ferguson.com>; 'mdmccrory@winnelson.com' <mdmccrory@winnelson.com>; 'jeffreyking@southernpipe.com' <jeffreyking@southernpipe.com>; 'brad.wilcox@johnstonesupply.com' <brad.wilcox@johnstonesupply.com>; '1tmandel@att.net' <1tmandel@att.net>; 'tdowns1211@aol.com' <tdowns1211@aol.com>; 'downsplbg@aol.com' <downsplbg@aol.com>; 'district1@co.escambia.fl.us' <district1@co.escambia.fl.us> Sent: Tue, May 8, 2012 10:53 am Subject: RE: Formal Complaint on Energy Services of Pensacola and Director Don Suarez

Mr. Downs,

You should have received an invitation and packet of information to participate in the program. It was sent out last Thursday. If you did not, please let me know. Unlike the previous program, this particular program is a partnership between those plumbing organizations that wish to participate and ESP. I urge you to take a look at the materials.

My best, Bill

William H. Reynolds

City Administrator

City of Pensacola 222 W Main St. Pensacola FL 32502 850-435-1623

www.cityofpensacola.com

For Non-Emergency Citizen Requests or visit Pensacola311.com

Notice: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state and local officials regarding government business are public records available to the public and media upon request. Your email communications may be subject to public disclosure.

From: Larry Downs Jr [mailto:ldjrplumbing@aol.com] Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 3:59 PM To: Ashton Hayward Cc: Ericka Burnett; Bill Reynolds; John Asmar; Don Suarez; Chuck Good; sky125dive@cox.net; dbird@hajoca.com; james.s.rodgers@store.lowes.com; donald_e_gray@homedepot.com; brian.dunn@ferguson.com; mdmccrory@winnelson.com; jeffreyking@southernpipe.com; brad.wilcox@johnstonesupply.com; 1tmandel@att.net; tdowns1211@aol.com; downsplbg@aol.com; district1@co.escambia.fl.us Subject: Formal Complaint on Energy Services of Pensacola and Director Don Suarez

I, Larry Downs Jr, owner of Larry Downs Jr. Plumbing Company and Pensacola Boxing Academy, am filing a formal complaint on Energy Services of Pensacola and its Director, Don Suarez. Mr. Don Suarez organized a meeting of local plumbing and gas contractors that took place at Energy Services of Pensacola at 1625 Atwood Drive, Pensacola, Florida. At this meeting, Don Suarez discussed a water heater installation program to approximately 10 or 15 local plumbing and gas companies. The topic was getting to an agreement on installation prices. At no time did Energy Services of Pensacola or Don Suarez extend an invitation to participate in this meeting to myself, Larry Downs Jr Plumbing and many other licensed plumbing and gas companies that are located in Escambia County or suppliers. Therefore, I was not notified nordidI pre-schedule time to attend ESP's price fixing meeting, however, my dad, Larry Downs Sr, called me the morning of the meeting to inform me of the meeting and to inquire whether I was attending. I told Larry Downs Sr, that I would not be able to attend with such short notice, but to let me know what the meeting was about. After the meeting, he contacted me and told me there were approximately 10to 15 companies at the meeting and the general topic was Don Suarez and the company owners or representatives discussing prices for the different installs that would be implemented under this program. Mr. Larry Downs,Sr. informed me that there were companies that were discussing their price on their installs from

the very low price range to the very high price range. All the plumbing companies were trying to come to a consensus with Don Suarez for pricing on ESP's new water heater installation program. I consider this meeting that took place on March 29th, 2012, highly illegal and unethical practices, due to the nature of the meeting (price fixing laws of product and service, also bid rigging, price rigging and monopoly laws). Also, considering Energy Services of Pensacola is owned by the City of Pensacola and is attempting to act as a general contractor by hiring subs, such as plumbing and gas companies and electrical companies, with fixed prices already negotiated between the companies (price fixing) is interfering with the free market and will greatly impact the free market, which is made up of local entrepreneurs that pay city, county, state and Federal taxes. Also, it will be affecting big corporations owned by stock holders that employ hundreds if not thousands of local employees ,i.e.,several Home Depot Stores, Lowes, Sears stores and others, for these local outlet stores can not afford to give away water heaters simply so that they can sell more natural gas, because they do not have a direct line to ESP customers through the sale of natural gas. This interference by ESP in the free trade market will not only directly affect these above mentioned businesses and local plumbing companies, it will also affect all local advertising firms for which these local businesses pay for advertising that employs local advertising employees. Even though it may sound good to ESP, Director Don Suarez, the City Council members, Sam Hall, Ronald Townsend, P.C.Wu, Sherri F. Myers, Maren Deweese, Larry B Johnson, John Jerralds, Brian Spencer and Megan B Pratt, with the intent of selling more gas, it is not a good option, nor do I believe it is a legal option for ESP. It will have local unintended consequences to small businesses already hurting by the down turned economy. When a local customer calls Larry Downs Jr Plumbing for a natural gas water heater replacement or upgrade, I will not have the benefit of buying hundreds of water heaters at a time, like ESP, nor will I have the benefit to give the water heater away, nor will I contact 15 other plumbing companies in our area to set up a price fixing meeting to try to dominate the market with tax payer subsidies. I am a customer of Energy Services of Pensacola since, at least2006, and it is not right that the money that I have spent with ESP, as well as the money that I have spentin the city of Pensacola, i.e., taxes,is going to be used to purchase initially over 500 water heaters at the lowest possible price and is going to be used by ESP in a marketing and price fixing scheme by the Executive Director Don Suarez and ESP, which will greatly impact the above mentioned businesses, plus many others. I currently purchase all of my water heaters from local businesses, such as, Gorman Company, Southern Pipe, Winnelson, Ferguson,Lowes and Home Depot, etc, which will be greatly impacted by the loss of revenue in the private sector when ESP implements this massive water heater installation program. These companies and myself, do not have the option of advertising directly to ESP's customers, through ESP's web site or mailed out inserts, nor do we have the benefit of using tax dollars to buy hundreds of water heaters at a time. We also do not have the option to use tax payers dollars to finance water heaters and installations or to give water heaters away. This water heater installation program that ESP plans to implement will negatively impact local businesses and the local free market. This program is planned to start up in early June, 2012 by Energy Services of Pensacola and the ESP's advertising campaign has already begun. Many of the local businesses have not been notified of any ESP meetings with proper notice or with the intent to implement a water heater installation program. I talked with Deena Faessel of ESP and asked her how come I had not been notified of ESP's intent to start up a water heater installation program and she said that they had only contacted the plumbing companies that they already had relationships with. This suggests to me that ESP and Don Suarez is giving preferential treatment to certain local businesses. Again, I am filing a formal complaint on Energy Services of Pensacola and Executive Director Don Suarez, for the above statements and for not properly notifying every local business that operates in the City of Pensacola and Escambia County that will suffer a negative impact by ESP and the City of Pensacola by implementing this water heater installation program and Don Suarez has denied the public to have the opportunity to a public forum of discussion by all that will be impacted by ESP and the City of Pensacola's actions. Please contact me at (850) 554-6414.

Thank You,

Larry Downs Jr Owner Larry Downs Jr Plumbing Company