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  • 2013-04-22 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Dianne Feinstein Get Her Husband's Company a USPS Contract? (en)
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  • Facing a deficit of billions of dollars in recent years, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has floated a number of proposals to reduce that deficit, including selling off hundreds of post office properties in order to gain cash flow and reduce expenses. According to the Postal Service's 2012 report to Congress, more than 600 buildings nationwide were earmarked for disposal at tjay to,e and the USPS Properties for Sale web site listed 40 buildings and land parcels for sale across the U.S. In 2011, the CB Richard Ellis Group (now CBRE Group, Inc.), the world's largest commercial real estate services firm, was awarded an exclusive contract to market USPS facilities which provides CBRE with a commission of 2 to 6 percent on the sale of those properties. This award has been the subject of some controversy, as CBRE's Chairman of the Board is Richard C. Blum, the husband of Senator Dianne Feinstein, who represents the state of California in the U.S. Senate: It isn't accurate to say Richard Blum is solely in charge of CBRE or he owns the company, as CBRE is headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Robert E. Sulentic and is a public company whose shares are owned by many different individuals and institutional stockholders. However, it is indeed true that Richard Blum is both CBRE's chairman and the husband of a U.S. senator, and Blum Capital, a private equity firm founded by Richard Blum, is one of CBRE's larger institutional stockholders. However, Senator Feinstein holds no position in the Congress that provides her with any particular control or authority over the U.S. Postal Service (such as sitting on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which has jurisdiction over the Postal Service). Postal Service spokeswoman Sue Brennan said that seven different firms participated in competitive bidding for the USPS contract, and CBRE Group was chosen because it was the contractor with the best overall organization, capability and experience. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, columnist Andrew S. Ross quoted a representative of Senator Feinstein as asserting she was not involved in her husband's business dealings, and the contract between the USPS and CBRE was not initiated or influenced by Congress: In June 2013 the USPS' Office of Inspector General issued an audit report which noted outsourcing real estate management services to one supplier is a fundamental change from how the Postal Service previously managed its real estate portfolio and was critical of several aspects of the contract between USPS and CBRE, but Richard Blum's marital relationship with Senator Feinstein was not among the conflict of interest issues cited in that report: Journalist Peter Byrne expanded his previous news writings on this subject into a full-length book dedicated to the relationship between Richard Blum, CBRE, and the USPS in which he charged Blum and CBRE with various misdealings and mismanagement in brokering the sales of USPS properties, but he offered no proof Blum and CBRE had obtained or kept their contract with the USPS due to the influence of Senator Feinstein. (en)
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