Long-time St. Joseph Museums Inc. critic/Wyeth-Tootle Mansion advocate Ellis Cross wants the city of St. Joseph to seek bids for the operations of the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion.

Mr. Cross sent an email Tuesday to the City Council (and copies to just about everyone else he could think of), wondering why the city would treat Museums Inc. differently than anyone else who wants to get paid for a city service. He said the city should make a request for proposals, or RFP, which is the basic stage in any bid process.

The city and Museums Inc. are currently working on a one-year "interim" contract for museum operations after a lawsuit voided the last contract.

Here's Ellis' full email:

St. Joseph City Council members,

I am sure that each of you has access to a computer and the Internet. When you get a chance please enter the initials RFP into your browser and see how the rest of the world asks for assistance in outsourcing management of everything from city owned marinas to museums.

The city of St. Joseph needs to take this approach to find another corporation to operate the Wyeth Tootle mansion. It doesn ?t seem right to limit the oversight board and the legal department to only St. Joseph Museums Inc., as the only source to operate the mansion.

St. Joseph Museums Inc. has not kept their contract with the city and citizens for over 25 years. For example, just look at the money we need to spend now to maintain the building they were contracted to maintain. Where did the last $10 million go? Why are they steadily going broke? Why is the mansion in such a state of disrepair?

If the city would produce a "Request for Proposal" via the Internet other local and outside corporations could propose a better idea that would cost less. The left over dollars could be better spent on maintenance of the people?s mansion.

We need to have an RFP on the cities web site explaining that the city of St. Joseph is seeking proposals to operate one historic mansion as an event house and tour home. When the RFP explains that the home has an operating budget of up to $400,000 per year many companies would get in line to assist us.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the council is going about this in the wrong manner. You have an obligation to what is right and best for the citizens of St. Joseph. It seems the goal, in this case, is to get the money back into the hands of St. Joseph Museums Inc., on their terms, rather than finding the best people to operate the mansion for the citizens of St. Joseph.

Respectfully Submitted

Ellis L. Cross