Springfield Mayor Mike Houston has used his veto pen for the first time, knocking down an ordinance that would have given Sangamon County businesses the same preference in city contracts that businesses located within the city receive.
Currently, city businesses get five-percent leeway on their bids for city government contracts, meaning they can be awarded the contract if their offer is within five-percent of the lowest bid.
Houston vetoed the ordinance to apply that same preference to county businesses, saying that while they should receive some advantage, it should not be as much as city businesses get.
