FRANKLIN - Starting in August 2005, city software consultant Ed Stewart was hired as a consultant to oversee installing a new software program for Franklin's city departments.
Instead of following Franklin's competitive bid rules and submitting a proposal, however, Stewart installed the software program without signing a contract or going through the bidding process that would have given city officials a chance to compare whether Stewart's $60-an-hour price was cheaper or more expensive than other contractors.
In the end, invoices show the city paid the Windham, Maine-based consultant more than $730,000 from August 2005 through February 2013 before Franklin officials discovered Stewart did not have a contract with the city.
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