NEW CONTRACTING OFFICER FOR Y-12/PANTEX M&O PROCUREMENT

Leticia Barela has replaced Dan Saiz as the contracting officer on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s combined Y-12/Pantex management and operating contract procurement as Saiz shifts back to a full-time supervisory role with the agency’s M&O contracting group, NNSA spokesman Josh McConaha confirmed to NW&M Monitor. McConaha said Saiz had filled in as the contracting officer on the procurement when Kim Gallegos moved to another position in the agency, and Barela was formally hired to take Gallegos’ spot. Barela will also replace Saiz as a voting member on the Source Evaluation Board for the procurement, though Saiz will serve as an advisor to the SEB, McConaha said. The NNSA formally made the change earlier this month in an amendment to the Request for Proposals, establishing Barela and not Saiz as the main point of contact for bidders. The change comes as bidders are reworking their proposals in the wake of last month’s high-profile security breach at Y-12, and represents the fourth change to the SEB in the last year-and-a-half after the retirement of SEB Chair Patty Wagner and members George Allen and Ed Wilmot.