A D.C. Lottery advertising and marketing contract worth nearly $70 million has officially been awarded to a team led by Taoti Creative after the incumbent bidder had protested the agency’s selection earlier this year, reports Washington Business Journal.

According to WBJ: “The contract went live Jan. 3 via “passive approval,” meaning that the D.C. Council did not take action to stop it from going into effect.

“D.C.-based Taoti Creative was awarded the contract in March. D.C.’s MDB Communications, the incumbent on this specific contract since 2016 and an advertising and marketing contractor for the D.C. Lottery since 1993, appealed the award. MDB’s protest to the city’s Contract Appeals Board was denied in November, setting up Taoti’s contract for approval by the D.C. Council.”

But in late November, after MDB raised opposition, Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, D-Ward 5, introduced a disapproval resolution on the contract award to give members more time to examine the agency’s decision. That resolution, which was co-sponsored by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and other members, put a 45-day stay on the award and required the full legislative body to vote on it in order to stop the contract.

“That vote never happened, thus ushering in the award in the new year,” reports WBJ.

More here.