July 09, 2009, By Heather Murtagh
Awarding two garbage-related contracts by the South Bayside Waste Management Authority was not done “with integrity and transparency,” a goal of the agency, according to a yet-to-be-released civil grand jury report.
The 12-member SBWMA awarded two 10-year contracts, for collection services and facility operations, in preparation for the expiration of its contract with Allied Waste — set to end Jan. 1, 2011. Choosing those contracts was done without thorough company background checks or a clear process for rating the bids, according to a 23-page San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury report set to be released Friday. Reconsidering the pending contracts and changing the process for reviewing bids in the future are two of the three recommendations within the report.
Virginia Chang Kiraly, chair of the 2008-09 civil grand jury, could not comment on the report since it is not yet scheduled to be public. However, she added the group stands by the research it did and conclusions reached.
Allied Waste, which was denied for both contracts, originally contacted the public and the press complaining about the original contract practices.
“It’s a complete validation of what Allied has been saying for about a year. The process is flawed,” said Pete Hillan, spokesman for Allied Waste, now called Republic. “It’s a huge win.”
Overall, the investigation led to 13 findings including that the process was flawed, without clear indication of how proposals would be rated; background checks on chosen companies were not fully vetted; and elected officials do not serve on the board. In addition, South Bay Recycling’s proposal included mistakes and omissions totaling $1.2 million it asked SBWMA to cover.
As a result, the process appeared to allow for undue influence and was poorly executed, according to the report.
To rectify these problems, the grand jury suggested the contracts be reconsidered; the future process for awarding contracts be reworked; and the authority agreement be amended to include elected officials from member groups on the board.
SBWMA was formed in 1982 to consolidate local collection services while coordinating efforts to manage solid waste disposal in 12 areas — Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos, San Mateo, West Bay Sanitation District and unincorporated areas of San Mateo County.
Allied Waste has operated both collection and disposal services of solid waste since SBWMA’s inception. The current contract ends Jan. 1, 2011, prompting SBWMA to call for separate contract bids for the two services.
In November 2007, the agency’s board began seeking contract bids for collection services. Four proposals — Allied Waste, Bayside Environmental Services and Transfer, Norcal Waste Systems of San Mateo County and Republic Services of California, Inc. — were submitted by March 11, 2008.
Judging was split into two committees, evaluation and selection. The evaluation committee analyzed and numerically scored each proposal. The weight of and giving of points was not uniform, with which the grand jury report took issue. Norcal was selected on Aug. 28, 2008.
Noting a well-publicized controversial history Norcal had with San Jose, the grand jury found a representative from San Jose was not contacted about the problems before awarding the contract. In addition, the consultant hired by SBWMA to verify competitor references, helped draft the contract for Norcal when it applied to the San Jose position in 2000.
Burlingame and Atherton have yet to adopt the contract. Each city works as its own franchise when voting on the contract, said SBWMA Executive Director Kevin McCarthy.
Burlingame Finance Director Jesus Nava, who serves on the SBWMA Board of Directors, explained the city waited to vote because of a desire to see the finished grand jury report.
Seven proposals were turned in for the contract to operate the Shoreway Facility — which includes the San Carlos transfer center, material recycling facility and environmental education center.
South Bay Recycling was made the top runner and has since been in negotiations to change the proposal, according to the grand jury report. South Bay Recycling plans to run the site as a satellite location from its offices in Southern California. This contract has yet to go before the 12 agencies, said McCarthy, who noted it goes before the board later this month.
The full report will be made public Friday. The groups involved have 90 days to respond.
Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=113024
and
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12791054
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