City of Camarillo
Public Comments
Sunday, May 5, 2024 06:14 PMPUBLIC COMMENTS
NOTICE
This is a public document and will be posted as part of the public record. Any attachments, pictures, and information submitted will be subject to disclosure in accordance with applicable law, including the Public Records Act.
Meeting Date Monday, May 6, 2024
Agency City Council
Item Type Agenda Item
Item Number or Subject Camarillo Transit Change
Position Oppose
Comments I can't believe that the city would consider turning a vital city service like Camarillo Transit over to an out of state company that apparently has a history of failure in other cities. What is the plan if they fail here as well? Not everyone can afford Uber or Lyft, some might try to drive themselves when doing so could be dangerous & some might have to cut back on shopping or medical care until they can get someone to drive them. Please don't do this.
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IDENTIFICATION
Name Kathy Balcom
Address 697 Arneill Road
Camarillo, CA, 93010
Telephone (323) 203-4452
Email [email protected]
1 Public Records Acknowledgement By checking this box, I acknowledge that I understand anything I submit will become part of the public record and be subject to disclosure in accordance with applicable law, including the Public Records Act.
2 City of Camarillo
Public Comments
Sunday, May 5, 2024 02:45 PMPUBLIC COMMENTS
NOTICE
This is a public document and will be posted as part of the public record. Any attachments, pictures, and information submitted will be subject to disclosure in accordance with applicable law, including the Public Records Act.
Meeting Date Monday, May 6, 2024
Agency City Council
Item Type Agenda Item
Item Number or Subject New transit contract
Position Oppose
Comments Please do not hire a new company for the dial a ride and shuttle contract. The company you are looking at has a bad reputation.
The current system is working. Please don't change ir
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IDENTIFICATION
Name Kay Wigton
Address 3493 Canoga Place
Camarillo, CA, 93010
Telephone (805) 469-5106
Email [email protected]
Public Records AcknowledgementBy checking this box, I acknowledge that I understand anything I submit will become part of the public record and be subject to disclosure in accordance with applicable law, including the Public Records Act.
City of Camarillo
Public Comments
Monday, May 6, 2024 08:18 AMPUBLIC COMMENTS
NOTICE
This is a public document and will be posted as part of the public record. Any attachments, pictures, and information submitted will be subject to disclosure in accordance with applicable law, including the Public Records Act.
Meeting Date Monday, May 6, 2024
Agency City Council
Item Type Agenda Item
Item Number or Subject N
Position Oppose
Comments Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council Members, I am writing you in opposition of the recommendation to award the Agreement No. 202428 with RTW Management, Inc. for
transit operations and maintenance services for a four-year term. I have spent most of my career in the transportation industry and specifically operating this contract. I have worked in every role of this contract from administration, taking reservations, dispatching, driving, and maintenance. There is no way a small company from Utah with no operations in California can maintain the level of service this contract requires. I have never seen a municipality take such a huge risk in awarding a contract to a company that has no operations in the State of California. There is a reason that all of the major local operators chose not to bid on this contract. The Camarillo Dial-A-Ride & Fixed Route Transit services takes a lot of resources for the little amount of money in the contract to maintain operations and uphold the level of service the City of Camarillo and their residents of Camarillo are accustomed too. The other local major contractors cannot provide this service for less than what RATP is already charging the City. This contract used to have a supplemental contract that would contract out the excess rides that the City system itself could not handle on its own. Then the 1 City chose Roadrunner for the full services including any supplemental services required to sustain the expected level of service in one contract because Roadrunner had a lot of local resources. Awarding this contract to a company with no local resources or operations in California, Southern California, Ventura County or the City of Camarillo is an extreme risk. You only see this level of risk when gambling in Las Vegas. The City should not be the guineapig to see if RTW Management can actually operate and sustain operations for the next four years.
After review of the agenda report, I noticed some significant concerns.
The amount not to exceed price is more than what the current operator RATP was proposing to continue to for the next four (4) years. The current operator has a proven record of success and is backed by a $16 Billion company. I did not see any financial rating or review of RTW management to see if they have the significant capital to start up a small operation in California that takes significant local assets and capital resources.
RTW Management had submitted an incomplete certificate of insurance to show they have the proper insurance to provide transit services for municipalities in California. This is a big red flag. An incomplete certificate of insurance should have excluded RTW Management from being recommended to be
awarded any contract. I would request a copy of their actual insurance policies to verify coverage for transit services in California in their general and commercial auto policies vs just an incomplete certificate of insurance that may not show they actually have the correct insurance to provide these transit services for municipalities in California. Standard General Liability and Standard Commercial Auto Insurance for
transportation is not going to cover liability for Public Transit in California.
Business Location is in Thousand Oaks. Where in Thousand Oaks? Since the City pays for the fuel separate from this contract that means the City will have a significantly higher fuel bill and impact on the environment by choosing an operator that operates up the grade outside of Camarillo. All the sales tax for the Fuel will go to the City of Thousand Oaks. All those trips up and down the grade everyday multiple times a day will also put a lot of wear and tear on the City vehicles. The last I checked there was no property for a fleet in a fenced-in yard available in Thousand Oaks. There are many Cadillac converter thieves out there and these vehicles must be locked up at night. After the bid was submitted, RTW Management called me looking to rent one of our properties in Camarillo. That means they did not have a letter of intent or a feasible location to operate in Thousand Oaks that has a fenced-in yard for security of the City of Camarillo vehicles when they submitted their bid. This shows RTW Management just threw their bid up against the wall to see if it would stick and somehow it did.
2 Company will use City dispatch software for DAR services. The last I checked the City of Camarillo uses the RATP Dev
software. Changing over to a new City DAR software that the City may or may not have right now would require a significant software and hardware transition that is clearly not mentioned in the review of this RFP. Driver, Fleet, Hardware and Software transition of a service at its peak month in July right before the fireworks is a major transition for a major company let alone a small company from Utah with no operations in the State of California or operations in a State that must comply with Wage order 9 (Meal Breaks & Rest Breaks).
The City has the option to extend the current agreement with the current operator RATP. The Staff report indicates that Staff confirmed the City has the option to not award the contract to any proposer and extend the current operator RATP’s existing agreement. Staff confirmed that RATP would not be excluding itself from being considered for a contract extension by not submitting a proposal. RATP’s current agreement does not expire until June 30, 2024, and the City has the option to notify RATP that it intends to renew the agreement prior to 30 days before the expiration date. This seems the most reasonable route for the City with the least amount of risk to the City and the Citizens who utilize this service in their daily lives. If I were on the City Council, I would choose the least risk option for the City and not allow our City to be an experiment to see if a company with no operations in California can operate this service.
In conclusion, choosing the current contractor to continue the service makes sense to reduce the risk on the City, the environmental and traffic impacts, increases the economic benefit to the City and keeps the employees and tax dollars here in the City of Camarillo
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Take care,
Charles Sandlin, MBA
7258 Camino Las Ramblas
Camarillo, CA 93012
[email protected]
805-709-6120
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PDF Item N - Transit Operation an… .pdf
IDENTIFICATION
3 Name Charles Sandlin
Address 7258 Camino Las Ramblas
Camarillo, California, 93012-9207
Telephone (805) 709-6120
Email [email protected]
Public Records AcknowledgementBy checking this box, I acknowledge that I understand anything I submit will become part of the public record and be subject to disclosure in accordance with applicable law, including the Public Records Act.
4 Charles Sandlin
7258 Camino Las Ramblas,
Camarillo, CA 93012
[email protected]
805-709-6120
May 6th, 2024
Subject: Item N - Transit Operation and Maintenance Services – Award of Agreement
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council Members,
I am writing you in opposition of the recommendation to award the Agreement No. 202428 with RTW Management, Inc. for transit operations and maintenance services for a four-year term. I have spent most of my career in the transportation industry and specifically operating this contract. I have worked in every role of this contract from administration, taking reservations, dispatching, driving, and maintenance. There is no way a small company from Utah with no operations in California can maintain the level of service this contract requires. I have never seen a municipality take such a huge risk in awarding a contract to a company that has no operations in the State of California. There is a reason that all of the major local operators chose not to bid on this contract. The Camarillo Dial-A-Ride & Fixed Route Transit services takes a lot of resources for the little amount of money in the contract to maintain operations and uphold the level of service the City of Camarillo and their residents of Camarillo are accustomed too. The other local major contractors cannot provide this service for less than what RATP is already charging the City. This contract used to have a supplemental contract that would contract out the excess rides that the City system itself could not handle on its own. Then the City chose Roadrunner for the full services including any supplemental services required to sustain the expected level of service in one contract because Roadrunner had a lot of local resources. Awarding this contract to a company with no local resources or operations in California, Southern California, Ventura County or the City of Camarillo is an extreme risk. You only see this level of risk when gambling in Las Vegas. The City should not be the guineapig to see if RTW Management can actually operate and sustain operations for the next four years.
After review of the agenda report, I noticed some significant concerns.
The amount not to exceed price is more than what the current operator RATP was proposing to continue to for the next four (4) years. The current operator has a proven record of success and is backed by a $16 Billion company. I did not see any financial rating or review of RTW management to see if they have the significant capital to start up a small operation in California that takes significant local assets and capital resources.
RTW Management had submitted an incomplete certificate of insurance to show they have the proper insurance to provide transit services for municipalities in California. This is a big red flag. An incomplete certificate of insurance should have excluded RTW Management from being recommended to be awarded any contract. I would request a copy of their actual insurance policies to verify coverage for transit services in California in their general and commercial auto policies vs just an incomplete certificate of insurance that may not show they actually have the correct insurance to provide these transit services for municipalities in California. Standard General Liability and Standard Commercial Auto Insurance for transportation is not going to cover liability for Public Transit in California.
Business Location is in Thousand Oaks. Where in Thousand Oaks? Since the City pays for the fuel separate from this contract that means the City will have a significantly higher fuel bill and impact on the environment by choosing an operator that operates up the grade outside of Camarillo. All the sales tax for the Fuel will go to the City of Thousand Oaks. All those trips up and down the grade everyday multiple times a day will also put a lot of wear and tear on the City vehicles. The last I checked there was no property for a fleet in a fenced-in yard available in Thousand Oaks. There are many Cadillac converter thieves out there and these vehicles must be locked up at night. After the bid was submitted, RTW Management called me looking to rent one of our properties in Camarillo. That means they did not have a letter of intent or a feasible location to operate in Thousand Oaks that has a fenced-in yard for security of the City of Camarillo vehicles when they submitted their bid. This shows RTW Management just threw their bid up against the wall to see if it would stick and somehow it did.
Company will use City dispatch software for DAR services. The last I checked the City of Camarillo uses the RATP Dev software. Changing over to a new City DAR software that the City may or may not have right now would require a significant software and hardware transition that is clearly not mentioned in the review of this RFP. Driver, Fleet, Hardware and Software transition of a service at its peak month in July right before the fireworks is a major transition for a major company let alone a small company from Utah with no operations in the State of California or operations in a State that must comply with Wage order 9 (Meal Breaks & Rest Breaks).
The City has the option to extend the current agreement with the current operator RATP. The Staff report indicates that Staff confirmed the City has the option to not award the contract to any proposer and extend the current operator RATP’s existing agreement. Staff confirmed that RATP would not be excluding itself from being considered for a contract extension by not submitting a proposal. RATP’s current agreement does not expire until June 30, 2024, and the City has the option to notify RATP that it intends to renew the agreement prior to 30 days before the expiration date. This seems the most reasonable route for the City with the least amount of risk to the City and the Citizens who utilize this service in their daily lives. If I were on the City Council, I would choose the least risk option for the City and not allow our City to be an experiment to see if a company with no operations in California can operate this service.
In conclusion, choosing the current contractor to continue the service makes sense to reduce the risk on the City, the environmental and traffic impacts, increases the economic benefit to the City and keeps the employees and tax dollars here in the City of Camarillo
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Take care,
Charles Sandlin, MBA
7258 Camino Las Ramblas
Camarillo, CA 93012
[email protected]
805-709-6120