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Public Comment - Pasadena Ed Tech Committee Meeting 05/19/26 From Yadi
Date Tue 5/19/2026 2:32 PM
To Gao, Beilei <[email protected]>; PublicComment-AutoResponse <[email protected]>
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Public Comment - Pasadena Education Technology Committee 05-19-26 Cybersecurity - Carahsoft.pdf; [A] CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button. For more information about the Phish Alert Button view article "KB0011474" on the DolT portal.
Hi,
Please find attached my public comment for the May 19, 2026 Pasadena Ed Tech Meeting, agenda item 6. DolT Managed Endpoint Cybersecurity Protection and Monitoring Services - Carahsoft.
Thanks,
Yadi
(Attachments: 1)
6. DolT Managed Endpoint Cybersecurity Protection and Monitoring Services - Carahsoft I thank the City of Pasadena for investing in the protection of our invisible critical infrastructure.
We are in a positive position to have received a good amount of well-qualified vendors to select from to assist with protecting our technology infrastructure. I ask the City Council to award the contract to an alternate vendor who does not have ties or contracts with DHS or ICE, and in alignment with the City's commitment to protect residents regardless of immigration status.
The staff report states Carahsoft is essentially a reseller (Carahsoft Master Aggregator™).1 Therefore, it is more questionable to treat a reseller as a vendor, and it only serves to further obfuscate who the city is doing business with. How can Carahsoft and the city staff confidently say what the ultimate technology product will be in terms of costs and capabilities? Unless it already knows who the end vendor is (and is not telling the council and the public), it cannot.
Will we end up with Palantir by way of Carahsoft - another surveillance technology platform aiding with DHS and ICE crimes against humanity?2
Carahsoft is itself embroiled in significant controversy and deep legal hot waters:
Carahsoft settled for $75.5 million over a Fair Claims Act lawsuit in 2015 for concealing commercial pricing and overcharging the government,3
The FBI raided Carahsoft offices in 2024 and is beina investigated by the U.S. Justice department for conspiracy to overcharge the government billions of dollars, facing more False Claims Act violations, for "conspfirinfll with other companies to rig bids, inflate prices, overcharge and defraud the Department of Defense (DoD), among other federal government agencies, in selling [redacted] software, cloud storage and related hardware and services."4 5 According to Federal News Network reporting, the FBI raid should serve as a wake up call for the reseller market. It should be a wake up call for municipal governments procuring tech as well. 1 https://www.carahsoft.com/about
2 https://compt^olle^.nyc.gov/reports/letter-to-palantir-technologies-requesting-thi^d-party-human-rights-risk-assessment/ 3 https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/vmware-and-carahsoft-agree-pay-755-million-settle-claims-they-concealed- commercial-pricing?bm-verify=AAQAAAAN_3uxlAa7awUBZYVUrS9jszC3e7UNBqBEEjlVUvdmiV9frV- J6kf4fvHFnLoZaVkbzdVpzXsmJmzN_punoByM56KrhjP4v8jVvDDFAaAkH5JRwqOYCZRLrBxOjuprlb<AmJ17CjbSZue_BV h_66a3pOK_xDDErB28DSBrH3Jwhvxp-2oDFpm4-
OqWiRwrv8gAA3041cEuPLNk6ulkGRB3735XEvD-9LedkdzTb8MktONE9xuNpHx5G4iXumQz2Ncn8jpwq5KrXkGskApn7S jfQ2tLsSaRQdEWX6mcK-v6unPEuHqVerYA9CKsuW6DRH7l3VIVd8dZ6jk8Er4xqqOc52Cu11SzlacFRN2rYc1- _h6JkwnE2DowoUd6v05KOUmik4fNf29a-ljjLe_SDfnPv70EtJDDCqQ 4 https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2024/09/fl3i-dcis-raid-carahsoft-headquarters/ 5 https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/doj-probe-into-carahsoft-may-disrupt-sap-and-servicenow- sales-93CH-3632261
6. DolT Managed Endpoint Cybersecurity Protection and Monitoring Services - Carahsoft Former federal executives and industry experts said it may be time to rethink the IT value added reseller (ITVAR) approach as the FBI and DCIS raid shined a brighter light on supply chain risks that most vendors and agencies generally glossed over until now.6 As several industry sources said, the FBI and DCIS don't raid companies if it's just a civil matter. Without knowing any details of Carahsoft's situation, sources said history has shown if the FBI shows up, there usually is something more serious and illegal going on.
But, the source said "when the FBI decides to arrive at your door unannounced, it's usually an "extreme" situation...This had to be a massive non-compliance with a lot of missed deadlines and something criminal going on."
A long-time federal procurement expert said he could see agencies looking for alternatives to Carahsoft until they know more about what's going on.
"They will look at those contracts and see if they can get this technology from somewhere else. ff/ was a government employee and this was cioing on, part of my thinking would be how do I get what I need and not buy it here," he said. "/ would think companies also are examining whether they can partner with someone else, especially if an agency is not willing to use that company for now."
The concerns expressed by several industry executives aren't just about Carahsoft, but around the entire ITVAR approach. "There are downstream risks from that are biproducts of the market and do not lead to healthy outcomes for the government."7 Say no, reject the Carahsoft contract and go with another competent vendor (not a reseller).
Yadi
Pasadena Education Technology Committee Meeting
May 19, 2026
6. DolT Managed Endpoint Cybersecurity Protection and Monitoring Services - Carahsoft 6 https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition-policy/2024/10/carahsoft-raid-may-be-a-wake-up-call-for-the-reseller-market/ 7 https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition-policy/2024/10/carahsoft-raid-may-be-a-wake-up-call-for-the-reseller-market/