McMillan, Acquanette (Netta)
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humaira afzal
Monday, June 8, 2026 12:02 PM
PublicComment-AutoResponse
Public Comment on Item 3 - Contract with Versaterm (June 8 City Council mtg) Some people who received this message don't often get email fromLearn why this is important [ i ] 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.
Dear Mayor and City Council,
I appreciate that City Staff checked for historical and current Versaterm contracts with the Department of Homeland Security (DhlS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in alignment with the City's 2026 resolution regarding ICE and immigration enforcement and provided the information as part of their report.
Seeing yet another high value "without competitive bidding" contract on the consent agenda motivated me to look at the number of other no-bid contracts approved by Council in recent months. The City has approved over $18 million "without competitive bidding contracts" since just October 2025. All but one of those contracts exceeded $1.4 million, and four of the contracts exceeded $3 million. Nearly $13 million was for contracts connected to PPD and DolT. I urge Council to take steps to reign in the number of high value, "without competitive bidding" contracts, especially as there are so many community wants and needs (such as a year round shelter or fixing sidewalks) that go unmet because of lack of funds.
Some no-bid contracts may be justified, but Council should discourage no-bid contracts where they're not clearly justified and also ensure that justifications actually have merit. We are almost certainly missing opportunities to save money through competitive bidding and, as a result, don't have funds to cover other community needs.
Details
10/6/2025 Vital Medical Services, $1,607,250 (PPD)
11/24/2025 Illumination Foundation $4,498,269
12/15/2025 Motorola, $1 ,489,315 (DolT for PPD)
1/26/2026 tmpex, $3,002,718 (DolT)
1/26/2026 Origami Risk, $591,760 (City Mgr)
5/18/2026 Stantec, $316,800 (Public Works)
6/08/2026 (on agenda) Versaterm, $3,120,158 (PPD)
6/082026 (on agenda) Motorola, $43,530,000 (DolT for PPD) TOTAL $18,156,270*
(*There are probably more; I only checked for contracts that included "without competitive bidding" in the description in the agenda.)
Regards,
Humaira Afzal, PhD
District 7
Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
06/08/2026
ltem3