Page | 1 Sole Source Form – Rev. May 12, 2016
City of Richmond
Sole Source Justification
THIS FORM MUST BE COMPLETED AND APPROVED PRIOR TO ANY PURCHASE _______________________________________________________________________________ Contact the Purchasing Division and discuss your rationale before completing this form. If Purchasing can help you make this a competitive purchase, then this form will not be required.
Attach this completed/approved form to requisitions when competitive quotes/bids/proposals are not solicited. (Required for requisitions > $3,000)
Requested Sole Source Supplier:
Company Name: ___________________________ Contact Name: ______________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________________ City: _________________________ State: _____________ Zip Code: ____________________ Phone Number (____) ___________ E-Mail _______________________________________ Duration of Contract: ____________________________________ Estimated Cost: $ _______________ Funding Source (Account String)_________________ Is the product/service IT related? Yes_____No _____ If Yes, please attach the approved IT Authorization Form For Product: Is the recommended company the manufacturer of the product? Yes_____ No _____ For Product: Does the manufacturer sell the item(s) through distributors? Yes_____ No _____ Description of Product or Service:
Describe the full scope of work or service contemplated including installation if required; items should include brand, model and part number if applicable; (if additional space is needed, include them in a separate page)
Sole Source Rationale: PLEASE ANSWER ALL THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: Explain why the recommended company is the only company that can meet the requirement. Address the following: Are there any other companies who can do this job? What condition (e.g. technological superiority, or performance risks, etc.) exists so that the recommended company has a significant advantage over any other company who can do this job? It is important to sufficiently address the key reason for awarding an order/contract without soliciting competitive bids. The rational must be clear and convincing, avoiding generalities and unsupported conclusions.
(if additional space is needed, include them in a separate page)
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Complete the following checklist
A specific contractor is the only source of the required item because (check all that apply):
The required items are proprietary to the Contractor, and contractor solely transacts (sells) direct to the customer. (There are no dealers or distributors for contractor).
The required items are proprietary to the Contractor, and contractor does not sell direct to the customer. Contractor solely distributes the item or service through only one dealer or distributor in the United States. (There are no dealers or distributors for contractor).
Note: If item or service is available from more than one source, the item or service may be treated as proprietary, but must be competitively solicited from multiple (two or more) sources.
A specific item is needed:
To be compatible or interchangeable with existing hardware As spare or replacement hardware For the repair or modification of existing hardware Federal or state grant names vendor as condition of funding. (Attach copy of grant that names vendor)
There is a substantial risk in contracting with any other contractor, (e.g., only one contractor has been successful to date in implementing a difficult manufacturing process or the services sought ). In a brief explanation, provide supporting evidence of why other contractors are considered to be unable to overcome the substantial risk.
Continuation of prior Work – Additional item, service or work required, but not known to have been needed when the original order was placed with vendor, and it is not feasible or practicable to contract separately for the additional need. Provide brief explanation and supporting evidence.
(if additional space is needed, include them in a separate page)
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I acknowledge the City’s requirements for soliciting competitive quotes/bids for purchases over $3,000.00 and the criteria for justification for Sole Source purchases. I have gathered the required information, have made a concerted effort to review comparable/equal equipment/services (e.g., market research), and further affirm that there is no conflict of interest involved in the selection made.
Department: _________________________________
Requester Name and Title: ____________________________________________________________ Note: Requester must be able to defend this justification.
Date:_____________ Phone: _______________
Department Director (Print) _____________________ (Sign) ________________ Date:__________
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Submit completed form to the Purchasing Division (Prior to submission to City Manager)
Finance Director:
APPROVED: ____________________ DATE: ___/___/___
NOT APPROVED: ________________ COMMENTS:
____________________________ ______________________________ City Manager City Clerk Attesting to Council Approval (Under $10,000.00) (Over $10,000.00) (Copy of Minutes may be substituted)
Note: Richmond Municipal Code Section 2.52.326 Sole Source Procurement requires final approval by the City Manager and/or City Council. Sole Source must be approved by Finance Director, PRIOR to Council Approval.
PROCEDURE
Sole Source purchase/service are exceptions to the normal bidding process and require a detailed justification. In processing Sole Source requests for supplies, services and/or equipment, the Purchasing Division adheres to and is governed by the principles set forth in City of Richmond Municipal Code Section 2.52.326 Sole Source Procurement.
If you are requesting a particular vendor, brand or product, you must make this fact clear on your Sole Source form.
Your request will then be restrictive and non-competitive, and will fall into a sole source category. If the sole source justification is approved, the requisition can be expedited without the normal bidding requirements.
Such a request should not be made unless you are confident that your request is reasonable and appropriately justified to meet the City’s requirements and withstand any possible audit. The City’s requirements and the format for submitting such requests are contained herein. Sole Source form must be signed by authorized department representative(s). The certification will remain on file for audit purposes.
The following factors DO NOT apply to sole source requests and should not be included in your sole source justification. They will not be considered and only tend to confuse the evaluation process.
1. Personal preference for product or vendor.
2. Cost, vendor performance, and local service (these are generally considered award factors in competitive bidding).
3. Features which exceed the minimum department requirements.
Charleston Mobility, LLC • 433 Bishop Street, Suite B1 • Atlanta, GA 30318
August 12, 2022
Denée Evans, MA, CPM
Richmond Transportation Department
440 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, CA 94804
[email protected]
(510) 621-1718
Re: Richmond Bikeshare
Thank you again for the opportunity to partner with you and the City of Richmond. We are in a unique situation where we can step in and fulfill the grant commitments that Bolt abandoned and bring the Bike Share System back to life. As the exclusive manufacturer and provider of the e-bikes you own, we know the proprietary technology and have access to spare parts locally in the USA. We also have the technology platform and firmware designed specifically for these units. As you know, we used this technology over the last few days with you to assist with the recovery of bikes at risk and can utilize this to recover stolen bikes should the opportunity present itself.
EFO Ventures is an investment studio, owned by David Touwsma & Sean Flood, and is focused on the mobility sector. The companies in the portfolio include, Element (Exclusive manufacture of the e bikes used in Richmond CA), Charleston Mobility, LLC. (shared mobility operator), Hello Llama (mobility safety software), Frog Mobility (scooters and bike operations in Europe), Ottr (bike share operator in UK) and MIXTE Electric (eBike manufacturer directly sold to consumers).
Please review our proposal for a Public/Private partnership that we would enjoy moving forward with.
Please let me know if I can provide any additional information. Our approach is to keep the ridership revenue in a fund to offset future growth, expenses and infrastructure. It will not be a profit center for our company, but rather a partnership for expansion of the program.
Qualifications:
• Experience: Sean Flood and I were the original founders and owners of Gotcha Mobility which started in 2009. We were pioneers in municipal and university bikeshare growing Gotcha to over 100 contracted locations before we sold the business in March 2020 to Last Mile Holdings. We have continued to manufacture products for use in mobility sharing businesses and have built a turnkey solution with software, hardware, and technology.
• Product Design: Through our company, Element LEV, we are the exclusive manufacturer and designer of the e-bike fleet that you have in Richmond. At Element, we own the mold for the bikes, batteries, IoT, basket, cover – essentially all the proprietary parts on the bike (ie, not brakes, belt, Shimano parts, etc.).
• Spare Parts: We have access to all spare parts and keep a supply in the US so we can accommodate our customers’ needs for repair and maintenance requests. The battery molds and Battery Management System (BMS) cannot be replicated and must be manufactured at our facility. It speaks
Charleston Mobility, LLC • 433 Bishop Street, Suite B1 • Atlanta, GA 30318
a special communication language with our controller to report battery health, level, error codes, etc. At a minimum, I do know there will be a quick need for batteries, and we do have some in stock to get the system started.
• Firmware: Just as most electronics (think iPhone, computer, etc.) require software updates, our products do as well. This is the battery, IoT, Display, and Motor. As an example, the current firmware allows the SIM card to bounce back and forth between 3G and 4G. We have updated firmware for the IoT that pushes it only to 4G as we know the 3G networks are ending. We had our developers work on this exclusively for months with a great deal of testing and no others have access to this.
• Software: To run a bike share system there must be a consumer app, a mechanics app, and a back- end platform. Our app is designed and ready to accept these bikes quickly and get them back up and running. This is something to not take lightly. The IoTs (on board computers) can only talk with certain platforms and must be integrated through software code to be able to communicate all operational functions like lock, unlock, out of zone, slow zone, maintenance mode. This IoT, because we designed it with our technology team, is integrated into our platform.
• Additional Assets: Being the designer, manufacturer, and overall technology architect, we can easily bring more bikes to Richmond. We can also make any modifications to the bike design to fit any additional needs for the community. We also design stand up e-scooters, sit down e-scooters, and mopeds should there be any interest in adding another asset class. The stand-up scooter shares some of the same technology and the battery becomes swappable. We also do not have anyone else distributing our products for us, so we are the singular source.
• Partnerships: We have historically partnered with local bike shops to handle some or all the operations and repair and would be delighted to work with and manage Rich City Rides. We have many partnerships structured this way and when structured properly provide a winning combination for everyone.
I hope this helps outline why we would be best suited to assist you in re-launching this bikeshare program. Aside from this, we do have a real passion for seeing this project through and connecting the other communities as originally envisioned. Please see our approach to re-launch:
Scope of Work
We propose to address this in a phased approach which maximizes quick call to action (within 30 days) and minimizes expenditures while we stabilize and plan for additional phases to achieve the vision for the program.
Thank you again for the opportunity.
David Touwsma