July 28, 2026
Finance Department
DATE: July 28, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Nickie Mastay, Deputy City Manager, Internal Services
Emily Combs, Director of Finance
Mubeen Qader, Deputy Director of Finance
Antonio Banuelos, Accounting Manager
Ofelia Alvarez, Senior Buyer
Subject: Agreements with AAA Workspace, Blaisdell’s Business Products, and Staples Contract & Commercial LLC for
Office Supplies and Paper Products
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Actual annual expenditures for office supplies and paper products are anticipated to be approximately $200,000
City-wide and are included within the approved Fiscal
Year 2026-2027 operating budget. Similar funding levels are expected in future fiscal years, subject to City Council approval. The proposed $100,000 per-vendor spending
authority establishes a maximum limit for each vendor to provide purchasing flexibility, ensure departments obtain the best pricing and product availability, and support
continuity of operation.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The City has ongoing needs to purchase office supplies
for various departments. City staff request approval to use Cooperative Purchase Agreements and maximize
cost savings and staff resources by sharing contracting and purchasing efforts with other governmental agencies.
AGENDA
REPORT
July 28, 2026
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution to APPROVE cooperative purchase
agreements with AAA Workspace and Blaisdell’s
Business Products through OMNIA Partners and with
Staples Contract & Commercial LLC through Sourcewell
for the purchase of City-wide office supplies and paper products, in an amount not to exceed $100,000 per
vendor, for the period of July 1, 2026, through July 1, 2027, with two one-year extensions in an additional
amount not to exceed $100,000 per vendor per year. —
Finance Department (Antonio Banuelos 510-620-6741/
Ofelia Alvarez 510-620-6699).
DISCUSSION:
The City has ongoing needs to purchase office supplies and paper products for various departments. Finance staff conducted an analysis and prepared an estimate of the anticipated City-wide purchases of a variety of related goods and services, including but not limited to office supplies and paper products. These purchases are necessary to ensure the continued delivery of programs and services City-wide. In an ongoing effort to maximize cost savings and staff resources, many government agencies share contracting efforts through cooperative purchasing. This procurement approach increases pricing competitiveness and lowers operating costs through volume purchasing.
The Finance Director may arrange for the City to enter into an agreement (“Cooperative Purchasing Agreement”) with one or more local, city, county, state, federal or other public entity, in order to cooperatively purchase supplies and services. [Richmond Municipal Code section 2.52.380(a)] The use of Cooperative Purchase Agreements maximizes cost savings and staff resources by sharing contracting and purchasing efforts with other government agencies. Utilizing cooperative purchasing agreements provides an opportunity for the City to obtain lower pricing through volume purchasing.
As cooperative agreements reach expiration, they are automatically renewed allowing government agencies to continue to leverage cost savings.
The City utilizes multiple office supply vendors because no single vendor consistently offers the lowest pricing or carries all required products. Product availability, delivery times, and pricing may vary among vendors. By maintaining relationships with multiple cooperative contract vendors, departments can compare pricing and availability at the time of purchase and select the vendor that provides the best overall value to the City while ensuring uninterrupted access to necessary supplies.
OMNIA and Sourcewell are leading national government purchasing cooperatives, providing world-class government procurement resources and solutions to local and state government agencies, school districts (K-12), higher education institutions, and nonprofits looking for the best overall supplier government pricing. OMNIA and Sourcewell partner with many governmental agencies to offer cooperative purchasing
July 28, 2026
contracts to other governmental agencies to economically procure services and supplies, pay less for products and services, and reduce administrative costs in developing contracts.
City staff request approval and spending authority to cover the estimated expenditure using Cooperative Purchasing Agreements, and the authority to substitute any of the listed cooperative agreements with the appropriate replacement agreement issued by the same cooperative organization, if that agreement expires during this purchase approval period. This authority will allow uninterrupted purchasing should a cooperative organization issue a successor contract during the approval period.
City staff reviewed the OMNIA and Sourcewell cooperative contracts and confirmed that the originating agencies conducted competitive solicitations in accordance with cooperative purchasing requirements. The cooperative agreements were awarded through a competitive procurement process and are available for use by participating governmental agencies, including the City of Richmond.
The requested spending authority establishes a maximum limit for each vendor; however, actual expenditures are expected to total approximately $100,000 annually City-wide and will be distributed among the approved vendors based on pricing, product availability, and departmental needs.
The recommendations in this report are in accordance with Richmond Municipal Code section 2.52.328, which authorizes the Finance Director to utilize cooperative purchasing agreements to purchase supplies or services through legal contracts of other governmental jurisdictions or public agencies without separate competitive bidding by the City.
City staff members request approval to use the OMNIA cooperative purchase agreements with AAA Workspace and Blaisdell’s Business Products and the Sourcewell cooperative purchasing agreement with Staples Contract & Commercial LLC for the purchase of City-wide office supplies for an amount not to exceed $100,000 per vendor for the period of July 1, 2026, through July 1, 2027, with two (2) one-year, mutually agreed upon annual extensions in an additional amount not to exceed $100,000 per vendor per year.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – OMNIA Contract
Attachment 3 – Sourcewell Contract