City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: DECEMBER 09, 2025 FROM: HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: AUTHORIZE FIVE (5) PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES AGREEMENTS WITH NEVINS PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATIONS FROM OAK HILLS, CA; NORMAN A. TRAUB & ASSOCIATES, LLC FROM WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA; LEAL TREJO, APC FROM LONG BEACH, CA, JL GROUP, LLC FROM LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA, AND BOUCHER LAW, PC FROM BERKELEY, CA FROM RFP 2386 FOR THE RETENTION OF INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES IN THE AMOUNT OF $200,000 ANNUALLY ISSUE:
Approve five (5) Professional Consultant Services Agreements with the companies of Nevins Professional Investigations; Norman A. Traub & Associates, LLC; Leal Trejo, JL Group, LLC, and Boucher Law, PC from RFP No. 2386 for the retention of investigative services for an annual amount of $200,000 each for a three-year period ending June 30, 2028, with two 1-year options for renewal for a total not to exceed contract amount of $1,000,000 each if all options are exercised.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council:
Approve the Professional Services Agreements with the following investigative companies: Nevins Professional Investigations; Norman A. Traub & Associates, LLC; Leal Trejo, JL Group, LLC, Boucher Law, PC; No. 2386 for the retention of investigative services for a three (3) year term through June 30, 2028, in the annual amount of $200,000 each and two 1-year options for renewal for a total combined contract amount of $1,000,000 each if all options are exercised.
Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the Professional Consultant Services Agreement, including making minor and non-substantive changes; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute optional term extensions to the agreement, provided that the annual amounts are included in the subsequent approved budgets.
BACKGROUND:
It is the responsibility of the Human Resources Department to respond to and thoroughly investigate employee complaints and facilitate administrative investigations in accordance with City policies and applicable laws. It is crucial for the City of Riverside to conduct thorough personnel investigations to maintain a safe, equitable and compliant workplace for all, meanwhile mitigating legal liabilities and risks to the City. Personnel investigations play a critical role in promoting a culture of integrity and respect in the workplace, and necessary when addressing misconduct and wrongdoing.
In some instances, the Human Resources Department will conduct the investigation, and depending on the complexity of the case, an external investigator is assigned. The external investigator conducts administrative investigations involving allegations of, including, but not limited to, hostile work environment, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, workplace violence, illegal activity, etc. It is necessary, at times, to seek a contract investigator where it is a conflict of interest for a City employee to conduct an investigation. In those instances, an independent outside company is utilized to maintain the integrity of the investigative process.
Additionally, due to the increased number of complaints received over the last fiscal year and the need to conduct several investigations simultaneously, it is necessary for the Human Resources Department to continue to engage outside investigators to work on complex investigations/complaints. A panel will provide the ability to distribute cases on an on-needed basis and so that each investigation is carried out timely. In addition, we often need to conduct investigations involving safety/sworn personnel, and establishing a panel of investigators with specialized skills, such as Police Officers Bill of Rights (POBR), and Firefighters Bill of Rights (FBOR), is necessary and critical. Creating a panel of highly qualified investigators not only increases efficiency but also ensures that each case is handled with the necessary attention and expertise, resulting in reliable outcomes and findings.
DISCUSSION:
The City’s Purchasing Division released Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 2386 on the City’s online bidding system, Planet Bids, on January 09, 2025, to establish a panel of experienced and certified investigators which will assist the City when the demand arises due to an increased number of complaints/investigations.
The solicitation notification is summarized in the table below:
Action
Number of Vendors
External Vendors Notified
500
City of Riverside Vendors Notified
137
Vendors who downloaded the RFP
46 Proposals received
11 RFP 2386 closed on February 26, 2025, with a total of eleven (11) responses. Nine (9) responses were found to be responsive and responsible and two (2) were deemed non-responsive. Under the guidance of the purchasing department, three (3) City staff evaluated the proposals for one round, which resulted in the top five (5) vendors being recommended for the award. The evaluation criteria, total points and rankings for each evaluation round are summarized in the tables below.
Round 1
Total Points
Approach and Methodology Specific to this Project
10%
Prior Experience in providing Investigative Services
20%
Qualifications
35%
Professional References
10%
Pricing
25%
Evaluation Results
Vendor
Location
Total Point
Rank
Nevins Professional Investigations
Oak Hills, CA
937.77
1 Norman A. Traub & Associates LLC
Westlake Village, CA
845.37
2 Leal Trejo, APC
Long Beach, CA
770.76
3 JL GROUP, LLC
Laguna Niguel, CA
751.60
4 Boucher Law, PC
Berkeley, CA
730.76
5 Woodruff & Smart
Costa Mesa, CA
676.67
6 RJN Investigations, Inc.
Tustin, CA
646.67
7 Law Office of Sima Salek
Tarzana, CA
645.76
8 APEX Investigative Services, Inc.
Sacramento, CA
645.00
9 *Olivarez Madruga Law Organization, LLP
Los Angeles, CA
0.00 10
*Ellis Investigations Law Corporation
Sacramento, CA
0.00 11
Purchasing Resolution 24101, Section 508 Awards states, “Contracts procured through Formal Procurement shall be awarded by the Awarding Entity to the Lowest Responsive and Responsible, except that… (c) Contracts procured through Formal Procurement for Services or Professional Services, where a Request for Proposals or Request for Qualifications was used to solicit Bids, shall be awarded by the Awarding Entity in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the Request for Proposals or Request for Qualifications, except that a local Proposer may be given preference pursuant to Section 704 “Preference Policy”, where the difference in price proposal between the local Proposal and the lowest price proposal does not exceed five percent (5%) of the lowest price proposal.” The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommended actions are in accordance with Purchasing Resolution 24101.
Staff remain committed to mitigating costs and ensuring full transparency in the implementation of the investigator resources panel. To that end, staff will return to the City Council with annual updates detailing expenditures, outcomes, and operational impacts. Additionally, the Human Resources Department will provide an annual closed-session presentation to the City Council. This presentation will include the status of all active investigations, a summary of case progress, and a breakdown of workload distribution among each approved investigator.
To support accurate financial oversight, the Finance Department will establish a dedicated line-item account number to track all funding, expenditures, and utilization associated with the approved investigators.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact associated with the contract renewals is up to $3,000,000 for the three-year term for the five agreements, if optional terms are exercised for five-year terms within approved budgets up to $5,000,000. The annual amount is up to $1,000,000 per year for the five agreements, or $200,000 per agreement per year, for a total contract term of three years. The total amount utilized depends on the number of complaints received, and any impact will occur when an individual investigator is retained for a particular case. Funds to cover the costs of the annual compensation amount are budgeted in each user department and will be charged to the department's respective budget based on usage throughout the contract term.
Prepared by: Rene Goldman, Human Resources Director
Certified as to availability
of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director
Approved by: Edward Enriquez, Assistant City Manager/Chief Financial Officer Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachments:
Professional Consultant Services Agreement - Nevins Professional Services Professional Consultant Services Agreement - Norman A. Traub & Associates, LLC Professional Consultant Services Agreement - Leal Trejo, APC Professional Consultant Services Agreement - JL Group, LLC Professional Consultant Services Agreement - Boucher Law, PC RFP 2386 - Award Recommendation
Minimum Wage Increase ● Page 2