CONSENT CALENDAR
City of San Bernardino
Request for Council Action
Date: April 17, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
From: Charles A. Montoya, City Manager;
Darren Goodman, Chief of Police
Department: Police
Subject: Purchase of Police Vehicles (All Wards)
Recommendation
It is recommended the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, authorize:
1. The City Manager to execute a Goods Purchase Agreement with Fairview Ford for the purchase of Police Vehicles, and
2. The Director of Finance and Management Services to issue a purchase order to Fairview Ford Sales, not to exceed $810,000.
Executive Summary
The Police Department relies heavily on police vehicles to allow both police officers and community service officers to respond to calls for service and address public safety needs throughout the City. To maintain a patrol vehicle fleet that runs well and is safe for operation, the Police Department must periodically replace worn high-mileage vehicles and vehicles that have been damaged beyond repair. The Police Department is seeking to purchase Ford Interceptor SUVs and Maverick trucks from Fairview Ford Sales to replace vehicles in the patrol fleet.
Background
The Police Department replaces some vehicles from its patrol fleet annually to ensure it has an inventory of reliable and safe vehicles. New vehicles replace damaged vehicles along with vehicles that have aged or have high mileage and require a significant amount of maintenance.
The Fiscal Year 2023/24 Adopted Budget allocated $1,486,584 for the purchase and outfitting of police vehicles. The Police Department seeks to utilize a portion of these funds to purchase 16 vehicles for use in the Patrol Division.
Discussion
The Police Department operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and relies heavily upon police vehicles to make it possible for police personnel to respond to calls for service throughout the City. Marked vehicles in the Patrol Division are in frequent use, so they deteriorate faster than most vehicles due to rapidly accumulating mileage along with use-related wear and tear. These issues make it necessary to routinely replace vehicles within the Police Department’s patrol fleet.
Additionally, police vehicles are sometimes involved in collisions and on some occasions the vehicles are damaged beyond repair, making it necessary to replace their loss from the patrol fleet. In general, the Police Department must replace approximately 25% of its patrol vehicles each year to maintain an operational fleet that does not require the investment of significant man-hours and financial resources to repair or maintain it. The Police Department is seeking to purchase Ford Interceptor SUVs for use by patrol officers in addition to Ford Maverick trucks for use by community service officers assigned to field operations.
In the years leading up to 2020, the City’s budget did not allow for the replacement of police vehicles on a regular schedule due to financial constraints, resulting in older vehicles that required more resources to maintain. Beginning in 2020, the COVID pandemic negatively impacted auto manufacturing, reducing vehicle supply and creating a backlog from which auto manufacturers are continuing to recover. During the pandemic, the Police Department was able to acquire some patrol vehicles, could not acquire sufficient vehicles to accommodate normal fleet turnover as vehicles aged.
This meant that the fleet stagnated, and older vehicles were retained well beyond their normal service life. The patrol fleet was further strained when vehicles were damaged beyond repair through collisions or mechanical failures, reducing the size of the patrol fleet.
National spare part shortages for vehicle repairs have also become an issue that negatively impacted the patrol fleet. Vehicles that required maintenance or repair have often remained out of service for longer than normal due to parts shortages. Although vehicles are eventually returned to service, there has been an increased reliance on those vehicles that were in working order, resulting in an acceleration of the wear and tear on those vehicles that remained operational. To recover from this combination of factors, it is necessary to invest additional resources into the police fleet.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department uses both Police Interceptors and Maverick trucks for its operations. In October of 2023, San Bernardino County conducted an open bid solicitation for 2025-year models on both vehicle types. The documents related to the San Bernardino County Bid process were obtained by staff, reviewed, and found to be relevant to this purchase. The San Bernardino County bid process yielded a winning bid for both vehicle types from Fairview Ford Sales, a locally operated automobile dealership located within the City limits. Fairview Ford has
assured staff that they would honor the price quoted to the County, should the City purchase the same vehicles. The City’s bid process mirrors that of the County and would likely yield the same results. To take advantage of the opportunity to order vehicles to be delivered this year, staff is recommending a piggyback purchase process by using the County’s bid results for this purchase. The number and cost of each vehicle type proposed for purchase is listed in the table below.
Table A
Vehicle Type Quantity Cost Per Unit Total
Police Interceptor 13 $55,360.33 $719,684.29
Maverick PU
Truck
3 $29,370.16 $88,110.48
Total Vehicles &
Cost
16 N/A $807,794.77
The vehicles purchased will be incorporated into the fleet to ensure continuity of operations during the trial period and ensure that there are sufficient vehicles available to meet public safety needs.
The City has an existing contract with Enterprise Leasing for vehicles; however, Enterprise has struggled to obtain the vehicles that the Police Department prefers in a timely manner. The Police Department requests to purchase these vehicles as a stop gap measure while the auto industry recovers from vehicle shortages and Enterprise becomes more able to obtain the City’s Police preferred fleet vehicles. 2021-2025 Strategic Targets and Goals
The request for the purchase of police vehicles aligns with Goal No. 2 b: Focused, Aligned Leadership and Unified Community. Evaluate operations and performance, investment in resources, technology, and tools to continually improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
Fiscal Impact
FINANCIAL
DATA
Current Fiscal Year: Next Fiscal Year: Total Cost: Ongoing Cost:
COST $ 810,000 $ 0.00 $ 810,000 $ 0.00
GENERAL
FUND
SHARE
$ 810,000 $ 0.00 $ 810,000 $ 0.00
SOURCE OF FUNDS:
The funds were allocated in the FY 23/24
Adopted budget in the vehicle replacement
category of the Police Department's budget.
Budget Adjustment:
No
For Fiscal Year: 23/24
Conclusion
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, authorize:
1. The City Manager to execute a Goods Purchase Agreement with Fairview Ford for the purchase of Police Vehicles, and
2. The Director of Finance and Management Services to issue a purchase order to Fairview Ford, not to exceed $810,000.
Attachments
Attachment 1 Police Interceptor Bid Specifications Attachment 2 Police Interceptor Price Quote
Attachment 3 Ford Maverick Bid Specifications
Attachment 4 Ford Maverick Price Quote
Attachment 5 Goods Purchase Agreement
Ward:
All Wards
Synopsis of Previous Council Actions:
February 16, 2022 Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution No. 2022-35, approving the issuance of a purchase order to Fairview Ford, in an amount not to exceed $1,300,000.
January 19, 2021 Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution No. 2021-305, approving the issuance of a purchase order to Fairview Ford Sales in the amount of $83,100.
August 19, 2020 Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution No. 2020-202, approving the issuance of a purchase order to Fairview Ford Sales, not to exceed $210,000.
September 19, 2018 Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution No. 2018-270, authorizing the issuance of a purchase order to Fairview Ford Sales, not to exceed $722,000.