Department of Finance | 1685 Main Street, Mail Stop 09 | Santa Monica, CA 90401 [email protected] | santamonica.gov/departments/finance Tel: (310) 458-8281 Fax: (310) 394-0647
October 15, 2024
Mr. David Kim
A3 Communications, Inc., DBA Blue Violet Networks
17815 Newhope Street, Suite M
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Re: Protest of Request for Bid Project ID No. 4490
Dear Mr. Kim,
Thank you for your correspondence dated September 18, 2024. Blue Violet Network (BVN) is protesting the results of Request for Bid Project ID No. 4490 and requesting an opportunity to remediate any shortcomings in your evaluation and documentation that outlines how points were award for Cost.
After a thorough review, it was determined that BVN’s protest is based on the Santa Monica Code (2.24.190) Best qualified person or firm. This code applies to professional service agreements and therefore is not applicable to Request for Bid Project ID No. 4490. Please refer to “Section 3.2 Best Bidder,” of the bid document for the applicable language, Santa Monica Municipal Code (2.24.180) and note the criteria does not proscribe comparison evaluations. Each bid is evaluated independently.
Next, BVN contends: ““Experience” points awarded was not reflective of our capabilities and we request an opportunity to prove otherwise as per the Court in City of Inglewood – Los Angeles County Civic Center Authority, supra.” BVN requested 1) how the “Experience,” portion of the justification was calculated, 2) for all copies of the tabulation used to award the “Experience,” points, 3) the final tabulation, and 4) the experience of those on the committee contributing to the tabulations and 5) sufficient time and resources with the City to remediate any shortcomings in our evaluation.
1) Please refer to “Section 11.5 General Conditions” of the bid document for the bid award criteria. The evaluation committee contacted the references listed on BVN’s submitted Experience Statement; experience score is directly related to the responses received. Additionally, provided references primarily focused on the installation and integration of Motorola equipment and access control in closed academic campuses and environments rather than Axis brand cameras (exclusively used in Santa Monica) installed in public spaces or integration into a Real-Time Crime Center.
2) All tabulations are available on the City’s online vendor portal, OpenGov:
https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/santa-monica-ca. 3) All tabulations are available on the City’s online vendor portal, OpenGov:
https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/santa-monica-ca
4) The evaluation committee was comprised of qualified individuals with years of experience operating the City’s existing CCTV program.
5) The bidding process has closed and therefore, no bidders are afforded an exception to revise their bids.
Furthermore, BVN “ask for documentation that outlines how points are awarded for the Cost.
Points were awarded based on the City’s assessment of the following factors:
a. BVN’s heavy discount of camera equipment off of MSRP; b. The apparent under-estimate of the unpredictability of public-street conduits and the relative difficulty and cost of camera replacement installations versus new installations;
c. The lack of accounting for the cost of traffic control in installation areas guaranteed to have heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic (as required by the Scope of Work and emphasized in the bid “Question & Answer” section; Question #4); and
d. The City conducted a post-submission pricing confirmation as part of the evaluation process. Based on BVN’s response for pricing clarity, it appears as though assumptions were made on underground conduit and factors affecting the installation of a new camera, while stating that traffic control is the City’s responsibility. Therefore, BVN did not comply with the scope of work.
As a result of the investigated points above, your protest is denied, and relief will not be granted.
The City appreciates your participation in our solicitation process. Should you have any further questions, please contact our Procurement Manager, Teresa Villa at 310-458-8242.
Sincerely,
Oscar Santiago
Director of Finance / City Treasurer
Cc: Request for Bid Project No.4490 File
Procurement Manager
Buyer of Record