$200,000? That’s Nuts for a Consultant
By Dr. Kevin McNamee February 20, 2020
Thousand Oaks City Council voted 5-0 to send the city’s trash-hauling contract to open bid. Good news for lower rates until you read further.
Council approved $200,000 for the “city staff to work with a consultant to write the request for proposals and the system the city will use to select a service provider.”
Holy cow Batman, that is a lot of money for a proposal. Is the consultant working overtime on this proposal? Put into perspective, $200,000 is more than double the annual gross income of the majority of city residents. City management, please justify this number.
The city softens the consultant price tag by saying “($200,000) is typically reimbursed by the company winning the bidding process.” Not true. The company winning the bid is not paying for the consultants fee, the Thousand Oaks residents are. The bid will price in the consultants costs ($200,000) which the consumer ultimately pays through higher trash pickup fees. Absent the high consultant fee, the bid amounts would be lower.
Also, the city should move away from a 15 year agreement which chases competition out and raises rates. A three year bid renewal is reasonable. It will keep competition interested, remain in the area and compete for our business. Previous request for proposal can be used for future bids reducing consultant fees.
As General McAuliffe of the 101st Airborne Divisions famous single-word reply when he was surrounded at Bastonge by the Germans during World War II’s Battle of the Bulge, and was given a surrender ultimatum. He responded with “NUTS!”
To the city council and managers, $200,000 for consultant fees to write a proposal – NUTS!
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