By Mary O’KEEFE

There were many important issues discussed at the Tuesday night meeting of the Glendale City Council, including an anti-Semitic resolution denouncing antisemitism and all forms of hatred and prejudice, and the proposal to move from citywide elections to district elections, including having a citywide election for mayor, and also the Beeline contract. CVW will focus on one issue this week, the Beeline contract, and continue with the other issues in future editions.

This contract is important not only to the thousands of people who ride the Beeline in the City but also for the future of the environment.

At the June 20 Glendale City Council meeting a proposal was brought to the council to award MV Transportation, Inc. (MVT) a six-year contract, with the possibility of extensions, for the Beeline fixed-route and Dial-A-Ride Transit Services. MVT was one of two companies that completed the request for proposals (RFP). The concerns voiced by several of the councilmembers centered on the lack of time for councilmembers to review such a large contract, which would not exceed $76 million, that they were given less than 30 days before the end of the present contract, and that there were not more companies that participated in the RFP.

The council at that time moved and approved for staff to negotiate a one-year extension with MVT, the current service provider, as opposed to approving a six-year contract, therefore giving the council and staff members more time to review the process.

That is what staff did; however, there were still some issues with the process. On Tuesday night, Councilmember Elen Asatryan once again questioned the process of RFPs and wanted to know if a motion were made to pass the one-year extension it would also include a review of the RFP process. Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian also voiced his concern about the process and timing of the RFP process.

There were other questions raised, including that the one-year extension would cost the City almost $2 million more than the long-term six-year contract.

Councilmember Ara Najarian felt there had to be more companies that should and could have joined in the RFP process, and questioned the staff’s negotiation with MVT that concluded with a $2 million increase in service fees.

Councilmember Paula Devine, who was in favor of voting for the six-year contract at the earlier meeting, said her concern was that every time the council “kicked the can down the street” it cost the City more money.

The staff made a thorough presentation on the process that was used to reach out to companies to present a bid. Staff members also explained why more companies didn’t respond to the RFP including that some of the smaller companies were purchased by larger ones and that many of the companies were have issues with hiring and retaining staff/drivers.

After an extensive discussion between staff and council a motion was made to approve a one-year extension of the Beeline to MVT and to begin another bidding process. The motion was approved in a three-to-two vote with Councilmember Devine and Mayor Dan Brotman voting “no” and voicing their support for a six-year contract to MVT.