Miami‑Dade County commissioners approved moving forward with awarding the countyjail food‑services contract to CSS after a lengthy question-and-answer period about price, employee protections, monitoring and nutritional standards.

Commissioner Bastian opened the discussion by saying she had "a few questions regarding, this, gigantic contract" and asked procurement and corrections staff to explain market research, employee protections and contract safeguards.

The discussion focused on four practical concerns: how the county benchmarked the vendor's price, how nutritional and humane meal standards will be enforced, protections for existing county food‑service employees, and mechanisms to limit price increases over time. Chief Procurement Officer Namira Upal said the procurement team conducted market research and "got information from Chicago... Williamson County," and that the RFP included minimum daily nutritional standards and accommodations such as kosher meals.

Director Sherria Green, Miami‑Dade Corrections, confirmed the number of current food‑service employees the county expects to retain: "that number is 32." Commissioners were told the vendor agreed to reimburse the county for those employees so they remain county employees during the contract term. Staff said the county will retain administrative oversight after the transition to monitor contract deliverables.

Commissioners pressed staff on safeguards against price escalation. Procurement staff said the contract excludes scaled or "sliding" pricing tied directly to population changes, sets annual price adjustments based on the living wage and the Consumer Price Index, and requires board approval for any increase beyond those indices. The contract also contains a performance bond equal to 25% of the annual contract amount, staff said, to provide leverage if the vendor fails to meet its commitments.

Commissioner Higgins praised the contract as a move to a national model and said the county would see significant savings while improving meal quality and training: "we're gonna be saving somewhere between 6 and almost $10,000,000 a year over our current system," Higgins said. Commissioners and Corrections leadership also emphasized security benefits: outsourcing kitchen operations removes inmates from meal preparation areas, reducing opportunities for contraband and allowing sworn staff to be redeployed to security duties.

Staff described a six‑month transition period to implement the contract and said existing job descriptions and operational orders will be revised as needed and that training will be provided to adapt to new responsibilities. Procurement staff also explained that one bidder (Trinity) submitted two technical proposals with identical technical scores but different pricing models; Trinityproposed a tiered, population‑linked pricing model that the RFP prohibited.

During debate, commissioners also noted provisions on sustainability (commitments to compostable materials) and living‑wage compliance (a cited living wage of about $17.94 with variations for health‑benefit status). Commissioner Bastian moved the item; Commissioner Higgins seconded. The commission took voice votes and signified the motion carried.

The contract term described by staff is five years with two five‑year renewal options (up to 15 years), and staff said price adjustments within the contract are limited to specified indices and require board approval for any additional increases. Next steps noted in the discussion include standard contract ratification and continued county monitoring; no specific implementation dates or final execution timeline were provided in the recorded discussion.