Council approves Levin Kids after‑school contract after debate over competitive process

The Vallejo City Council adopted a resolution authorizing a consultant agreement with Levin Kids for up to $123,500 through Sept. 30, 2025, to provide after‑school and summer programming in Vallejo, while several council members pressed staff to use a competitive selection process for future grants and to lay out measurable outcomes for vendor performance.

Chief Taun (police department) described the program as an established after‑school provider servicing local apartment complexes and schools, and said Levin Kids operates additional learning centers and serves roughly 75 children per site across multi‑year cycles. Council discussion focused on process and equity: Councilmember Lehi argued the program would fill a service gap near Norman King, pointing to the proximity to Grace Patterson Elementary, while Councilmember Lettaju and others urged the city to put future contracts out for competitive request for proposals (RFP) and to set reporting and outcome metrics for subrecipients.

Councilmember Matulik raised a related point about the city’s duty to ensure fairness and transparency in awarding public funds, urging that future awards use a formal bidding process where feasible and that the city track measurable results from program investments. Councilmember Gordon, who supported the contract, emphasized the program’s free services to families and the benefit of on‑site programming in apartment complexes.

The council approved the resolution on a vote recorded with the mayor opposed and the remaining members in favor. Staff said they will follow up with reports on provider performance and explore options for broader competitive processes for similar services going forward.

Why it matters: The vote keeps an existing community program funded in the short term while reopening a policy conversation about procurement, transparency and how the city evaluates the effectiveness of community service partners.