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Council approves consent agenda including $400,000 digital advertising contract extension
Summary
Chandler City Council unanimously approved the consent agenda (items 1–13), which included a not‑to‑exceed $400,000 extension of a digital advertising contract. Councilmember Poston questioned scope, staffing and vendor fees; staff described uses across departments and said vendor fees are capped at 33% per campaign.
The Chandler City Council unanimously approved its consent agenda Feb. 20, which included a not‑to‑exceed $400,000 extension for a digital advertising contract that staff said serves tourism, public‑safety outreach, water‑conservation messaging and other city campaigns.
Councilmember Jeanne Poston questioned staff about the scope, value and long‑term approach for the contract, noting the city already supplies creative assets and asking whether the work performed by the vendor could be done in‑house.
“Where this digital advertising is probably not going away,” Poston said, “I would hope that maybe you as staff could get together and see if it actually makes more sense either to have a person on board” to handle media buying and placement.
Matt Burdick, the city staff member overseeing the contract, told the council the contract is an extension of an arrangement that grew during the COVID‑19 period and that multiple departments use the media‑buying service. “A majority … tourism uses it for a variety of different visit‑Chandler programs,” Burdick said. He also listed uses that have included promoting the city’s budget survey, fireworks and water‑safety messaging, drought‑preparedness campaigns and outreach related to newly adopted ordinances addressing brass knuckles and unruly gatherings.
Burdick said the city provides creative assets and the vendor functions as a media buyer, placing ads and reporting campaign results. He said the contract is structured so the vendor cannot receive compensation above 33% of any specific campaign budget. “For any specific campaign … the vendor cannot receive compensation above essentially 33 percent of whatever that campaign budget is,” Burdick said in the meeting.
Poston said she supported approval that night but asked staff and the city manager to evaluate whether a long‑term in‑house approach could be more cost effective.
Motion on consent agenda: Councilman Michael Martinez moved to approve the consent agenda items 1 through 13; Vice Mayor Ellis seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
Notes: Burdick said the digital advertising contract on the agenda is year two of a five‑year contract extension; a separate contract for citywide recruitment and website maintenance is handled differently and remains in a maintenance mode, he said.
