Finance committee advances staff recommendation to send janitorial contract to full council despite wage and quality concerns

The Bangor City Finance Committee voted Feb. 15 to reaffirm staff’s recommendation to send the city’s proposed janitorial services contract to the full council for final approval, despite questions about past wage-and-hour violations involving the recommended firm and local complaints about cleaning quality.

City Manager Carolyn Lear told the committee the current vendor arrangement has existed for roughly 30 years and the contract was last rebid in February 2005. She said the city’s procurement lapse limited competition and deprived both the city and contractors of opportunities to update pricing and service scope. “One instance of compliance challenges doesn’t, in my mind, disqualify a vendor,” Lear said, but she recommended adding contract provisions requiring the vendor to comply with state, local and federal wage laws and to notify the city if any employee complaint is filed in any jurisdiction.

Why it matters: the existing janitorial contract has been effectively expired for years, and committee members said rebidding was overdue. Committee approval sends the staff-recommended low bidder, SJ Services, to full council; the council will make the final award. Committee members and several department heads described trade-offs between competitive pricing and ensuring worker protections and facility standards.

Details of the discussion

Lear told the committee that, after the procurement process, staff recommended the low bidder, SJ Services. Committee members raised two main concerns: wage-and-hour violations reported in Massachusetts involving SJ Services, and local quality problems under the incumbent arrangement.

Lear proposed a contract clause that would require the vendor to certify compliance with applicable wage laws and to notify the city of any wage-and-hour complaints filed against the company in any state. “That’s how we would propose to address that if the committee decides to continue with this vendor,” Lear said.

Jose (the airport director) said staff rechecked references and found mixed reports. He cited one reference from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority that, in his words, would “cringe at the thought of changing” the vendor the city is recommending, noting long-term contracts and repeat work in other jurisdictions. Jose also described routine coordination between airport leadership, tenants and contractors and said his office holds regular stakeholder meetings to surface issues and arrange prompt follow-up.

Jennifer Gunderman, director of Bangor Public Health and Community Services, told the committee that her department had persistent cleanliness issues under the existing vendor. She said her office contracted separate deep-clean services last year to address recurring problems in bathrooms, hallways and lobbies. Gunderman said hours allocated to cleaning at her facility were reduced after COVID and later adjusted; she characterized current daily on-site coverage as brief and said she did not have exact historical hour totals available at the meeting.

City Solicitor David Sedcak cautioned the committee about procurement process fairness. He noted that if the committee reconsiders its earlier recommendation, any post-bid discussions offered to one bidder should be offered equally to other bidders so all proposers have the same opportunity to revise offers.

Vote and next steps

A motion to confirm the committee’s prior recommendation and forward the staff-selected vendor to full council passed on roll call. The committee recorded a “no” vote from Councilor Trammell and recorded “yes” votes from Councilor Tanya, Councilor Lien, Councilor Beck and the committee chair; the recorded tally was four in favor, one opposed. The committee directed staff to draft contract language addressing wage-law compliance and notification of employee complaints before the full council considers the contract.

What remains unclear

Staff identified SJ Services as the low bidder and noted wage-and-hour complaints reported in Massachusetts; the committee did not receive or cite a local enforcement determination that would disqualify the vendor. Exact weekly or monthly cleaning-hour allocations for some facilities were described only approximately by department heads and were not specified in staff materials at the meeting.

The full council is now scheduled to review the staff recommendation and the proposed contract language.