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City approves two‑year tree services contract after brief public exchange on union labor and past vendor
Summary
After public comment and council questions, Perris awarded or extended tree maintenance services on the consent calendar. A rival vendor asked the council to consider a contract extension at current rates; the winning bidder was represented at the meeting and confirmed it does not use union labor.
The Perris City Council approved a two‑year tree services contract on Sept. 9 after brief public comment and questions about labor and price. The consent item (10d) was pulled for discussion by Councilwoman Corona, who asked staff whether the apparent winning bidder used union labor.
Pat Mahoney, president of West Coast Arborist, urged the council to extend the incumbent contract for two more years at the same rates rather than award to a new vendor. Mahoney said West Coast Arborist has managed the city’s urban forest for 18 years, “We’ve inventoried all 17,000 trees in town and integrated them with the GPS GIS system,” and that keeping the current contract would retain that data and save the city “nearly 10% annually” compared with proposals presented in the staff spreadsheet.
Brandon Williamson, account manager for Mariposa Tree Management, answered council questions at the dais and confirmed Mariposa does not use union labor.
Public Works staff explained the award was based on line‑item comparisons across roughly 37 bid line items; Mariposa offered the lowest total on those items and the lowest total dollar amount for the packet that formed the basis of the evaluation. Councilwoman Corona asked for transparency about labor standards but recorded that she would move forward with approval at this time.
Councilwoman Nava moved to approve item 10d, Mayor Pro Tem Rapp seconded, and the clerk announced the vote as 5–0, motion approved. Staff indicated the contract is structured for two years and noted the approximate two‑year value discussed in council remarks was $450,000.
The public comments and vendor statements are on the record; council members said they may revisit procurement or labor questions at a later time.
