Montebello council renews Zencity social-media analytics contract despite public concerns

The Montebello City Council voted unanimously to renew a contract for Zencity, a social-media scheduling and analytics platform, after questions from residents and council members about cost and sole-source justification.

Resident Will Severo told the council he opposed spending $49,000 a year and raised concerns about ongoing litigation involving a former staff member. Severo said the city “is currently being sued by Michael Chee” and questioned whether the staffing and campaign teams could provide the same analytics without the vendor.

Director Davis Sosnowski, who oversees the department that manages the city’s social platforms, said the city has used Zencity for five years and that the product does more than post scheduling. “Besides the analytics, it's a scheduling software that we use for all platforms,” Sosnowski said. He explained the platform provides consolidated reporting, flags resident issues and supports surveys the city would otherwise pay for separately.

A staff report described the contract as a sole-source continuation; staff said the five-year contract term reflects state-audit guidance and that consolidating multiple vendors into a single platform could avoid additional subscription costs.

Council member Peralta moved to approve the item; Council member Alonso seconded. A roll-call vote recorded ayes from Councilor Alonzo, Councilor Romero, Mayor Pro Tem Tamayo, Councilor Peralta and Mayor Melendez.

During public comment several speakers criticized council appointments, administration decisions and recent personnel matters; staff and the city manager said follow-up information would be provided where appropriate.

The agreement was placed on the consent/regular calendar as item 12 and carried on a unanimous vote.