Audit committee obtains 1,882‑row contractor list; CFO to supply construction‑only view

The New Bedford Committee on Audit on Tuesday evening heard a formal request from Councilor Gomes for a citywide list of contractors going back eight years, and the city's chief financial officer provided an updated 1,882‑row spreadsheet and agreed to produce filtered views focusing on construction and engineering firms.

Councilor Gomes, councilor at large, said she wanted the records "to get a record of who has received contracts for the past 8 years" to check for possible favoritism and to focus on larger engineering and construction contracts rather than routine purchases. "I would even like to see it amended to, present time," she said during public discussion.

Why it matters: the committee on audit has subpoena power and oversight responsibilities for municipal contracting. Councilors said they want a clearer, sortable dataset that separates vendor IDs and department IDs and that isolates large capital and construction contracts so the council can analyze spending trends and vendors receiving the city's largest awards.

What the CFO provided and explained Bob Wechsrom, the city's chief financial officer, told the committee he had emailed the committee an updated file shortly before the meeting and described the contents in detail. "It's 1,882 records, every contract since 2014 till until today," Wechsrom said. He said the file contains 14 data elements, including contract number, vendor, department and dates, and is presented in Excel so members can sort and filter.

Wechsrom outlined three contract types captured in the file and how each affects budgeting and review: an "encumbering" contract (funds…