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Antioch approves $65,920 payment to consultant for work done without an executed contract; councilmember registers dissent
Summary
Council approved authorization to pay DTA $65,920 for consulting services performed after a prior contract expired. Councilmember Freitas voted no and pressed staff on oversight failures that allowed two years of uncontracted work to continue without payment.
The Antioch City Council on July 8 authorized payment of $65,920 to consultant David Townsend & Associates (DTA) for administrative work performed supporting the city’s community facilities districts and assessment rolls during a period when the city did not have an executed contract in place.
Director Bunting said the work was performed after the consultant’s contract expired and that staff verified the services and recommended payment. “Following the expiration of this agreement, city staff continued to engage DTA for the preparation of administrative budgets and assessment rolls… staff is recommending that city council authorize payment in the amount of $65,920 to DTA,” Bunting said.
Councilmember Freitas strongly questioned how the city allowed two years of work to proceed without a signed contract. “This astounds me that we are basically being asked to approve expenditures of more than $65,000… for work that was done two years ago. There was no contract to do the work, and I find that astounding,” Freitas said. He asked for a procedural accounting of who received and processed invoices and whether finance or project managers failed to raise the issue.
City staff said there had been back-and-forth with the consultant and noted the situation was an outlier tied to prior systems and processes. “The contract was not executed. The work that was initially contracted continued, but the contract was not executed…the work was done and we’re trying to just finish off the contract,” staff said.
After discussion, the council authorized the payment by a 4-1 vote; Freitas was the lone no. Staff told the council they would pursue improved checks and balances and that the finance and contract workflow systems now include additional electronic controls to reduce the risk of recurrence.
Councilmembers asked staff to report back with specific procedural fixes; the city manager and finance staff were directed to review contracting and invoicing controls and to provide a follow-up report.
