Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Procurement Oversight topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Supervisors press PUC over $17M scope expansion for Parsons; item continued for outreach
Summary
Supervisors questioned the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission about an amendment expanding Parsons' program-management scope and budget, expressing concerns about competitive bidding, the timing of expenditures (94% spent early), and potential RFP avoidance; the committee asked staff to solicit marketplace interest and continued the item to the call of the chair.
A proposal to amend a Parsons contract for preconstruction management work on the San Francisco Water System Improvement Program prompted sustained questioning by the Budget & Finance Committee on Wednesday.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin pressed PUC staff on why about 94% of a five-year budget had been expended in roughly half the period and why the department was seeking an apparent 50% increase rather than pursuing a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP). PUC acting general manager Tony Irons and program staff responded that much of the additional scope falls within program management, that Parsons possesses institutional knowledge and conflict-of-interest rules can preclude separate firms from later bidding on other work, and that the city had difficulty hiring qualified schedulers for certain tasks.
Staff acknowledged the committee's oversight role and agreed they could perform a broader market outreach (RFI/RFQ) to determine interest from the engineering community. Given concerns about timing, transparency and bid avoidance, the committee continued the item to the call of the chair to allow staff to solicit interest and return with additional information.
