Solid Waste Authority denies Waste Pro waiver request, votes 4–3 to open bids on schedule

The Solid Waste Authority on a 4–3 vote denied Waste Pro’s protest and its request for a waiver from a 20% Small Business Enterprise (SBE) subcontracting goal, after staff concluded Waste Pro’s waiver submission failed to meet required documentation standards.

The board acted after hearing a formal presentation from staff that the waiver scoring rubric (100 possible points, 70 needed for approval) awarded Waste Pro 36 points because it earned full credit for its initial plan but received no points for the sections requiring documented initial and follow-up communications and negotiations. Jody Hart, the authority’s director of purchasing services, and the EBO director reviewed the solicitation, the submitted materials, and the scoring before recommending denial.

Waste Pro’s representatives told the board they had conducted extensive outreach. Tom Derrida, representing Waste Pro, described years of local service and charitable involvement and said the company prepared hundreds of pages of documentation to show good-faith efforts. Sharna Barnes, who said her firm produced more than 600 pages of outreach documentation, said Waste Pro sent nearly 1,000 emails, made hundreds of calls, ran paid social media ads and held an outreach event; she asked the board to allow a waiver so Waste Pro’s sealed price could be opened.

Waste Pro’s counsel, Amy Shea, argued that staff did not follow up on voluminous materials and that the waiver evaluation should focus on whether the company acted in good faith to recruit certified SBEs rather than on the numerical result. Shea also emphasized what Waste Pro described as a principled refusal to rely on temporary labor agencies that other bidders used to reach SBE percentages, saying those arrangements do not provide benefits to long-term local helpers.

Staff and EBO leadership replied that the waiver scoring criteria explicitly require documented evidence of initial solicitations, follow-up communications, and written negotiation records demonstrating that certified SBEs had the opportunity to commit to the work. Colleen Robbs, the EBO director, said Waste Pro met the initial planning requirement but failed to provide the specific documented negotiations, rates and scope details that the rubric requires to establish good-faith efforts under sections b and c.

Republic Services asked the board to deny the waiver, arguing that granting a waiver to a single bidder would create an unfair competitive advantage; Joanne Stanley, speaking during public comment, urged equal treatment for all bidders if a waiver were given.

After roughly three hours of presentations and questioning from commissioners about the timing of outreach, certification thresholds and the role of temporary labor, Vice Mayor Woodward, Commissioner Flores, Commissioner Marino and Commissioner Weiss voted to deny the protest. Commissioners Powell, Mayor Baxter and Commissioner Sachs voted no. The board directed staff to proceed with sealed price openings on Feb. 2 and to present the price results back to the board on Feb. 11.

The decision leaves Waste Pro with the option to seek judicial review; counsel for the authority noted that the next step for an aggrieved bidder would be circuit court. The authority also said staff will tabulate prices for both 6- and 12-cubic-yard service options as presented in the solicitation and bring recommendations to the Feb. 11 meeting.

The board’s vote resolved the waiver protest but revived questions among commissioners about whether the solicitation and waiver rules should be reviewed — particularly the practice of allowing temporary labor to be counted toward SBE participation and how staff documents and follows up on voluminous waiver submissions. Several commissioners said they would like to revisit policy details after the immediate procurement steps are completed.