Commission remands contested transit procurement to committee for re‑evaluation with presentations and Q&A

The City Commission unanimously voted to remand a contested transit procurement to the selection committee for re‑evaluation and to require vendor presentations with verbal question‑and‑answer, after Circuit Transit argued the rebid process was flawed.

Circuit’s co‑founder and CEO, Alex Esposito, told commissioners the original solicitation for transit management services initially produced a different top ranked proposer but was rescinded and rebid; in the rebid, Esposito said, the city removed oral presentations and live Q&A, leaving evaluators unable to correct factual misstatements during scoring. "There were many [errors], but a few stood out," Esposito said, citing an instance where evaluators credited a competitor with 66,800 first‑year service hours while Circuit’s proposal listed 83,515 hours, and asserting that those errors could not be corrected under the rebid format.

Procurement Official Donna Levingood responded that the rebid solicitation is a distinct, controlling document and that the city has discretion under the RFP whether to include presentations; she defended the scoring and said removing certain evaluators or scores would not change the top ranking. After public comments from local supporters of Circuit and questions from commissioners about the appropriateness of the rebid procedure, the commission voted to reject the procurement official’s denial of the protest and remand the matter to the selection committee to re‑evaluate proposals with presentations and an opportunity for verbal Q&A.

City Attorney guidance to the commission emphasized that its review of the protest is limited to the procurement record and whether procedural or legal errors exist that, if corrected, would change the award. The remand instructs the selection committee to reenact evaluation with the presentation component included; further schedule details will be set by procurement staff.