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Berkeley auditor flags millions in noncompetitive contracts, urges code changes and digital tracking
Summary
City Auditor Jenny Wong told the Berkeley City Council an audit found 94 city contracts worth about $43 million that did not go through competition; auditors recommended code changes, better waiver forms, staff training and a modern contract management system.
Berkeley City Auditor Jenny Wong presented an audit of the city's noncompetitive contracting practices, telling the City Council that the city executed 94 noncompetitive contracts in fiscal year 2024 totaling about $43 million and that some contracts likely could have been awarded through competition. "Although we found no evidence of misconduct in Berkeley during our audit, contract corruption cases in neighboring jurisdictions show the importance of having an open, competitive contracting process," Auditor Jenny Wong said.
The audit examined the city's largest contracts and a sample of the 100 largest active contracts, manually reviewing more than 300 contract PDFs and every waiver of competition because the city's financial system did not track competition consistently. Auditors found differences between the purchasing manual and the waiver…
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