Bass Photo
Abdussabur: We came through during Covid.
The Board of Education voted to hire a new cleaning contractor for its schools this coming year, ditching a local Black-owned firm in favor of a Massachusetts-based company.
That vote took place at the board’s regular biweekly meeting, held Monday night on Zoom.
The board voted 6 – 1 in favor of shifting the district’s part-time cleaning contract to S.J. Services of Danvers, Mass., from its current firm, New Haven-based Eco-Urban Pioneers.
The vote came after debate from several board members and a thorough questioning of the district’s three-person committee that reviewed the bids, only two members of which ultimately ranked the two bidders. The review committee was made up of district Chief of Operations Thomas Lamb, district Chief of Staff Michael Finley, and city Budget Director and Acting Controller Michael Gormany. Lamb recused himself from the final ranking process of the contract due to previously buying the services of one of the bidding contractors.
Five bids were originally submitted to the committee. The committee determined the two best offers came from S.J. Services and Eco-Urban. The committee then rated each company’s responsiveness, references, confidence, concepts, previous experiences, qualifications, and cost.
“Though cost was not the only contributing factor, it was a major consideration contributing in the award of this contract, due to the significant difference in cost,” Finley said.
The contract is for one year with the option of four contract renewals with annual price escalations.
S.J. Services bid came in roughly $5.3 million compared to Eco-Urban’s $5.7 million, coming out to a $361,198.88 difference.
If the contract is renewed for the additional four years (until 2027), the total cost would come in at 31,539,173.54 for Eco Urban and 27,763,144.89 for S.J. Services, making for an 11.96 percent difference.
The committee members said in addition to lower cost, S.J. Services offered positive referrals from employers who have worked with them for 10 – 15 years.
Superintendent Iline Tracey added that Eco-Urban’s higher cost would strain the district’s already unbalanced budget.
“You’ll be adding more to the deficit that we’re already struggling to keep up,” Tracey said.
Board member Darnell Goldson moved to table the contract item to restart the bidding process, but due to the fast approaching start of the school year, the proposal failed.
Members Matt Wilcox and Ed Joyner voted in favor of the contractor change, citing faith in a newly improved district monitoring and early warning system that will observe the performance of the contractor over the next year.
Eco-Urban: We Came Through
Full 08/08 board meeting.
During the meeting’s public comment portion, Eco-Urban Pioneers (EUP) President Shafiq Abdussabur (who resigned from his first term as a city alder in order to pursue the custodial bid) made a pitch for why the board should continue contracting his company. He referred to the seven-year contracting partnership to date between Eco-Urban and the district, which has allowed for the company to employee hundreds of underserved New Haven residents, including many formerly incarcerated people.
He cited EUP’s support for the district during the Covid-19 pandemic; at the peak, EUP agreed to a $500,000 reduction. In 2020 EUP negotiated a renewal to give back 1.5 percent of the amount allowed under the originally negotiated bid. In 2021 EUP agreed to hire an extra 25 workers at the district’s request and waited 10 months to get payment from the school system.
As New Haven residents, Abdussabur said his team at EUP has a commitment to its schools, students, and staff. “Will the new vendor be able to do this type of accommodation for the board of ed?” he asked.
Goldson: A Huge Mistake
Emily Hays File Photo
Goldson (pictured above) cast the only no vote on the contract. He raised concerns about the bidding process starting late; the five-person review committee being reduced to two; and a lack of thorough background checks on S.J. Services, which he claimed was fired from a school district in the past for underperforming and was sued by former employees regarding stolen social security numbers.
S.J. Services has indeed been the subject of controversy, in Massachussetts. Click here to read about that.
“Since 2009, Eco-Urban Pioneers-EUP has worked to build a company to provide hundreds of job opportunities for New Haven Residents, youths, and young adults,” Abdussabur stated Tuesday, the day after the vote. “Eco-Urban Pioneers appreciates all of the hard work and dedication of our staff. We are equally grateful for our valued partnerships with the City of New Haven, the NHBOE and 32BJ SEIU. We look forward to continued contract opportunities in the future with the City of New Haven and the New Haven Board of Education.”
Wow. Was there no way to get EcoUrban, a minority owned, New Haven company to sweeten their bid? Was the only option to award an out of state company the contract?
What was the reason?