The Oakland City Council’s awarding of a $1 billion garbage contract has caught the attention of the Alameda County grand jury.
The county grand jury process is secretive in nature to protect whistle-blowers, but some members of the City Council and other staffers have already testified before the 19-member grand jury, the East Bay Citizen reports, citiy “sources with knowledge of the proceedings.”
The paper explains: “At issue are the circumstances surrounding the request-for-proposals (RFP) provided by Waste Management for renewal of its Oakland garbage contract. After the City Council abruptly changed gears and supported the cheaper bid from Oakland-based California Waste Solutions to handle the entire contract, Waste Management sued the city. The council's decision was also in opposition to its staff's recommendation.
California Waste Solutions was previously contracted to provide half of Oakland’s recycling services. In Waste Management’s complaint, they charged the city undercut their bid by illegally providing its details to California Waste Solutions.
The lawsuit named virtually the entire Oakland city government, but specifically charged Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan, Lynette Gibson McElhaney and Dan Kalb with violating their own RFP rules when they called for a new round negotiations over the lucrative waste contract.”
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