Mesa council approves 2 service contracts, including for window cleaning

The Mesa City Council recently unanimously approved two major service contracts authorizing up to $1.8 million for industrial building and maintenance materials and securing a multi-year agreement for window cleaning and power washing services at city facilities.

The first contract approved Feb. 23 establishes a one-year term, with four one-year renewal options, creating a pool of pre-approved vendors that city departments can use to purchase industrial building, plumbing, electrical and HVAC supplies.

The agreement allows spending of up to $1.8 million based on estimated needs across city departments.

Council members also unanimously approved a separate three-year contract, with two optional one-year renewals, for window cleaning and power washing services at 62 city facilities.

The agreement, awarded to Imperial Window Cleaning, authorizes spending of up to $157,320 annually, with built-in annual increases.

Business Services Department Director Ed Quedens said the city enters into multi-year contracts like these to save staff time and taxpayer dollars, rather than repeatedly going through the process of drafting and approving new contract proposals.

“We do go for multiple years because we don’t have infinite staff to be putting these solicitations out over and over again,” he said.

Mesa resident Jason Smithson questioned the reasoning behind entering into multi-year agreements and the effectiveness for the people of Mesa.

“What safeguards are in place to ensure pricing remains competitive over the full term,” he said. “Would a shorter term, perhaps one to two years, provide greater flexibility for the council to reassess pricing, performance, and market conditions?”

Smithson said the questions he has don’t just apply to the two passed on Monday, but to the way the city approaches vendor contracts as a whole.

“I’d like to raise several oversight questions that go beyond these two contracts and speak to how we approach vendor contracts as a whole,” he said.

Smithson also asked for clarity on vendor performance standards.

“What specific metrics are used to evaluate service quality, responsiveness and value?” Smithson said. “How are those metrics tracked? And how often are vendors formally reviewed?”

Vendor contracts are shorter whenever they can be, like the supplies contract, so that the city can review vendor performance, Quedens said.

“Staff can assess both the performance of the vendor as well as price increases because these are, as council is well aware, the market right now is very volatile on just about everything,” Quedens said.

Smithson asked whether low vendor participation might be a reason to revisit certain contract terms, such as the length of the agreement, payment structure or requirements, to help encourage broader competition.

“If participation is consistently low, has the city evaluated whether adjustments could increase competition?” Smithson said.

Smithson also urged the council to make contract documents more easily accessible to the public without requiring a formal public records request.

“In the interest of transparency, I would encourage the council to make vendor contracts and (requests for proposal) documents easily accessible to the public without requiring a formal records request,” he said.

Because the council has the ability to renew contracts each year based on performance, making evaluation standards and contract details more readily available could help improve transparency and build public confidence, Smithson said.

“If the council retains discretion over annual renewals based on vendor performance, then publishing evaluation criteria and contract terms would strengthen public trust and demonstrate accountability,” he said.

In response, Quedens said the contracts the city enters into follow standard procurement practices used statewide.

“Our procurement policies are based on the ABA model procurement code just as the state’s is, just as most states, most municipalities are,” he said. “We do publish solicitations publicly. So, our requests for proposals documents are open to the public.”

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