LYNWOOD — The City Council Tuesday voted 3-2 to award Fiesta Taxi another two-year contract for its Dial-A-Ride and demand response transportation services, even though Fiesta was not the lowest bidder for the contract.

Diversified Transportation was the lowest bidder, which could have saved the city $67,000 a year.

In a letter received by The Wave, Diversified contested the city’s bidding process, saying that in its request for proposal the city identified Dial-A-Ride as the requested service, not specifically a taxi service — which was used against Diversified in the final consideration.

The process also did not specify anything regarding a provision to provide voucher services to disabled and elderly residents, which the company could clearly adhere to, or would have included in their proposal to the city, had it been part of the process.

“Diversified has a long history of providing highly productive, efficient and cost-effective local transportation for residents of neighboring communities like Maywood and Huntington Park,” said Scott Williams, senior vice president of Diversified. “Like the old saying goes, it appears the city of Lynwood asked for apples, but is buying more expensive oranges. During this time of fiscal challenge, this last point should be the most important — choosing our Dial-A-Ride service will save the city over $67,000 this year, and save at least $156,000 over the three-year contract term as compared to continuing the old, expensive taxi program.”

In the end, Williams asked the council to reject the staff recommendation to go with Fiesta Taxi.

The council instead gave Fiesta Taxi a two-year contract not to exceed $260,000 annually.

The council majority also agreed to a contract extension for Fiesta Taxi, which has had the contract since 2005, for three months, at an estimated cost of $63,000, or $21,000 monthly.

The contract extension and the new contract would be covered under the 2009-10 budget.

The contract will not take effect until November. Fiesta will provide services under the new contract beginning Dec. 1.

The new contract would also address provisions for a change in age restrictions for senior citizens. The minimum age would change from 55 to 65, a technological method by which to track and monitor programming, and a provision requiring the transportation provider to facilitate a minimum of two round trips made to and from the city’s meal program during the morning and afternoon hours.

Even if Diversified Transportation was the lowest bidder, after a 20-minute evaluation and questionnaire conducted by a panel, Diversified came in second place. Fiesta Taxi received the most points.

While it appeared senior citizens were driven to the City Council meeting by Fiesta Taxi to speak on its behalf, there was also another provider, Futura Taxi, that was left out in the cold.

Also among the lower bidders, Futura Taxi, didn’t cut it when it came to its proposal for the contract, according to Mayor Pro Tem Aide Castro.

In fact, Futura, while a Lynwood-based family-owned company — compared to a larger corporation like Fiesta — ranked the lowest in the tally, with 55.8 points.
Diversified was offering a service that was different from the taxi services seniors in Lynwood are used to, Castro said.

“The whole issue boils down to servicing our seniors the best way we can,” Castro said. “It has nothing to do with saving money or hiring a company that’s based in our city. It has to do with the seniors and what they need and want. The seniors are happy with Fiesta’s service.”

“If Fiesta is the top-ranking company, why would [the council] go with the lowest-ranking one [Futura] … and make an experiment out of us?” Castro said one senior asked her. “I told this senior we are not trying to experiment, we’re just trying to make sure we do what’s right, what’s fair.”

But the senior, she said, continued to say that it’s the seniors who are happy with Fiesta Taxi. Castro said she asked the senior about the costs of continuing with Fiesta.

“She simply told me that for seniors, they are looking at their own personal budget, and aren’t thinking about the city’s budget,” Castro said she was told.
Castro also said that Fiesta does different things for seniors in the city, including donating buses to them whenever necessary.

“All I know is that there was an evaluation process that was approved,” Castro said. “I voted against that process … but it was approved, so what I’m doing now, is respecting that process. And quite frankly, [Futura] being the underdog, and being in our city is not a good enough reason to choose them.”

Castro was joined by Councilmen Alfredo Flores and Jim Morton in awarding the contract to Fiesta.

Mayor Maria Santillan and Ramon Rodriguez cast the two dissenting votes.

“It was a difficult decision,” Santillan said. “Out of the four final candidates, Futura ranked the lowest, but what isn’t being considered is that only two taxi service companies submitted proposals, and Futura was the lowest bidder.”

Fiesta’s first contract was awarded by former council members without putting the contract out for bid, Santillan said. The contract was then officially renewed in 2005.

“Fiesta is the pioneer of the senior voucher program,” Santillan said. “But people are forgetting that when they first came in, they came in with a lot of problems. Years later, of course, the seniors love it. We love it, too, but Futura never said they would not provide the senior voucher program. … In my opinion, they just haven’t been given the chance.”

The City Council never considered eliminating the senior voucher program, Santillan added.

“Futura said they would do it. They said if they received the contract, they would add 10 vehicles to their fleet, while hiring Lynwood residents in the process,” Santillan said. “This City Council has always been in favor of hiring from within the city or giving local businesses the opportunities to provide the services that we need.”

The Futura owner also said he wouldn’t mind if the city gave him a one-year contract just to prove he could handle the job and provide the same services at a lower cost, Santillan said.

“I haven’t heard any complaints recently about Fiesta. They’re doing a good job,” she added. “But Futura is a Lynwood business. All of their drivers are Lynwood residents. They understand the issues here and their kids go to Lynwood schools. That’s my reason for supporting Futura, along with the fact that it would save the city $67,000 a year.”

Morton told the audience Tuesday that he agreed with the seniors, basically saying that if isomething isn’t broken, why fix it.

“Let’s assume you have two people who are applying for the job,” Castro said. “They both have the same experience, but one of them has the bachelor’s degree, which one do you think is going to get hired?

“That’s what happened with this company and with this process. In this forum, the bachelor’s degree was staff recommendation, plus an evaluation process that they did well in. Probably both offered the same services, just as good, and be as successful at it, but Fiesta Taxi did a better job at their proposal. Futura just didn’t cut it.”

Ultimately, her job as a member of the City Council is to serve the seniors, the seniors who were at the meeting Tuesday night, and the seniors who support her, who want to continue doing business with Fiesta Taxi, Castro said.

Resident Joaquin Messinas said he is disappointed with council members who voted for the Fiesta contract.

“In my opinion, this is a sweetheart deal in disguise,” he said. “This council’s priority should be to give their residents opportunities to lead better lives. Futura is a family-owned company. You can’t compare it to a large corporation. Futura said they would continue to provide the voucher service and they would purchase 10 natural gas vehicles and hire Lynwood residents. Not only would they be bettering their lives, but they would hire drivers from Lynwood and give them jobs so that they can provide for their families. They just wanted an opportunity.”

Saving money has allegedly been at the top of these three council members agenda, so it’s surprising that they would give the contract to the higher bidder, Messinas said.

“What they fail to mention is that Fiesta is going to charge $1,500 a month in administrative fees, while Futura was going to waive those fees,” he said.