220401 1612 Re_ Open Letter to the Cypress CouncilFrom:Frances Marquez
To:Thomas Moore
Cc:Peter Grant
Subject:Re: Open Letter to the Cypress Council
Date:Friday, April 1, 2022 4:12:26 PM
Mr. Moore,
I hope you are well today! I have copied our City Manager Peter Grant so he can follow up
with you regarding your questions.
Sincerely,
Frances
On Mar 30, 2022, at 3:38 PM, Thomas Moore <tomrmoore2@gmail.com> wrote:
Frances,
I don't believe I saw your response in today's New-Enterprise?
Also, I've asked both Peter Grant and Peat when the contract could have
legally been bid out and both have ignored the question. Can you find
out when it was possible, especially with the 4 year extension? And
when does this contract expire? 2034?!
Thanks,
Tom
On Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 2:41 PM Frances Marquez <fmarquez@cypressca.org>
wrote:
Mr. Moore,
Thank you for reaching out to me. I am responding in next week’s paper.
Sincerely,
Frances
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 23, 2022, at 12:52 PM, Thomas Moore
<tomrmoore2@gmail.com> wrote:
Frances,
I was hoping you are going to respond to the Open Letter in the
News Enterprise. I’m preparing another letter to the editor on
transparency, considering there has been no response from Pear.
The optics would be better if you respond publicly.
Tom
On Wed, Mar 16, 2022 at 11:00 AM Thomas Moore
<tomrmoore2@gmail.com> wrote:
Frances:
I don't know if you've read the current edition of the
News-Enterprise, but they published an open letter to you
and Councilman Peat concerning the extension of the
sanitation contract. I'm hoping you can give a
comprehensive answer to the questions posed in a Letter
to the Editor of the News-Enterprise. Below is a copy.
Sincerely,
Tom Moore
An Open Letter to Council Members Peat and
Marquez
I have been following the controversy regarding the
extension of the Valley Vista sanitation contract.
Rather than passing judgment at this juncture, it
seems that there are facts that can be brought to
light by the most vociferous advocate of the
contract Mr. Peat and the the lone opponent Ms.
Peat. My neighbors and I have a number of
questions that haven't been adequately addressed.
In the spirit of full TRANSPARENCY, I’m hoping the
two sides can answer them in this public forum. (I
will email you the questions so you are aware.)
1. It has been stated that the contract couldn’t be
BID OUT, as the current contract hasn’t expired (It
expires in 2024?). When is the window that the
contract could have been bid out?
2. Considering accepted practice is that
governmental agencies bid out any work to be
performed, why wasn’t the contract bid out at the
appropriate time? Despite having to address the
new organics recycling program in order to comply
with a new state law, it appears that a 32% rate
increase is steep and that competitive bidding in
our capitalistic system would have benefited
Cypress residents? We certainly wouldn’t have
received a worse contract by waiting.
3. Why wasn’t the company who provides
sanitation for the city of Los Alamitos, who will have
an eight dollar ($8) a month less in trash charges
contacted, or was it? Sanitation is not like
construction, where quality is important, trash is
either picked up or not. It has been suggested
that Los Al has very high rates to commercial and
multi-family customers to subsidize single family
residential rates. If so, are the citizens of Cypress
subsidizing commercial business in our city?
4. If true, the most baffling/disturbing fact is the
idea that Ms. Marquez was prohibited from
communicating with city staff. Additionally, for full
transparency and the fact that the contract was
signed, was there any information that wasn’t
allowed to flow among the council or to the public?
5. It appears that Cypress citizens had a deadline
to protest the contract and a date at a city council
meeting to voice opinions about the contract. Why
was deadline and opportunity proffered AFTER the
contract has been signed?
It is apparent that the contract must be more
complex than originally presented, considering we
are at a point that the words “censure” and
“transparency” are being spoken. I guarantee the
citizens are way less interested in political infighting
in their city government than having a fair and
comprehensive consideration of any money spent
by the city. I hope your answers will address the
contract and not devolve into further unseemly
finger pointing.
Tom Moore
Cypress