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Home My WebLink AboutLETTER FROM MARK ROSEN SUBMITTED DURING PUBLIC COMMENTSMARK S. ROSEN ATTORNEY AT LAW CIVIC CENTER PLAZA TOW[-RS 600 W. SANTA ANA BOULEVA00 SUITE 614 SANTA ANA., CALL FORNIA 92701 TELEPHOhlE (714) 2SS -9838 FAX (714) 285 -9840 February 15, 2013 Mayor Miguel Pulido Members of the City Council 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Asia, CA 92701 Re: Santa Ana Rotational Towing Contracts Dear mayor PulIido and Members of the City COLHICil: 1 -111s 1Lttcr \Nil] sll.pplement the letter I %vrotc on F--- bruary 11201 3), to Actin`, Chief of P01ice Carlos Rojas. A copy ofthat letter is enclosed. In addition to Caldwell's Towing. I also represent J&R Towing and Tom's Towing. In addition to the protest I set forth in my carli'cr letter, thcr;: are additional Orotunds to challenge the award of rotational to «vine- contracts. The police department did not follow its O4Vil Rcque:st fox Qualifications. The failure to €ollow the RFQ includes the following: 1. The RFQ says that the city intends to contract t�•it}t five lovvinO companies. However, in actuality only four companies were selected, as Santa Ana Towing and A &P Towing are effectively the same company with the same ONVI10I•ship, us111`.1 tile: same yard. 2. The RFQ Says that the proposer's exP36ellce and reputation are to count for 25% of the criteria. In addition, an implementation plan is to count for 25 °0 of the criteria, includimy "ability to .,o,- f�,,,•,,, 4., ., .-,!. F C',,...,'.1,.. �, i- ,315 \r. I_f. C -1 II .. .. ..:. n 1_.- rat_ iIVl lu �� Vyti Cal �� 1 34l J CU5 ll �tlll }L1 L1 1 CL Il1 1"no 1111c1i 1LU111'1" nC ltllGl ill LllC�l l I tUCI I''d sho,ticd up. It is a mystery how three of the companies v,-ho have been towing for the. city for Lip to forty' years, ie. Cal& ell's Totiving, .tee R Toxv�in -. anJ Tom's Towing, could have had any difficulty not scoring the hi-hest n-mil .s for experience and the implementation plan, since they have in fact been actually performing the work for the City, they've implemented all -o, dy. Ye this experience was ignored and two companic;s who hav °e not toured for the city, 'To & Mo, and B & D Towing, v` -ere selected. Mayor Miouel Pulido Members of the City Council February 1-3), 2013 I'aae Two 3. Paragraph L.(7} un:ler Miscellaneous Provisions, says that the C ity clues Ilot tivaltt any contractors who are ass'ociattfd .iiih Prit_ife P,; rty Tl,,nr�uI1du (PPI'c) Vef tl.e r,;t, + -J ,., /I , v ;�ei�,a Lu U al 11,Cl.3l one operator, To F� Nlo, rvho is actively enga4ed in PPI's. None of the omitted companies rcpresented in this letter, Caldwell's, .I&R, or Ton's, have clone any pi- cclatory or eruisiM l PPI's. 4. There are other instances where companies awvarded the contracts do not comply with the RFQ. One of these companies. To & Mo, has sued people who 1 ?ave said derogaton, comments about it. I suO -est the police department take a closer loos. at To & Mc) because we beliove there has been cronyism, possibly nepotism, and possibly other violL:tions of the R-11=Q's own requirements. In fact, the Santa Ana police: representatives told the rotational to" -III(" companies. before the RFQ vas even sent out. that the departtaaent needed to add To L. Mo. It swas only after the towing companies protested that the police ,vent the RFQ route. Based on all this, we do not believe the City has followed its oNv1I requiren?etits for the R17Q, We believe that the process therefore has been unlawful and not in compliat ?ce with state lary or the rules of the City of Santa Ana. As I stated in lily prior letter, the process appears to have been a sham to favor one or tN� o con1pa1lics ot,er the C\istlll" Companies -who have screed the city. MY clients will suffer irreparable harm to their business if they are removed from the rotational list. I1, reliance on the list, the) have spent hundreds of thousands of" dollars in to,�vin�.� equipment and in Upgrading their storalge yards and dispatch systems. Caldtivell's and J & R Towing will have to co out of business if they lose the contract. This is of supreme importance to therti. V+'e ask that t11e City Council take a look at the rotational towing operations and reject all of the contracts, and start the process over, this time makinc sure that the actual rules are followed. In the alternative, the City Council should demand that the current rotational towim, list be maintained, on the theory that if it isn't broken, there shouldn't be such an effort to fix In any evcnt. the poiice have said that the new list ,vii! take effect on February 25. My clients will have to take sonic action to protect their rights and the integrity of the process if nothing is done by then. MARK S. RosEN ATTORNEY AT LAW CIVIC CENTER PLAZA TOWERS eO0 W. SANTA ANA BOULEVARD SUITE 014 SANTA ANA, CALIPCJRNIA 92701 TELEPHONE 1714} 205 -913ag FAX 1714) 28S-9E340 February 12, 201 � Acting Police Chief Carlos Rojas 60 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Bost 19810 Santa Ana, California 92701 Re: Request For Qualification Re Towing Dear Acting Chief Rows: I ant writing on behalf of Caldwell's Towing, to protest the recent RFQ procedure and results for the rotational towing contracts for the Santa Ana Police Department. The procedure was neither fair, nor just, nor unbiased. Caldwell's Towing has towed for the City of Santa Ana for forty years. There have been few, if any, complaints about Caldwell's performance. It has maintained one or more storage yards in the city for all of this tinge. It has consistently satisfied all of the city's requirements for storage, for vehicles, and for all of the other requirements. All companies that have performed rotational towing for the city have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in securing vehicles and equipment and in maintaining their yards. Yet in the most recent RFQ all of this was ignored. At least three companies that have towed for the city for a long time, Caldwell's, J &R Towing, and Tom's Towing, were left off the new list. Instead, new unproven companies were selected. As the saying goes, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it ", All three of these companies are proven in the city. What concerns us most is that the process alight have been rial;ed and certain companies mii °ht have been pre - chosen. For example, To & Mo was selected, even though it has not towed for the city and even though, from information I have gathered, its CUP may not allow it to do storage in the city. Similarly, B &D Towing has not had a yard in the city, It is based in Garden Grove. Furthermore, at least one longtime company, Tom's Towing. was not given an opportunity to give the presentation it had prepared. It was if the interview was a mere formality because the decision had already been made. All of this leads us to conclude, regretfully, that the whole process was a sham. I must therefore demand that the selected towing list be discarded, and that the police department either Acting Police Chief Carlos Rojas February 12, 2013 Pa{0e Two keep the current towing operators, or that it start over and have a fair process with different personnel running the selection process. The rotational towing list has worked for many years. I represented the Santa Ana Police Towing Association when the rotational towing list was challenged by a renegade tow operator, Patrick Tocher, in 2000. I argued the case, successfully, in the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. At that time there were eight towing companies doing towing for the city. It is sad that the process has turned into what appears to be cronyism and favoritism, at the expense of the best interests of the city. Very ROSEN cc: Mayor and Councilmen -fibers