The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to request an audit of its commodity procurement process, citing a need to ensure the city receives the most optimal prices for purchased products.
Wednesday’s motion — introduced by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky and seconded by council members Imelda Padilla and Tim McOsker — instructed City Controller Kenneth Mejia to conduct the audit. The report is expected to evaluate the city’s request for bid process, the price of supplies compared to what other government agencies pay, the use of “piggybacking” contracts, and a review of all contract stipulations that limit the pool of applicants seeking contracts with the city.
The council further instructed the General Services Department and the City Attorney’s Office to develop a policy allowing flexibility in commodity contracts or to nullify them outright if it is better to do so.
Such a policy may also allow the city to compare supplier pricing against the current market, and require vendors to offer the most favorable pricing available to the city.
While elected officials did not comment on the matter, Yaroslavsky wrote in her motion that commodity contracts are “essential” for the city to create an accurate and stable budget related to equipment and supplies.
“These contracts are meant to ensure fair pricing and guaranteed availability for important supplies to maintain city operations,” the motion reads.
In 2009, the City Controller’s Office conducted an audit of the General Services Department and the procurement process, which found the city “may be spending millions of dollars more than necessary, than if the benefits of competition were being fully realized.”
Mejia released a report April 2 that found a contractor had defrauded the city out of nearly $500,000 after receiving payment but failing to deliver the appropriate goods.
The City Controller’s Fraud, Waste and Abuse Unit released a seven page-report that substantiated an allegation against Gardena-based Makai Solutions. The city’s General Services Department paid the company $460,972 for two vehicle repair lifts, but Makai Solutions never provided the lifts, according to the report.
A GSD superintendent had given verbal authorization to proceed with the payment with the pretext of an immediate need. Staff allegedly were directed to falsely mark the lifts as received in the city’s financial management system in order to initiate the payment. Without this action, the city would not have approved the payment, according to the report.
The financial management system indicated that the person who marked the lifts as “received” was a hiring hall employee, but it was almost impossible to determine who actually marked the lifts as received. Part of the problem was that there was a single login for the system, officials said.
According to the report, the superintendent who authorized the payment for the two vehicle lifts is no longer with the city.
The controller’s Fraud, Waste and Abuse Unit conducted the audit, and provided recommendations to prevent abuse from occurring again.
Mejia touted their work, but emphasized that it’s a team of only five investigators. He previously urged Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council to fund and support the unit. Mejia says the city needs more investigators to tackle more than 700 claims of alleged abuse.