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Orozco, Norma <br /> From: Lori Karaguezian <lori@karaguezian.com> <br /> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 11:23 AM <br /> To: eComment <br /> Subject: Fwd: January 18, 2022 City Council PUBLIC COMMENT <br /> At the August 17th, Public Hearing Council awarded a lucrative 18 year, $700 million contract to Republic <br /> Services. Mayor Sarmiento stressed that he wanted a transparent process. However, he and the other Council <br /> members did not disclose "for transparency" that they had accepted campaign contributions (or bribes) from <br /> Republic Services in exchange for their votes. <br /> The reasons the Council provided to justify why they cast their votes for Republic Services made absolutely no <br /> sense. They claimed they wanted to select a hauler based on their Environmental, Energy, and Climate Factors <br /> yet they didn't choose the hauler strongest in that area. Councilmember Mendoza said she wanted to choose a <br /> company that had an existing relationship with our City but cast her vote for a company that did not. They harped <br /> on multifamily rates subsidizing single-family rates when the Public Works Director confirmed rates had been <br /> adjusted to resolve that issue. <br /> I reached out to the Council. Only Councilwoman Mendoza wrote back. She skirted the campaign contributions <br /> and claimed all service stoppages due to Republic strikes had been resolved. The Councilwoman is misinformed <br /> because Republic is still on strike in Chula Vista. <br /> The way this Council handled this bid undermined the entire public procurement process. They wasted public <br /> funds because ultimately they ignored the overwhelming letters of support they received from the community in <br /> favor of Waste Management and CR&R, they ignored staff's recommendation, they ignored the consultant's <br /> conclusions & voted for the company that bought their votes. <br /> Optics are everything. If this Council is not just another "rotten sack of potatoes" they should return the bribes <br /> they accepted from Republic Services to prove they stand by their votes! <br /> Thank you, <br /> Lori Karaguezian <br /> i <br />