Inglewood City Manager Artie Fields requested the council rescind approval of a $5 million consulting contract related to the Intuit Dome on the June 28 regular city council meeting.
A review of a 2021 special city council agenda showed the City pulled $3 million from the reserves to pay for consulting costs they estimated to be $2,170,000. Why would they approve an agreement and pay $3 million more?
Invoices paid to Nabih Youseff & Associates for plan check services related to Intuit Dome were only $160,000.
The June 28 staff report cites “additional information” being brought to the mayor’s attention within hours of the conclusion of the June 21 regular city council meeting.
On June 21, the council approved a $5 million consulting agreement with California Code Specialities Inc. and although the Inglewood Municipal Code allows for professional services to be exempt from a competitive bidding process, Fields is requesting such a process which is likely to result in “cost efficiencies and improved overall performance”.
Because of the additional information received after the initial approval, the mayor didn’t sign the agreement.
The June 28 staff report states Public Works department initially budgeted $800,000 for plan check services and requested an additional $3 million be added to the account code which drives up the City’s deficit with the additional funds coming from the city’s reserves.
On August 10, 2021, the council approved $3 million being taken from the reserves to hire consultants to perform plan check services for the Intuit Dome project. The motion was made by Councilman Eloy Morales during the special city council meeting.
The staff reports related to the Intuit Dome are being generated out of the Economic and Community Development, which is run by Christopher Jackson, which details the department isn’t being consistent in the account codes being used to fund these expenditures. Money is being placed on one account code then being paid out of another.
The mayor noted the funds are “reimbursable” however, Inglewood Assemblymember Tina McKinnor appears to be removing developer impact fees from local governments and school districts under AB 1743.
It is unclear why the council initially approved a consulting agreement for twice the amount they budgeted for or what information was brought to the mayor’s attention.
Did the City catch themselves in their own deception?
The council unanimously approved rescinding the agreement.
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