Laserfiche WebLink
2 <br />The City of Pleasanton (“City”) opened bids for the Annual Curb and Gutter Street Resurfacing <br />IQC ("Project") on February 28, 2023. Villalobos and Associates is the apparent low bidder on <br />the Project. NCIC has several concerns about Villalobos’s bid and its safety record on prior <br />projects, which are set forth in detail below. <br />In considering whether to accept Villalobos’s bid, NCIC urges the City to conduct a factual <br />inquiry to determine whether Villalobos and Associates qualifies as a "responsive" and <br />"responsible" bidder as required by law. As explained below, NCIC believes that Villalobos and <br />Associates’ bid is not responsive because of its failure to include the required Bidder's Labor <br />Classifications in its Bid Proposal to accomplish the scope of work, and further believes that <br />Villalobos and Associates may not be a responsible bidder given its recent history of <br />Occupational Safety and health Administration (OSHA) violations on a public works project for <br />the City of Saratoga on April 27, 2021. <br />DISCUSSION <br />1.Villalobos and Associates’ Bid is Non-Responsive for Failing to Include <br />Operating Engineer Scope of Work <br />Among other things, the Public Contract Code requires the City to award public works contracts <br />over $200,000 to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.3 Bids that fail to satisfy bid <br />specificationas are non-responsive and must be rejected.4 Failure to satisfy all bid specifications <br />renders a bid nonresponsive as a matter of law. Such a nonresponsive bid must be rejected. <br />Here, the scopes of work for the Projectinclude the removal/demolition of sidewalks, driveways, <br />and gutters, in addition to replacement of asphalt. These scopes of work generally require the use <br />of heavy equipment, such as excavators, front loaders, an asphalt spreader, and various rollers for <br />finishing asphalt. The Department of Industrial Relations recognizes this type of equipment <br />under the Prevailing Wage Determination and Scope of Work Provisions for Operating <br />Engineers.Villalobos and Associates reported Cement Masons in its bid, but did not indicate an <br />Operating Engineer subcontractor or otherwise indicate the proposed use of operators. This is in <br />stark contrast to the bid submitted by the second low bidder, Rosas Brothers Construction, which <br />clearly outlines its plan to utilize Laborers, Cement Masons, and Operating Engineers on the <br />project. <br />2.Villalobos and Associates May Not Be a "Responsible" Bidder as Required by <br />the Public Contract Code <br />In addition to requiring that the bids submitted be responsive, the Public Contract Code also <br />requires the bidder to be responsible.5 The Public Contract Code defines a responsible bidder as a <br />3 Pub. Contr. Code §22032, et seq. <br />4 Konica Bus. Machines U.S.A. Inc. v Regents of Univ. of California (1988) 206 Cal.App.3d 449, <br />454 (“A Basic rule of competitive bidding is that bids must conform to specifications, and that if <br />a bid does not so confirm, it may not be accepted.”) <br />5 Public Contract Code §22032.