This weekend, Voice of OC’s Norberto Santana, Jr. opened up some transparency on Costa Mesa Mayor Monahan’s openness during previous contracting out processes. It seems the most transparent part of Monahan’s record in this area is that he has no problem pushing to give put contracts exclusively to his friends.
From the story:
Costa Mesa Mayor’s Business Relationships Raise Questions
When the city of Costa Mesa decided to let out a lucrative towing contract in March 2009, Mayor Gary Monahan was instrumental in making sure that two bidders — Metro Pro Road Services and G&W Towing — were selected by the city.
In addition to voting for these two companies, Monahan successfully fought a bid by Councilwoman Wendy Leece and then-Councilman Allan Mansoor (who is now a state assemblyman) to add a third company to the contract and shorten it from five to two years.
“We have a system that has worked very, very well here for many years,” Monahan argued from the dais.
What Monahan neglected to tell his colleagues or the public was that at the time of the vote, the two primary owners of the Santa Ana-based MetroPro Road Services — Jody Campbell and Bradley Humphreys – were both listed on the liquor license at his bar, Skosh Monahan’s.
While Monahan claims that these individuals were no longer his business partners, the liquor license for the bar tells a different story; one where they are, at least according to the liquor license, still business partners.
I’m not really sure how hiding this information helps assure the public that the city will operate transparently while contracting out the jobs of hundreds of city jobs.
Somehow the words “trust us, we’re transparent because we’re on Facebook and Twitter” ring hollow to me.