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New ordinance sets higher standards for contractors hired by City of San Antonio

Bad contractors won’t solely be awarded city projects for the lowest bid

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio City Council approved and implemented the responsible bidders ordinance Thursday to give city officials more say when selecting contractors.

Low-bid projects, such as many street projects, have brought problems.

“Unfortunately, the city was put into kind of a corner with the rules that they had to hire again the same contractors that were doing bad work because of the low bidding process. You didn’t even have to necessarily have experience in the same type of work,” said Melissa Cabello Havrda, District 6 councilwoman.

Cabello Havrda said projects behind schedule, low-quality work and negative effects on businesses and residents are all potential street project issues. For that reason, she drafted the new ordinance.

The city’s hired contractors will now have to uphold a higher standard, or they may not be allowed to bid for city projects for three years.

“Are they doing good quality work? Are they on time? Are there any issues with the contractor? And they’ll get a score. If the score is below 70, then we can eliminate them,” said Rod Sanchez, assistant city manager.

The scoring is out of 100 and broken into percentages by section:

  • 20% for meeting contract requirements
  • 20% for staying on schedule
  • 20% for the quality of the work
  • 20% for responding in a timely fashion
  • 10% for staying within budget
  • 10% for finalizing or closing out the project

KSAT asked how many problem contractors the city currently has, according to the new ordinance.

“Now that this ordinance is in effect, it’ll start to really show up,” said Cabello Havrda said.

Sanchez said, “Probably the middle of this year, nine months into the year, we’ll start to see if there’s any issues with the contractors.”

No immediate action will be taken against contractors with current projects. With that being the case, District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo wants contractors to take note.

Bravo’s district has multiple construction projects, including the St. Mary’s Strip and Broadway projects underway.

“This is an opportunity to put pressure on them. If you don’t deliver on this project, don’t expect to get projects with the city of San Antonio going forward,” Bravo said.

ALSO ON KSAT.COM


About the Authors
John Paul Barajas headshot

John Paul Barajas is a reporter at KSAT 12. Previously, he worked at KRGV 5 in the Rio Grande Valley. He has a degree from the University of Houston. In his free time, he likes to get a workout in, spend time on the water and check out good eats and drinks.

Adam Barraza headshot

Adam Barraza is a photojournalist at KSAT 12 and an El Paso native. He interned at KVIA, the local ABC affiliate, while still in high school. He then moved to San Antonio and, after earning a degree from San Antonio College and the University of the Incarnate Word, started working in news. He’s also a diehard Dodgers fan and an avid sneakerhead.

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