I asked the Mayor and City Council to publicly explain how the Downtown Phase 1A Harrington Park project was bid, priced, staffed and vetted. Those questions remain unanswered.
600+
Residents asked the City not to proceed
1
Bid received, issued two weeks before Christmas
$2–3M
Estimated added cost from accepting it
More than 600 residents asked the City not to move forward with the redesign. The bid was still issued two weeks before Christmas, a time when contractor participation is historically low. Only one bid came in.
Why was the bid released during the holidays, and why did the City proceed with a single bidder?
That single bid included multiple line-item prices two to ten times higher than Bay Area benchmarks. Rebidding is standard when pricing is well above market, but the City did not rebid. Accepting the bid appears to have increased project costs by $2–3 million.
Why didn't the City rebid when prices were far above market?
The City added nearly $1 million in oversight and design fees, even though it has full-time Public Works and Engineering staff.
Why couldn't City staff manage a project of this scale without an extra million-dollar layer?
Public Contract Code 1103 requires contracts to go to a “responsible bidder.” The awarded contractor's federal history raises reasonable questions about whether that standard was met.
How was the contractor vetted, and how did the City conclude it met the responsible-bidder standard?
When discretionary capital projects come in far above market cost, they strain the General Fund — and those strains are later cited as justification for new taxes like Measure G, the proposed sales-tax increase.
Residents are frustrated because they feel fiscal mismanagement is being passed directly on to taxpayers. San Carlos should cut waste first — not raise taxes.
Good evening Mayor and Councilmembers. I'm here tonight because residents deserve clear answers about the Downtown Phase 1A Harrington Park project. I sent an email outlining several concerns — about procurement timing, contractor vetting, cost justification, and added oversight fees — and those questions remain unanswered. Until they are addressed publicly, I respectfully ask that you pull the Downtown Plan portion of the 2026 Strategic Work Plan from the consent calendar.
First, more than 600 residents asked the City not to move forward with the redesign. Despite that, the bid was issued two weeks before Christmas, a period when contractor participation is historically low. That timing produced only one bid.
Second, that single bid included multiple line‑item prices two to ten times higher than Bay Area benchmarks. The City did not rebid, even though rebidding is standard when pricing is significantly above market. Accepting that bid appears to have increased project costs by $2–3 million.
Third, the City added nearly $1 million in oversight and design fees, despite having full‑time Public Works and Engineering staff. Residents deserve to understand why internal staff could not manage a project of this scale without an additional million‑dollar layer.
Fourth, residents also deserve clarity on contractor vetting under Public Contract Code 1103. The awarded contractor's federal history raises reasonable questions about whether the “responsible bidder” standard was met.
These decisions matter. When discretionary capital projects come in far above market cost, they strain the General Fund — and those strains are later cited as justification for measures like Measure G, the proposed sales‑tax increase. Residents are understandably frustrated because they feel fiscal mismanagement is being passed directly onto taxpayers.
Tonight, I'm simply asking for transparency. Please answer these four questions publicly, and please pull the Downtown Plan portion of the 2026 Strategic Work Plan until realistic, benchmark‑supported cost estimates are provided. San Carlos residents deserve confidence that our capital projects are being bid responsibly, managed responsibly, and vetted responsibly.
— Mark Iwanowski
Fiscal Discipline. Proven Results. No Tax Increases.
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