Council to Vote on Consultant for Sustainability Web Site

Local website designers and some members of the City Council believe the process used to choose a Napa-based website designer worked against the goals of the commission for which the company will work. Some in the community may ask the council to reopen the process, which wouldn't guarantee a different outcome but would force a delay in getting the website up and running.

The City Council will vote Tuesday night on whether to hire Plumbline Studios to update the Sustainable Development website, a longtime goal of the Community Sustainability Commission. 

"There is a concurrence of the City Council to study the problem, and for getting a local preference policy in place," said Mayor Elizabeth Patterson. 

Some the city had put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) and only found out about the project after a sub-committee of the Community Sustainability Commission had made a recommendation. 

"I read somewhere that they were discussing a sustainability website," said Bobby Acker, who owns Acker Design, a home-based website design business. "I had not heard that anybody could bid on it. It would have been nice to get to bid on it."

The Chamber of Commerce was never notified about the RFP though one of the local firms that did submit a proposal is owned by a chamber member. While the chamber wants to support local businesses, and especially its members, it won't be weighing in at the council meeting.

"Because of timing, there hasn't been a meeting to discuss it," said Stephanie Christiansen, Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer.  "What we would like to do is work with the city so it doesn't happen in the future."

When asked if the chamber could have called a meeting to discuss the issue, Christiansen said, "It's a timing issue."

Constance Beutel, Community Sustainability Commission vice-chair, helped choose Plumbline and said any company could bid on the project.

"City staff told me it was on the city website," she said. "Two of the proposals came from Benicia and one of those was from a member of the Chamber of Commerce."

Phyllis Hartzell, owner of Web Outside the Box, wonders why the city doesn't use its business license database to find local businesses to bid on projects. 

"I have a business license that shows me as a web designer," she said. "It's an easy match. It should be easy to research web designers."

"There are talented people in town who can do this job." 

The issue is on the radar of at least two council members and the mayor. Councilman Mike Ioakimedes will suggest that it go on the agenda of a future council meeting. 

Vice-Mayor Alan Schwartzman has discussed the need to use local companies and Patterson has presented city staff with copies of policies from other agencies that could be used as models for Benicia.

Asked if she thinks the bidding process should be reopened, Patterson said, "I'm really torn about that because the committee has been so frustrated with getting that website current. They're paying the price for a process that was flawed."

She said she believes the process will be updated to make it easier for Benicia firms to learn about RFPs. "There will be good that comes from this unfortunate situation," Patterson said.