I do worry about what hides in City Hall. Situations such as R&R Pacific Construction arise with what appears to be no satisfactory answers as to what is happening. On previous occasions, I wrote about the number of complaints I received involving R&R Pacific Construction regarding wage theft, labor agreement violations, and other labor complaints. I have received an answer from Kevin Rohani that there is no basis for the complaints.
Also, I perceive an excessive number of projects where R&R Pacific Construction is the lowest bidder. People tell me that this is because R&R is a local company (I don’t know how Woodlawn is local to Oakley) and thus can “get up and running” with less expense than others.
I investigated further. I filed a Public Records Request (PRA) for all change orders for contracts awarded to R&R Pacific Construction from 2010 to 2024. I did receive change orders for such contracts from 2010-2020 (contracts awarded to R&R during the Bryan Montgomery era). The change orders for 2020-2024 were not there (change orders approved for R&R during the Joshua McMurray era). City officials tell me they will arrive at the end of September (honestly, I believe I will not see them until after the election on November 5).
One example I discovered was CIP Project 237, which involved street repair in 2020. The original bid summary indicated that R&R had the highest bid at $1,087,774.95. So that bid became Plan A. Subsequently, Plans B and C appeared, with R&R having the lowest bids at 834,136.10 and 735,026.95. The combined totals of B and C were $1,569,164.00.
R&R got the contract for 955,313.68. R&R submitted change orders of $58,000.00, which brought the project total to $1,013,313.68.
I asked Mr. McMurray why R&R was awarded the contract. What determination appeared to cause the contract to go to R&R. Mr. McMurray is not addressing the question. I have received at least one message from him saying he did not need to answer such questions unless the council issued a resolution directing him to do so. If you have lived in Oakley for several months or more, you know the council will likely not direct Mr. McMurray to respond.
The situation is something to remember as we move towards election day, November 5.
A link to a copy of the documents I mentioned above is below.
George Fuller, Ed.D. – Aka Dr. OG
