Mid Valley Disposal will provide recycling services for Clovis after all.

After pausing two months to consider other plans and bids, the Clovis City Council on Monday voted 3-2 to award MVD a $5.5 million, 10-year contract.

Vong Mouanoutoua, Diane Pearce and Drew Bessinger voted in favor; Lynne Ashbeck and Matt Basgall voted against.

The council considered the contract in February, but delayed any vote to consider splitting the contracts for residential and commercial services. Although MVD was the lowest among three providers — current contract holder Republic Services, and Caglia Environmental also bid — the cost is still 20% more than the current contract.

Mouanoutoua said the bidders engaged in a fair process.

“Tell (us) what our staff did wrong in that ranking. Please, just tell me. Give me something to question them,” Mouanoutoua said. “I owe it to the city, the residents and the commercial users, to give them the best price.”

Ashbeck criticized the process on awarding the contract. She supported waiting, with an interim contract with Republic Services at a higher rate of $1.2 million for three years.

“We are in such muddy water here. I don’t feel like it’s a responsible thing to issue any contract,” Ashbeck said. She called a 10-year contract “insanity.”

Pearce said she based her vote on the cost.

Challengers Make Final Pitch

The other bidders made a final appeal.

Ashlee Cawley with Republic Services and Richard Caglia with Caglia Environmental insisted if the bids were truly evaluated “apples to apples,” each would be the lowest.

Cawley said evaluating the bids took on too many assumptions, such as how many carts per commercial property. She added that her company truly provides the “Clovis Way of Life,” by a fair compensation package for its drivers.

Caglia called  the process “frustrating,” and said he was “deeply disappointed” that he could not have additional meetings with staff.

Caglia Environmental General Manager Keith Hester called MVD’s bid “nonresponsive” and “irresponsible” because he said it did not properly estimate vehicle safety and maintenance and would “provide pathetic benefits.”

Joe Heisdorf with MVD defended their numbers to the council.

Caglia Concerned About Conflict of Interest

Nathan George, an attorney representing Caglia Environmental, questioned the fairness of the bidding process.

He mentioned conflicts of interest, with consultant HF&H that helped develop the original bid, and the Kalpakoff family — owners of MVD — hosting a fundraiser for Pearce last year.

“Those are all things that give me very serious pause, and I think should give all of you very serious pause to go back and look at this all and say, you know are we doing what we need to do for the people of Clovis?” George said.

Pearce reported $250 of in-kind contributions from Joe Kalpakoff and Wendy Kalpakoff for hosting a June 2024 fundraiser. That is the cap — within a 12 month period under state campaign finance law — before a recusal or return of the money is triggered.

Related Story: Clovis Reconsiders Recycling Vote. Will a Campaign Contribution Matter?

“I’m up here to do the best interest of the ratepayers of this community. And so the rest of it doesn’t factor in,” Pearce said in response.

Electric Motor Shop, under the Caglia group of companies, contributed $250 to Pearce in June 2024. Caglia Environmental also provided Ashbeck with an in-kind contribution of $1,862, but outside the 12-month window in November 2023.

City Attorney Scott Cross said one interpretation of the law may exempt a contract, like the recycling bid, from the fundraising cap.

Scott Redelfs, Clovis public utilities director, clarified that the consultant had no conflict. Redelfs created confusion during the February discussion using language that implied a conflict.

Bessinger said George’s complaints “irritated” him. He said any ethics complaints should be made to an investigating agency like the District Attorney’s office.

Meanwhile, Basgall said he is concerned about potential litigation.

School Board Member Considering Council Run

A second school board member could be running for a southwest Fresno City Council seat.

Sources say Fernando Alvarez, an elected board member on the West Park School District, plans to run for District 3. Alvarez is also a government affairs specialist with the Fresno Chamber of Commerce. An announcement could come in a few weeks.

Fresno Unified school board member Keshia Thomas is the only candidate to formally file. State Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula also said he intends to run for the seat representing southwest Fresno and downtown.

Alvarez currently lives outside the district, and would have to move to run.

Thomas and Arambula are Democrats; Alvarez is registered no party preference.

Miguel Arias, the current D3 councilmember, terms out after the 2026 election.

City Employee Union Gives to Vang

One week after taking his seat on the Fresno City Council, an employee union contributed to his campaign.

The Fresno City Employees Association PAC gave $5,500 on April 18, campaign records show. Vang took the oath of office on April 10.

The union represents non-supervisory white collar city employees.

The council will discuss in closed session negotiations with the union at Thursday’s meeting. Campaign finance law exempts personnel negotiations from forcing a recusal of elected officials.