City Hopes to Save on Street Sweeping
The City Council has taken its first step to privatize certain services in an effort to reduce expenses.
Council members last week authorized Deputy City Manager Don Vestal to solicit bids for street sweeping to determine if contracting with a private company could reduce the city’s annual expenses. Its current budget is about $325,000 for sweeping and related activities.
Vestal said that requesting bids will not commit the city to contracting for the service, but he expects to recommend a contract, if it could be shown that the city would save money.
The city spends about $255,000 for street sweeping. The rest of the expenses are for cleaning sidewalks, catch basins, storm drains and some street repairs, Vestal said.
“Obtaining formal bids for this service will provide a useful benchmark for comparison purposes,” Vestal said in a report to the council.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
