Cypress city manager gains public works contracting powers on a split vote

What began in Cypress as a discussion over capital projects — like shade structures over picnic areas at parks — soon tuned into a debate on whether City Manager Peter Grant is casting a bigger shadow over City Hall.

Members of the Cypress City Council Monday passed a seven-year, $98-million capital improvement program that also gave Grant the authority to approve “routine” public works projects in an effort to streamline the process.

As a pilot program, select public works contracts will no longer appear on council agendas with staff reports, which means the public will not have an opportunity to comment on such contracts at council meetings, as in the past, and a majority vote isn’t needed to approve them.

“I am worried about the streamlining process,” Councilmember Kyle Chang said during the meeting. “For the vast majority of times, we do sign off on these everyday projects when it comes to maintenance. I do want the public to have every opportunity to comment on those projects.”

Chang favored approving the capital improvement program but implored his council colleagues to consider continuing discussion on the streamlining process to a future council meeting.

Public Works Director Nick Mangkalakiri noted that purchasing and bidding requirements would remain unchanged, and that the City Council would receive quarterly updates on contract approvals.

“For this pilot program, we’re recommending eight projects, which are all of routine maintenance, repair and or replacements,” he said.

Ranging from $50,000 to $2.4-million, the projects account for less than 12% of the $37-million capital improvement program budget for the coming fiscal year. Mangkalakiri estimated that the pilot program would streamline project completion dates by a month or two.

The question of Grant’s increased powers over public works projects arrives nearly two months after Doug Dancs, the former director of Public Works, accused him of unspecified “unlawful acts of misconduct” and called for his firing at the April 28 meeting of the City Council.

TimesOC

Cypress city manager accused of ‘unlawful acts’ by former department head

Doug Dancs, a former Cypress public works director, called on Cypress City Manager Peter Grant to be fired during Monday’s City Council meeting where Grant was honored for his service.

May 1, 2025

A special meeting called by Mayor David Burke last month deadlocked 2-2, with Burke and Chang wanting to direct City Atty. Fred Galante to turn over any documents relevant to the accusation to the City Council.

The council divide on giving Grant new powers over capital projects lined up much the same.

“This is just a pilot program,” Councilmember Scott Minikus said. “If, for whatever reason, we don’t like it, we can always go and vote to change it back to the standard practice that we’ve done. As far as transparency goes, there’s [a lot of] safeguards in place for this pilot program to move forward.”

Burke supported separating the pilot program from the seven-year plan. The mayor suggested he and his colleagues consider other options to streamline public works projects, such as contracting out services or hiring more staffers for the Public Works Department.

“I don’t know how ‘routine project’ is defined,” Burke said. “If we’re going to strip away the council’s authority, we should take more time and… figure out if there are other ways to streamline capital projects without doing that.”

Concerned that no examples of other cities delegating such authority were cited in support, Burke moved to strip the pilot program from the approval of the capital improvement program. If it moved forward, he, at least, wanted updates on public works contracts at every council meeting.

Minikus countered by asking for a council vote on the seven-year plan and pilot program as one item.

“I don’t think we’re being stripped of our powers,” he said.

Minikus said council members could call Grant or Mangkalakiri to learn what contracts were approved under the pilot program before any quarterly updates.

“How would I know what to ask for?” Burke asked.

“Simple,” Minikus said. “You say, ‘Are there any contracts pending that are going forward,’ or we can also ask the city manager to provide us with a list of them.”

“Why wouldn’t we just… put those on the agendas?” Burke asked.

Councilmember Leo Medrano, who did not attend the May special meeting that deadlocked on having documents related to the allegations made against the city manager turned over, did not weigh in on the contracting debate, aside from asking the city clerk for clarification on the vote before casting his own.

Medrano joined Minikus and Councilmember Bonnie Peat in approving the pilot program 3-2, with Chang and Burke opposed.