LP looks at consultant firms

The La Puente City Council is going to hold a special meeting in about an hour to discuss hiring a firm to review all service contracts in the city.

Officials say they want to make sure their getting the most bang for their buck with these contracts, and that the contracts are sound.

The two companies up for the job are Management Partners and Del Terra. Here’s a blurb from city staff reports about the two firms:

Management Partners is a nationwide firm who has an office in San Jose, California. Management Partners has been in business since 1994 and has provided like services for several California cities. Management Partners provided an estimate of $35,000 to $45,000 including all expenses with an estimated timeline of 100 days to complete the project.

Del Terra is a local company with offices in the City of Industry. The clients listed by Del Terra are school districts, with the exception of the city of Whittier and the City of Rosemead. Most of Del Terra’s experience has been in construction management services for multi million dollar projects. Del Terra did not provide a cost estimate or a timeline in which to provide the services.

A little background on Del Terra from a story reporter Jennifer McLain did last year:

ROSEMEAD — The city’s longtime construction management firm, Willdan, will be replaced by a new company, officials said.
Industry-based Del Terra Group was selected by the City Council on Tuesday to head the city’s construction projects, including the Garvey Bridge upgrade.
Council members Margaret Clark and Gary Taylor opposed the decision.
Clark requested that they hire Del Terra but allow Willdan to complete its oversight of the Garvey Bridge, which is currently under construction.
That request was denied.

Sounds to me like Del Terra is more of a construction management company than a firm that can review professional contracts — which include those for the city attorney and city engineer.

I could be wrong. We’ll see what happens.