janitorial mop bucket on cleaning in process and worker background

The East Peoria (Ill.) City Council recently reversed a vote from two weeks earlier and awarded a cleaning contract to Central Cleaning Services Inc., the lowest of five bidders for the job, according to an article on the Journal Star website.

At an earlier meeting, two commissioners and Mayor Dave Mingus voted against the Central Cleaning contract. The 3-2 majority supported the second lowest bidder, Tazewell County Resource Center’s Custodial Services Program, a service that provides employment for adults with developmental disabilities.

″(To me) it’s more of a moral obligation and I believe a feeling of what I believe is the right thing to do,” Commissioner Gary Densberger said before voting against the Central Cleaning contract. “I believe the right thing to do would be to go with the Tazewell Country Resource Center.”

The topic returned to the council agenda for a reconsideration of the cleaning contract vote. Law requires a 4 to 1 vote in the commissioner form of government in order to approve anything other than a lowest bid.

Mingus changed his vote from nay to aye.

Central Cleaning, the city’s current cleaning service bid $87,540 for the contract to clean six buildings, Riverfront Park and other public properties. The TCRC bid was $112,800.

Mingus cited the difference in the amount of the bids and the city’s need to move forward quickly with a new cleaning contract as reasons he switched his vote.

“Maybe TCRC can sharpen their pencils and lower their bid to get our business (next year),” Mingus said.

TWRC janitorial services has 35 contracts, 10 of which are with other governmental entities including Tazewell County office buildings.

TCRC CEO Jamie Durdel said he hoped the group’s bid for an East Peoria contract might lead to different collaborative efforts down the road.

“I just hope it might open doors to work together at some other time,” he said.

Read the article here.