Because the rules listed below were not followed, Best Buy Signs (BBS) requested twice that the city council’s vote on 6/4/24 be rescheduled to investigate BBS’ claims against Matt and the OPRD. This request was denied.

The decision to not follow the City of Omaha Municipal Code does not only result in a loss of revenue for BBS but also for many, if not the majority of the roughly 750 clients who had thousands of advertising contracts with the Omaha Bus Bench Program since 2009.

• Section 3-61: Requires that Article III of the Omaha Municipal Code, which contains the rules regarding installation, placement, and maintenance of Omaha’s bus benches, be followed.

  • You wouldn’t be reading this if all the ordinance rules were followed.

• Section 3-62a: Requires the OPRD Director to give Omaha City Council the bid specifications and notice that they are requesting proposals for managing the bus bench program at least 4 months before the end of the current contract’s term so that City Council can approve the specifications.

  • The most recent bus bench vendor contract expired 5/31/23, so OPRD was required to give notice and submit bid specifications for approval to city council before 2/1/23. 

  • There is no public record that this had occurred for either the first or second RFP sent out by the OPRD. The first RFP was sent out 4/12/23, the second on 8/2/23.

• Section 3-63: Also requires OPRD to give City Council proof and dollar amount of all bids submitted during their RFP. Then, the City Council must accept the highest and best bid.

  • The document given to City Council shows $0.00 on all three received bids.

    • BBS’ proposal was for $100,200.

    • COAA’s proposal was $100,000.

    • The third bid was less than BBS and COA’s.

• Section 3-65J: Requires periodic maintenance by the bus bench contractor to keep them safe, clean, and looking their best. It does not specify how often “periodic” is.

  • The 2024 contract was changed to require on-demand maintenance and trash pickup services, without changing the City Ordinance.

• Section 3-66B: Requires that bus benches weigh at least 400 lbs.

  • All of COAA’s posted bus bench designs are made of plastic or thin-formed metal which would not weigh 400 lbs.

    • The “Avenue” benches COA is installing weigh less than 100 lbs - that’s less than 25% of the weight specified in the ordinance.

  • Omaha’s current bus benches under BBS conform to this ordinance. BBS’ newest proposal included adding an additional 129 bus benches to the current inventory of 471 and also would have been produced locally.

• Section 3-66C: Requires bus bench legs to be concrete or solid metal.

  • This is not the case with most of COAA’s designs.

• Section 3-68A: Requires all bids for the bus bench contract be given to the Public Works Department Director to review proposed bus bench locations and confirm they will not obstruct the city right of way, or create a pedestrian or traffic hazard.

  • There is no record that this happened, and as of June 4, no proposed locations had been submitted by COA.

• Section 3-68B: Requires the Director of the Public Works Department to confirm that the proposed location(s) for a bus bench would not affect the property owner where a bench is located.

  • Again, there is no record of this happening.

• Section 3-71: Requires all bus bench locations to be approved by the city council and the vendor cannot install or perform any bus bench maintenance until that is done.

  • COA did not provide a list of proposed locations before June 4, nor has city council approved any locations from them as of 7/15/24. Yet, COA has been contacting current bus bench advertisers about keeping their current locations and promising to set benches on August 1 without approval from city council to operate.

• Clients can only advertise on the bus benches under 1-year contracts. After a 1-year contract, the option to continue month to month is given with 90 days’ notice for the client to cancel.

  • BBS offered bus bench contracts as short as one month, and as long as one year with the option to continue on a monthly basis, or cancel with 30 days’ notice.

• All of the bus bench designs posted on their website are of an anti-houseless design with “armrests”.

• COA’s benches need a concrete landing pad to be anchored to the ground. Many bus stops with a current bench are on grass or dirt.

• Replacing bus bench graphics due to damage, vandalism or graffiti could take “2-3 weeks” according to COA.

• Advertisers’ bus bench graphics will be one size, limiting the impact and potential effectiveness of their ad(s) and messages.

• This eliminates a reasonable outdoor advertising option for thousands of businesses and organizations across the Metro as well as future political, “now hiring”, and event-specific campaigns. This could include those currently advertising on bus benches as of June 2024:

  • 69 small businesses

  • 9 non-profits

  • 2 hiring campaigns

  • 1 trade partner

• Best Buy Signs earned the right to manage the program because they provided the “best and highest proposal.”

  • OPRD’s Director, Matthew Kalcevich, ignored and manipulated the standard RFP (Request for Proposal) process to his and COAA’s benefit by violating the City of Omaha Municipal Code – “The Municipal Code is the document that is the formation on how the City of Omaha government is chartered and run.”

• How often is the contracted vendor supposed to maintain bus benches? How often does BBS perform maintenance?

  • Neither the City Ordinance nor the bus bench contract specify how often. The contract reads “all bus benches shall be regularly inspected and maintained by the contractor to be in a clean and safe condition.” 

  • BBS performs ongoing quarterly maintenance.

  • BBS also acts immediately when we find, or are informed of, damaged, vandalized, or broken bus benches – we correct the issue within the following few business days, if not the same day.

• Is there anything stated in the contract or City Ordinance about how to report an issue with a bus bench? How does someone report an issue with a bus bench?

  • There is nothing specified within the contract or ordinance.

  • Most bus benches currently have a metal panel on the bus bench legs with BBS’ phone number and website. Those that do not are ones that have been replaced due to vehicle damage over the 14 years BBS has managed the program.

• Is the bus bench contractor responsible for picking up trash around the bus benches?

  • Contractually, no. As stated in the Omaha City Ordinance, trash pick up on the city right of way – where the bus benches are placed, is legally the responsibility of the property owner. That includes the City of Omaha via the city’s Public Works Dept.

    • The Best Buy Signs (BBS) team is in the field daily, weather-permitting, and picks up what trash they can in the immediate area of each bench they put their hands on that given day.

    • BBS also clears grass and weeds around bus benches as needed. This is another requirement of the Public Works Dept. via the Omaha City Ordinance.

• How do we help eliminate trash and litter around the bus benches?

  • There are trash cans/bags in every Metro Transit bus in Omaha. Previous Metro Transit director, Curst Simon, told BBS “We’re not taking in trash because our drivers don’t want to mess with it.”

    • Metro Transit does not have a rule that bus riders cannot bring food or drink on Metro’s buses.

      • Their posted rules say “Eating — all food must be in a container. Drinking; unless in a container with a lid.”

    • We have had past bus riders tell us that bus drivers have told them to “throw it on the ground. You’re not bringing that on this bus.”

  • Omaha Parks & Recreation Dept.’s (OPRD) Recreation Supervisor, Steve Slater, told Trilety Jackson of Safe Omaha Streets in 2023 “that maintaining the areas surrounding the benches will be a criteria that will be evaluated by the review committee for the current request for proposal.”

    • This cannot legally be added to the vendor contract without first amending the Omaha City Ordinance, which, as of 6/4/24, has not been done.

  • Metro Transit bus drivers are reported to ignore people sitting on bus benches and demand those waiting to ride the bus stand by the bus stop sign.

• Under the expired 2023 bus bench contract, the greatest revenue generated for Omaha was up to $131,000 annually.

  • OPRD’s Matt Kalcevich and Steve Slater alleged that the revenue generated in 2022 dropped to as little as $6,000 due to a credit given to BSS after numerous bus benches were removed along Dodge St. in 2020-2021 because of the ORBT line.

    • 58 bus bench locations were removed along Dodge Street in October of 2020.

    • 8 bus benches were removed around the UNMC campus in 2020.

  • Since 2009, BBS paid $940,885.14 to OPRD in revenue from the Omaha Bus Bench Program. BBS also gave OPRD $245,842.50 in city advertising credits from 2009-2024. This totals $1,186,727.64, not including the $300,000+ BBS spent when purchasing new bus bench inventory for OPRD in 2009.

• Before being hired by OPRD in December of 2020, Matt was the Recreation Manager at the City of Des Moines.

  • Creative Outdoor Advertising managed the bus bench advertising in Des Moines, Iowa before Matt left his position in Des Moines.

  • Matt had ample time before the bus bench contract renewal process was supposed to start in February of 2023 to bring any concerns or desired changes to the program to Best Buy Signs, or to change the city ordinance before the first RFP. Matt then changed multiple things within the second RFP and bus bench vendor contract after rejecting all three proposals submitted to the first RFP in May of 2023.

• OPRD has a history of canceling contracts the Director doesn’t like.

  • Previous OPRD Director Brooke Bench was instrumental in the end of the Omaha Parks Program in 2018 because he felt it was not conductive to the OPRD.

• OPRD has forced the cancellation of bus bench clients’ contracts without a legitimate reason.

  • More than one competitor to a bus bench client complained to either Mayor Stothert or the OPRD because they didn’t like their competitor’s ad(s).

• OPRD has ordered the removal of bus benches due to illegitimate requests/complaints.

  • Among other locations, 6 bus benches were marked for removal by OPRD from Village Pointe in 2015.

Trilety Jackson of Safe Omaha Streets stated that their 2023 safety audit on 72nd St. “received nearly 100% negative feedback on the bus benches…we received notices that bus benches were broken, tipped over, surrounded by trash, and some were located illegally.”

• S.O.S. had 30 audit forms turned in from survey participants: bottom of page 2 of the Executive Summary. There are 35 participants noted on the second to last page of their full report.

• “some were located illegally.” The ordinance states bus benches must be within 20 feet of a bus stop

Trilety had three concerns: “The first one is trash. Trash around bus stops is a consistent and documented problem in the city. Trash and litter are issues of health, aesthetics, and respect for riders.” Speaking with Steve Slater last year, “he let me know that last year’s contractor, they maintained trash through a complaint-based – like someone would complain and they would pick up the trash. But they were not required to maintain the surrounding area on any sort of regular, schedule basis. He did let me know quote ‘that maintaining the areas surrounding the benches will be a criteria that will be evaluated by the review committee for the current request for proposal.’ end quote…the contract is still a complaint-based and the only caveat is that if trash and litter are a chronic problem then the contractor will bring a plan to the city to nullify the situation or correct the situation.”

• Our team is in the field daily, weather-permitting, and picks up what trash they can at each bench they put their hands on on that given day.

• We also perform ongoing quarterly maintenance.

“Second, regarding inspection and maintenance of the benches, the contract reads ‘all bus benches shall be regularly inspected and maintained by the contractor to be in a clean and safe condition.’ The phrase regularly inspected is vague. I don’t know if that is quarterly, monthly, or annually. I’d love if there was language that was tightened or clarified on that in the contract.”

• When we hear of a damaged, vandalized, or broken bus bench – we correct the issue within the following few business days, if not the same day as part of ongoing maintenance.

“Third, regarding any bus bench complaints, the contract depends on the contractor being notified of issues by the city, the Metro [Transit], bus-using traffic, or any other person or entity. The contractor is the sole owner and sole entity responsible for maintaining those benches. I believe that then, they should be easy for people to contact. I would recommend that the contractor’s contact info be posted on all bus benches, if possible, so people know where to complain in real-time. If this is already standard practice, then it should be written into the contract language.

• The majority of the bus benches currently have a metal panel on the bus bench legs with our phone number and website.

Trilety also said “there are multiple entities with their hands on the benches. There’s the Parks Department, the contractor, the contractor’s contractor, the advertisers, and Metro [Transit].”…“Bus benches are a visual representation of the City of Omaha; not just to public transit users, but to motorists, pedestrians, and visitors, and we want to make sure it’s a good representation because they really do look terrible in a lot of areas. And even though the city doesn’t sign a check to the contractor because the contractor is essentially paying the city, I still think that we need to have some sort of city oversight to make sure that that infrastructure is nice.”

“Best Buy Signs has earned the right to manage the program by providing the best and highest proposal each time the contract is renewed…Under Matthew Kalcevich…the latest RFP process has been turned on its head“…[Matt] made calculated decisions to delay. manipulate and edit the bid process. After asking the City Council to table the vote scheduled for June 4 in order to review Matt’s failures, Jim said “…Violations made to the Nebraska code ordinance 361, 362, 365J, 366… Along with insufficient changes of circumstances to reject the first RFP that went out. In addition, we believe the benches proposed by Creative Outdoor Advertising of America do not meet the ordinance requirements, and they should have been disqualified from the start. I have requested, in writing, multiple times to discuss with Matt but have been turned down, in writing.”

• First request to meet with Matt – 3/28/23

• Second request –6/26/23

• Matt has claimed that he could not talk to BBS during the proposal process, but as BBS had been the current vendor at that time, Matt’s claim is not true.

  • OPRD’s RFP Title “Bus Bench Maintenance and Advertising. Section III. Procurement Procedures, Paragraph B. Communication with Staff” states: From the date the RFP is issued until a contract is executed, communication regarding this project between potential vendors and individuals employed by the City of Omaha is prohibited…The following exceptions to these restrictions are permitted:

    • 1. Contacts made pursuant to any pre-existing contracts or obligations;

    • 2. City staff and/or vendor staff facilitating the meeting for the purpose of addressing questions; and,

    • 3. Presentations, key personnel interview, clarification sessions of discussions to finalize a contract, as requested by the City of Omaha.

“The City of Omaha Municipal Code…is defined as follows; ‘The Municipal Code is the document that is the formation on how the City of Omaha government is chartered and run. The city agreement expired back on May 31, 2023.

Code ordinance 3-62a states: The director of the department of parks, recreation and public property shall submit to the city council proposed bid specifications and the accompanying “notice to bidders” soliciting proposals for the installation, placement, maintenance and removal of bus stop benches throughout the city at least four months prior to the commencement of the contract term specified in section 3-63.

[Ordinance 3-62a] requires the director, no later than February 1 of 2023, to submit bid specifications to the City Council, and that the City Council approved the bid specification by resolution. I have not found in public record that this has occurred…Can that be confirmed? Has the City Council approved the specifications related to this that are required under the ordinance?” Aimee Melton replied, “We don’t do a back and forth…”

How about the second RFP that went out? No, I don’t believe those [required specifications] have been turned in [to City Council] either.

Code ordinance 3-65J states: The purchasing agent shall submit to the city council the bid tabulation sheet, together with all bids submitted and all related correspondence. Thereafter, the city council shall, by resolution, accept the highest and best bid and award the contract for the contract period. However, the council may, following 30 days’ written notice to the contractor, terminate the contract for noncompliance with the contract provisions in the event that the contractor fails to remedy any such noncompliance to the satisfaction of the council within said 30 days. The tabulation sheet that’s included in the documents attached to this meeting today shows zeros on the tabulation. Best Buy Signs’ number was $100,200. Creative Outdoor was $100,000.

[Code Ordinance] 3-65J requires periodic maintenance by a contractor. Matt, without changing the ordinance, is requiring on-demand services for this [2024] contract.”

Code ordinance 3-65J states: All benches shall be inspected by the contractor periodically and shall be maintained by the contractor in a clean, safe and sightly condition.

[Code Ordinance] 3-66B; benches must weight 400lbs. Code ordinance 3-66B states: The benches shall be of heavy construction, weighing not less than 400 pounds.

• The “Avenue” benches COA is installing weigh less than 100 lbs - that’s less than 25% of the weight specified in the ordinance.

[Code Ordinance] 3-66C; the [bus benches] legs must be made of concrete or solid metal. Code ordinance 3-66C states: The end pieces and legs of the benches shall be constructed of concrete or solid metal.

• Again, the benches that COA is installing do not comply with this ordinance.

Matt is ignoring these requirements in the proposal right in front of you [City Council] without amending the ordinance.” Jim again asks that today’s bid – on June 4, 2024, be laid over to a later date so they can review with the City Attorney to resolve the problems.

This is about following the rules. About being timely. Not risking putting a business that has been in Omaha for 35 years out of business because we’re [City of Omaha/Omaha Parks Department] not going to follow our own rules.”

• Jim submitted documents to the clerk showing where he reached out to Matt and the Parks Department. The same documents are linked above.

“The [Omaha bus bench] program, is the only [bus bench advertising program] I’m aware of that is controlled by a city ordinance. [It] Does not get enough attention because it comes up every 4-8 years. I think that the ordinance needs to be rewritten myself. I think there needs to be more cooperation between Metro [Transit]. Metro [Transit] has buses running to most locations every 15 minutes. Inside those buses, are trash cans [or trash bags]. I’ve spoken with the previous director [of Metro Transit], and he said ‘We’re not taking in trash because our drivers;’ this is what he told me, ‘Our drivers don’t want to mess with it. So, there is a solution to the trash. We’ve not been able to clearly talk about it [with Metro Transit or the Omaha Parks Dept.]. We [Best Buy Signs] have suggestions. We have not been able to come to the table. This agenda of Matt’s, I think, is embarrassing when you break 5 or 6 different ordinance rules, and I just hope that we can get it straightened out.”

• There is no rule that bus riders cannot bring food or drink on Metro’s buses. Their posted rules say “Eating — all food must be in a container. Drinking; unless in a container with a lid.”

• We have had past bus riders tell us that bus drivers have said “throw it on the ground. You’re not bringing that on the bus.”

“So, this is a contract being presented to you in relation to a posted RFP. We worked closely with the purchasing department and our legal department to present the information that we did publically, and come to this point today with our potential selected contractor who’s here to represent themselves. Certainly, there were a lot of accusations and information thrown around, and I’ll respond to potential council inquiries here in a moment if there are any. I am certainly happy to answer any of the questions. I’ll offer the opportunity to connect with our vendor who’s been waiting here, potential vendor, for a long time.”

“Two things about the park benches…I don’t think these two focus areas are well-kep. Which is, somebody brought it up, trash in the area of the benches, and the uses of the benches pertaining to the bus system. The drivers will ignore people who are sitting, and that, it’s happened to me, it’s happened throughout the years that I’ve been using the bus system. Drivers demand that you must be standing by the bus stop sign. That’s difficult to do always because it depends where you are, you know, which stop you’re dealing with. I think that needs to be in the contract with Metro [Transit] that the drivers have to recognize the usage of the benches as pertaining to people wanting to get on the bus system…that’s not a difficult thing to deal with, nor is the trash. There’s a bus stop on 24th & Farnam, and all I did was position the trash can [to] where it wasn’t on the actual sidewalk, and it was used. To this day the area is clean…I don’t know if people are putting the recycling in the recycle side, and the trash in the trash side, but it’s not on the ground…I think that focusing on those two things will provide quality to the execution of the contract.”

• See the aforementioned comment about trash removal above.

“I’ve not only seen my parents run this bus bench program for 14 years, but I’ve seen the hard work that they put into it. [Such as] Multiple lates calls, multiple situations where they’re going out late at night to survey or check on bus benches. So, I know that a big point that has been brought up…some big points that I’ve heard about today, specifically from you [gesturing to Council Member Johnson]… were transparency, secret deals, and timelines. None of those things have been followed in regards to this contract. There have been secret deals, there has been 16 months’ worth of delayed timelines, and just overall, no transparency. As been a small business [in Omaha], Omaha is ‘keep local alive, keep it everything’. You’re wanting to outsource [this contract] to Florida…

• We can cite numerous occasions where we corrected a situation within hours of the issue(s) being brought to our attention.

• BBS has supported many nonprofit organizations, special causes and public messages during the last 15 years. (There is a list at the bottom of this page as well)

“On this thing, I am an opponent to a new contractor coming in here and doing this job. It seems like there’s a lot left on the table to be discussed, investigated, prove right or wrong. To move to a foreign business that isn’t registered in this state like that, to take a guy’s business that’s been alive and thriving in this city and has been there for you guys for 35, and then ignore him for 16 months seems very awful. And I can only imagine the hardship his family has dealt with. I’ve been dealing with this City Council in this city, like this, for several months – maybe seven, and it stressed me out to no end to know that somebody’s been dealing with Matt Kalcevich for 16 months, I feel for them. I’m an opponent of a new contract coming in, especially when it means taking Omaha business out of Omaha. These are our bus benches. This is our bus route. Who knows, this might be your mayor’s streetcar signage guy – keep him in-house. Keep it local. [It] Goes back to ‘the dollars spent in North Omaha last 3 days’. Keep the money being made here, spent here. Don’t outsource a job, it seems like a family-ran business, to a foreign business out of Florida. This company is big, Creative Outdoor – too big. Keep Best Buy Signs, figure out what your guys’ differences were, come to an agreement, and move on. To do what this is, this is point blank, as of number 50, item number, you’re giving this contract to a company that doesn’t live or work in this city. And you’re taking it away from somebody that lives and works inside this city.”

“We have been in business for almost 40 years. As some of the people mentioned, yes, we are a big company. We have partnerships with other 300 different municipalities all across North America. And we treat this business, we will have local staff who will be managing and making sure that everything looks in tip-top shape every single month. We have an electronic scanning system, so what our operators do when they visit a bench is they will actually scan the unit and then you will be able to see, you’ll be able to log in in real-time and see exactly when the person was there, what jobs they completed, etc. And you [City of Omaha] will have full access to our maintenance record, so you’ll know everything that we’ve done maintenance-wise. Whether it’s trash pickup, or just graffiti, or just a regular maintenance visit you will be able to see all that information.”

“With COAA, they talk about trash pickup – help me out here, a 3-foot [radius] of the bus bench, that they’ll pick up trash within is it, within 48 hours?” Matt replied, “Yes.”

Council Member Begley then asked; “Okay, what’s the current one now? Is that the same standard we got now? Matt replied, “No.” Begley asked, “What is it right now?” Matt deferred this answer to Steve Slater – Omaha Parks & Rec. Recreation Supervisor. Steve answered, “There is nothing in the current contract or the expired contract that discusses any regulatory requirement for them to pick up trash. When they’re [Best Buy Signs] at a site, or when we call them, or somebody calls them, they will be dispatched to go out and do it.

• As mentioned earlier, this is a responsibility of the Public Works Department

Council Member Begley then asked Matt Kalcevich how a member of the public would notify COAA of trash needing to be cleaned up around a bus bench. Matt deferred the answer to Marc with COAA, and replied, “What we will have is what call a signature panel, which has our name, phone number, and our website. So, they [members of the public] have many options -they can call it into us. And then what happens is, as soon as it gets called in or gets reported to us, they [COAA staff] will put in a work order which gets sent directly to our person. Each of maintenance team has what we call a scanner, it’s basically a piece of electronic equipment that when we go to the bench, they scan the bench, and that’s how we know when we’ve been there, and how long they were there, and so on. So, as soon as the work order gets entered in, it pops up on their [COAA staff] scanner and tells them ‘Oh, there’s garbage, or trash at this location and you need to go out there and take care of that,’ so it’s a very simple process.” Council Member Begley then asked what the turnaround time would be for that once it’s reported. Matt said, “So, as per the contract, it would be a minimum of 48 hours. However, very often we’ll be able to action our crews faster. Especially if it’s a bad situation, we will definitely have our people there quicker than that.”

• Again, the majority of the bus benches currently have a metal panel on the bus bench legs with our phone number and website.

• Again, our team is in the field daily, weather permitting, and picks up what trash they can at each bench they put their hands on that given day.

Matt Kalcevich added, “Certainly, the bus benches are, potentially, what we’re calling the ‘magnet for trash.’ One of the things that is the situation, is sometimes there’s trash around that [bus bench] that is the responsibility of the property owner, not necessarily us providing the bus benches so that is a challenge in regards to where a lot of these [benches] are placed. However, certainly, that was part of what when we reposted the RFP because it was an ad alternate to discuss the company’s action to trash, we listed trash as a specific call out for what somebody [a business] would say they could provide. Now again, as many of us know, this is a call for a request for proposal. We evaluated a lot of proposals that were out there as we prepared for this process. We looked at some national standards and the companies that were providing elsewhere that were having success with this kind of business. And so, we landed on what we thought would be an appropriate standard, or what we knew might come back in terms of companies what they’re doing now. This is one of the options that we saw in many places and is what came back in the proposal, and that we negotiated down to this level. So, a couple other things I’ll add here – well, that’s the answer to your question, Council Member Begley. I’ll come back to other items if you have them.”

Council Member Begley then asked; “[In regards to] Inspection and maintenance of [the bus benches], did you cover that [in the contract]? Are they periodically done, or what is the process for that, and how many are there?” Matt deferred this answer to Marc with COAA again, but first said, “What I will tell you is something, that has already been conceptualized, is a full audit of our system. Of which we’ve already extended an invitation to Metro [Transit] to be a part of that. And the full resetting of every bench is part of this proposal by our potential new contractor. And so, again, I’ll let them represent themselves in terms of their process, but those are the things that are definitely a step forward in terms of this reset that we’re focusing on.

Marc with COAA replied, “First of all, like with what Matt said, we would be sending someone there, actually they’re [a member of COAA’s staff] scheduled to be there next week. His name’s Karl Rumeo, he’s been with our company for over 30 years, and he hates when I call him this, but he is the guru of anything that’s street-related. So, he will go visit every single location, every bus stop. He’s going to take a picture, GPS everything, put together a full report of all the locations. He sends it to John [Apostolopoulos], John sends it off to Matt [Kalcevich], and then you can go through the whole list and say ‘Yes, we want one [new bus bench] at this bus stop. Yes, we want one here. No, we don’t want one there,’ and he’ll [Karl] make recommendations. But at the end of the day, the city will have the final say in what locations we can have a bench at, and which ones we can’t. And regarding the maintenance, you’ll, because of the scanners, you’ll be able to see all the maintenance records that we do every single month.

Council Member Begley then asked; “Will you hire local people and how many?” Marc replied, “So, when we first start out, we’re definitely going to have an installer and someone who’s going to be doing the maintenance. We’re going to hire a local district manager, so that’s actually how I started with the company. I’ve been with COAA for almost 25 years. I was the local district manager who was out there selling the advertising and working with the small business owners. So, we will have those people in place who can manage the program on a daily basis.”

“We have a gentleman here [Jim Paulison] that came up to the mic and he said that he had reached out to you for 16 months. I would like to give you an opportunity to talk about the things that were, you used the word ‘alleged’, not threat[ened].” Matt responded, “So, we have had a long relationship with our incumbent vendor, and we did have communication up to the point, as far as discussion of the future of this program, until we activated the first RFP. Now, most of the communication happened with Steve Slater who manages the majority of our contracts and was the direct liaison for this one. Once we engaged in that process though, there’s parameters and regulations about how much we can engage in with regards to anything about what might be happening past what is the end of the agreement. That being said, we worked together in good faith past that time, and they [Best Buy Signs] were still benefitting from the previous arrangement. As we got prepared and had to go through the multiple alliterations of the RFP we did to land in this spot today, proposing the new agreement. So, the statement about no communication is absolutely not true. The interest in getting together about this specific process and not giving other people that opportunity was definitely outside the scope of what was acceptable.”

• Matt’s claim that he could not talk to BBS is not true.

  • OPRD’s RFP Title “Bus Bench Maintenance and Advertising. Section III. Procurement Procedures, Paragraph B. Communication with Staff” states: From the date the RFP is issued until a contract is executed, communication regarding this project between potential vendors and individuals employed by the City of Omaha is prohibited…The following exceptions to these restrictions are permitted:

    • 1. Contacts made pursuant to any pre-existing contracts or obligations;

    • 2. City staff and/or vendor staff facilitating the meeting for the purpose of addressing questions; and,

    • 3. Presentations, key personnel interview, clarification sessions of discussions to finalize a contract, as requested by the City of Omaha.

Council Member Juanita Johnson then asked Matt, “So, what prompted you to submit an RFP for this?” Matt replied, “Our responsibility is to bring the best services to the residents of Omaha, and in our opinion, we had limited our scope on what was potentially available as far as providing this service was concerned. I’m sorry and sad if somebody is not able to compete to the level to continue serving, and an RFP process is just that, competitive. And we had somebody rise to the level of showing a product and a possible service higher than what our incumbent [cotractor] delivered through this process. And thus, our committee made this choice to recommend who we are, and I would cite, and we listed some of this in the information we shared, of 40 plus years of experience, 300 municipal and public transit clients across North America. So, somebody that, again, we interpreted and our committee interpreted would be a step forward. We’re replacing all of our benches through them, in regards to the ordinance, you know, we’re providing a like service or accepted an alternate, if you will. Which is absolutely acceptable within our purchasing code of mounted benches, installed, mounted benches, not 400-pound un-mounted benches. So we have a parallel there that we’re drawing from, and we’re also getting a stabilized, fixed-income as part of consistent revenue for the city that is different from what was in the previous contract, or what was proposed previously prior to this RFP and the collection of information we had. And then certainly, it was very attractive to have the tracking system that was just described, and that ability to check things in real-time, have that kind of consistency is actually something that merges with our existing GIS system. So, the technology step was absolutely part of what we reviewed in regards to the proposal of other companies, of which there were three, who submitted and were reviewed.”

Council Member Juanita Johnson then asked Matt, “So, would you say that the city’s needs have changed, and you were looking for different results, different accommodations?  Matt replied, “Everything changes and evolves, that’s constant, absolutely. In this case, when we received proposals and reviewed that with our committee, and again, in the effort to try and be as comprehensive as possible, not only did we have members of pars and rec.; we invited the planning department, and the mayor’s office, to be part of us evaluating things thoroughly, and fairly, and properly in regards to the current needs that we have. And again, we received proposals that we rated and evaluated and landed on this being the best opportunity to serve residents, to serve citizens at a higher level with this responsibility with the Parks and Recreation Department.”

Council Member Juanita Johnson then asked Matt, “So, did we do any reaching out to the current person, the gentleman…did we reach out to kind of prod him along or change, or get him to see that our needs were different?” Matt replied, “He referred to the amount of time that he had been connected to us, and having served us at that level, we felt like there was an advantage of having been part of the system here. And again, to not taint the process and make any of those who were submitting to us newly, or not our incumbent, feel like they had any other advantage other than the fact that they had been serving us for the amount of time they mentioned. That being said, they still fell well short of what other proposals shared with us in terms of the ability to serve residents and citizens differently, at a higher level, and with new technology, and with the opportunity to update our infrastructure with new benches. Things that would create a more consistent service was the interpretation.

Council Member Juanita Johnson then asked Matt, “So, for lack of a better word, did you provide an exit interview with him? Matt replied, “We informed him as part of the process, the agreement, the contract having expired, about how things played out in terms of awarding [the new contract] to someone else. Never did they make us aware that they were going to stop serving. They again, have continued to benefit for the time since the contract actually expired. Certainly, we would have liked to have moved everything along faster. I’ve worked with all of you [Councilmembers] closely enough that you know the Parks and Recreation Department has an incredible amount of moving parts. We worked this into our system around everything else that we had to manage, and unfortunately, had a couple of resets in there that were strategic about making sure that the proposal was accurate to what we were trying to achieve as far as service to residents, and the update or upgrade this bus bench program that we were aspiring to.”

Council Member Juanita Johnson then said, “And lastly, I too am concerned about spending money in Omaha, giving opportunities for those in Omaha. Nothing against out-of-town providers. There was nothing we could to keep this in-house?” Matt replied, “Our charge is to create the best service and opportunity for residents and citizens. It’s not to solely serve the local business community. I think that’s a great thing, and I think that’s something we aspire to have be a part of as mush as we do in our department. But again, the RFP was about submitting a proposal and meeting criteria, and being evaluated on what was the best service. In this case, a national organization came to us saying they were interested in having, in making their impact on the Omaha community, and that’s where we landed on presenting to you [City Council] what we believe is that step forward and that best fit in terms of this next iteration of bus bench provision.”

“Through the Omaha Parks Department, I’m sure you do thousands of RFPs and bids every year. Hundreds?” Matt replied, “Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.” Council Member Hug then asked, “You mentioned earlier, that you said, I believe you said your first RFP. Were there multiple RFPs on this project?” Matt replied, “So, we posted an RFP and the main catalyst was the lack of information that came back in terms of response about trash. And that being something we knew was a concern to at least have an opportunity to serve. Again, I’m not planning to turn this service into a trash collection business. There’s a find balance here. As mush as we know there’s a need to have attention to trash around bus benches; private property owners and other partners in the community are still responsible for trash, primarily. That being said, we added that [to the second RFP] and reposted with the opportunity to, very specifically, talk about somebody’s strategy about trash as an element of what we asked people to present. So, yes, maybe wrongfully, we left that as something that might be an opportunity to create distance in terms of the proposals. And when nothing was submitted for trash specifically, we elected to make it a mandatory part of the submission.” Council Member Hug then asked, “Alright so, how many RFPs did you end up doing?” Matt replied, “Two. The repost with that modification.”

Council Member Hug then asked, “The proposal a head of us will generate how much monthly revenue for the City of Omaha?” Matt replied, “It’s $100,000 annually.” Hug then asked how much the amount was on the previous contract. Matt deferred the answer to Steve Slater. Steve said, “The maximum potential was $131,000 [annually]. That number had went down substantially due to a credit that was given when the benches were removed along Dodge Street with the ORBT project. There were also benches removed along over at the [Universitey of Nebraska] Medical Center, and those were a credit back. Last we reviewed, it was substantially lower than $131,000.” Hug asked how much the amount was drastically reduced. Steve replied, “It had went down to the last in 2022, I believe, we received $6,000…it was based on credits that he, Mr. Paulison, had issued against new benches, replacement benches, revenue lost. The previous [Parks Dept.] director worked with him on the agreement. Again, the benches that were taken out along Dodge Street, [Universitey of Nebraska] Medical Center. He [previous Parks Dept. Director Brooke Bench] would give credit back for those, and we understand those were revenue producers.”

Council Member Hug then asked if 2022 was the last year the city received any revenue from the bus bench program. Steve replied, “I would have to look, but 2022 was the last we received any payments from him [Jim Paulison].” Matt Kalcevich then added, “I will add that this new version of the agreement has some other protections to ensure that that revenue is consistent. That was an evolution in terms of us being part of the contribution that we’re committed to, as a department, in terms of producing revenue, and we believe we have stabilized that through this new contract arrangement.”

“So the last revenues you paid to the City of Omaha was in ‘22, correct?” Jim replied, “No, we paid in ‘23…We paid in ‘22 and ‘23.” Hug asked if Jim remembered how much was paid in 2023. Jim replied, “We paid the exact amount that was agreed upon. No, I do not [know the exact amount] because I do not do the books. We submitted the exact amount agreed upon when the city removed 100-plus benches up and down Dodge Street. It dramatically affected how we could do business. Steve Slater agreed that this would be a fair resolution. And then, let me point out, that our bid [for] this one, this RFP was $100,200 which is “best and highest.” The other company is at $100,000.”

• Since 2009, BBS paid $940,885.14 to OPRD in revenue from the Omaha Bus Bench Program. BBS also gave OPRD $245,842.50 in city advertising credits from 2009-2024. This totals $1,186,727.64, not including the $300,000+ BBS spent when purchasing new bus bench inventory for OPRD in 2009.

Hug then asked what the maximum number of benches BestBuy Signs had before the locations along Dodge Street and around UNMC were removed. Jim replied, “We had 400. I would also like to point out, when we took over this program in 2015, we spent $350,000 providing all new, brand-new bus benches…I would have to check my records to be exact, but I believe you [Council Member Hug] are in range.”

• 58 bus bench locations were marked for removal by OPRD along Dodge Street in October of 2020.

• 8 bus benches were marked for removal by OPRD around the UNMC campus in 2020.

“I would like to just make a couple comments. We are here, the agenda we are voting on is whether or not to approve the contract with Creative Outdoor Advertising. This council does not get to determine, if we vote no on this, we don’t get to turn around and vote on who we want. That actually is up to the Parks Department. They could actually reject all [proposals], they could send it back out. It doesn’t mean that this city council would then get to control who gets the contract. I just wanted to make that extremely clear that we’re not here to pick between two people. We’re here to vote agenda item 50 up or down.”

Johnson – No
Rowe – Yes
Begley – Yes
Harding – Yes
Hug – Yes
Melton – Yes
Note: Council Member Pete Festersen was absent from the meeting