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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAB 1786 (Harabedian) Diamond Bar Support 3/18/2026 City of Diamond Bar 21810 Copley Drive | Diamond Bar, CA 91765-4178 (909) 839-7000 | Fax (909) 861-3117 www.DiamondBarCA.gov Steve Tye Mayor District 1 Ruth M. Low Mayor Pro Tem District 2 Andrew Chou Council Member District 3 Stan Liu Council Member District 5 Chia Yu Teng Council Member District 4 March 18, 2026 The Honorable John Harabedian California State Assembly 1021 O Street, Suite 4350 Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: Support for AB 1786 (Harabedian): Best Value Contracting – City of Diamond Bar Dear Assembly Member Harabedian: As Mayor of the City of Diamond Bar, I would like to express my strong support for AB 1786, which extends existing best value construction contracting authority to cities and certain infrastructure focused joint powers authorities, creating parity with procurement tools already available to counties. Cities across California are responsible for delivering increasingly complex capital projects, including transportation improvements, water and sewer infrastructure upgrades, public safety facilities, parks, stormwater systems, and affordable housing developments. These projects are often funded through layered financing structures that combine local revenue, state grants, federal appropriations, and bond proceeds. They are delivered in a construction environment marked by material cost volatility, skilled labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and heightened schedule pressures tied to grant deadlines and performance requirements. Under current law, general law cities are generally required to award construction contracts to the lowest responsible bidder. While that framework remains appropriate for many projects, it can constrain a city’s ability to account for important risk factors when delivering large scale or technically complex infrastructure. Lowest bid procurement may limit the ability to meaningfully evaluate contractor experience with similar projects, demonstrated capacity to manage complex staging or coordination requirements, safety performance history, and long-term value considerations. Honorable John Harabedian Support for AB 1786 March 18, 2026 Page 2   AB 1786 provides cities with an optional procurement tool that allows objective qualifications to be evaluated alongside price through a transparent and competitive process. Best value contracting does not eliminate competition or bypass accountability. Instead, it establishes clear evaluation criteria, maintains public notice and bidding requirements, requires documentation of award decisions, and preserves reporting obligations and a sunset date. Cities would retain full discretion to continue using traditional lowest responsible bidder procurement where appropriate. For projects involving complicated phasing, sensitive community impacts, coordination with utilities and outside agencies, or heightened safety concerns, best value contracting can reduce the risk of delays, litigation, change orders, and cost escalation. By selecting the contractor offering the strongest overall combination of price and qualifications, cities can better safeguard taxpayer resources, improve schedule reliability, and deliver higher quality outcomes for residents. AB 1786 ensures parity between counties, cities, and qualified regional delivery entities while maintaining transparency and legislative oversight. We commend your leadership on this issue and are proud to support this legislation. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or our Public Works Director David Liu at DLiu@diamondbarca.gov. Sincerely, Steve Tye Mayor cc: Senator Bob Archuleta - CA 30 Assembly Member Lisa Calderon – CA 56 City Council City Manager Public Works Director SGVCOG