Berkeley has awarded tens of millions of dollars in contracts that weren't subjected to a competitive bid process, according to a new report, which could lead to the city paying too much for goods and services, or create opportunities for corruption. The investigation by the office of City Auditor Jenny Wong found Berkeley often used non-competitive contracts in cases where it should have solicited for other bids, including in two deals for recycling services worth a combined $41.4 million, which are up for extensions soon.
The 70th and final conviction in a sweeping New York City corruption probe was secured on Tuesday, concluding a decade-long bribery scheme in which public housing employees steered work to contractors in exchange for bribes. The arrests in February 2024 were the largest single-day bribery takedown in the history of the U.S. Justice Department, prosecutors said, and targted current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority, many of them former supervisors.
