How long will Oakland be stuck with a security company linked to key figure in federal corruption case?

OAKLAND — Despite multiple attempts, Oakland can’t seem to rid itself of a company that has for years provided security at city facilities, but which recently found itself linked to a corruption scandal that ultimately brought down former Mayor Sheng Thao.

The city appeared to have reached the final stage of awarding a three-year, $27 million deal to a new security company on several occasions this year. But the deliberations have gone nowhere, and now Oakland is starting over from scratch.

High-ranking Oakland official who spoke to feds about ex-mayor leaves for another East Bay city

Ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s attorney considering request to move bribery trial

What a lawsuit by former East Bay city manager tells us about the FBI’s Oakland corruption probe

It may take three months or longer for a new contract to be prepared, officials estimated, leaving the city to continue paying the incumbent company, ABC Security, on a month-to-month basis.

The current arrangement has now persisted for over a year, and in total the company has been paid over $30 million since it first signed with Oakland in 2018, including several contract extensions and pay increases during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is a reflection of the city’s struggles to leave behind the remnants of last year’s corruption scandal, laying bare the messy politics around city contracts and the millions of public dollars given to private vendors that win them.

On two occasions in recent months, the Oakland City Council has had the opportunity to leave ABC behind and award the contract to Allied Universal, the world’s largest private security provider.

Both times, it has stopped short. Elected leaders have openly advocated for an immigrant-owned local business, Marina Security Services, to receive the contract instead — despite Marina finishing behind Allied in the city’s bidding process.

“The council typically tries to be friendly to local vendors, while staff tends to look at it in more of a dispassionate way,” said Dan Lindheim, a former Oakland city administrator. “The sets of criteria they are using is different; sometimes they’re contradictory.”

ABC Security, the existing contract holder, is not mentioned in the federal criminal indictments filed by prosecutors this year against ex-Mayor Sheng Thao, her romantic partner Andre Jones and the father-and-son business duo of David and Andy Duong, whose family has the city’s recycling contract.

But the company’s owner, Ana Chretien, is a close ally and business associate of Mario Juarez, who this news organization has previously reported to be a co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to bribe the former mayor.

ABC received its latest contract extension in September 2024, a decision that nearly required then-Mayor Thao to cast a tie-breaking vote, though the council ultimately reached a unanimous decision to stick with the company. According to The Oaklandside, Juarez and another person named in federal subpoenas had lobbied on behalf of ABC Security when it seemed the company might not get its contract renewed in 2022.

Juarez, who was never charged by the feds, has long been a fierce advocate for Chretien’s company. Last month, he distributed notices to local news media on behalf of the Oakland Latino Business Association and Committee. These notices cite lawsuits alleging unfair labor practices that have been filed against the companies that finished first and second place in Oakland’s most recent contract bid process: Allied Universal and Marina Security Services.

Chretien did not respond to questions about her current association with Juarez, with whom she swapped ownership of several commercial properties when the two represented the same real-estate company

At least on the legal front, the notices are on to something: workers have filed in court for unpaid wages against both Allied, and Marina, whose owner is politically-connected.

But to the extent that there’s negativity at City Hall around the two companies, it hardly needs to be generated by outside critics.

At a meeting last month, Councilmember Ken Houston, a vocal fan of Marina, alluded to a report by The Oaklandside that a subsidiary of Allied was contracted to provide transportation to armed detention officers with the Department of Homeland Security.

This would seem to run afoul of a 2019 city policy that forbids public deals with companies contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for services at “detention facilities.”

The council had already rejected Allied once before, months earlier, over settlements — including back wages — that the company has had to pay out to current and former employees. Allied officials did not respond to an interview request.

City staff, including Transportation Director Josh Rowan, made clear at the time that their own process found Allied as the strongest bidder. But the new ICE question appeared to lead officials to relent — and now Oakland will start from scratch.

Marina, meanwhile, has its own share of ups and downs. Its owner, Sam Tadesse, has repeatedly alleged bias by city staff who ranked the company second place in its bid process.

He similarly raised issues with the Peralta Community College District’s own search this year for a security contractor, which ended with the school system ditching Marina for another provider after Tadesse’s company placed third in that bidding process.

Tadesse, a prolific donor in local political races, said Thursday he will wait to see the city’s next request-for-proposals before deciding whether to pursue the contract once more.

“We are confident that we can once again demonstrate we are deserving and capable of exceeding the City’s security needs,” he said in a statement to this news organization, adding that he is “hopeful” the city runs a “fair and effective process.”