$7.6 million city parking contract, not priceless

Money may be tight, but San Diego’s mayor and city council have no shortage of ways to spend tax dollars, according to a list of top contracts posted online by the City’s purchasing department. The biggest-grossing San Diego City contractor is far and away the Turner Construction Company, paid $245,715,522 to build the new downtown library. And with gas prices the way they are, it’s no surprise that the SoCo Group comes in second with $39 million worth of “fuel, gas & diesel.” (SoCo also has another contract for $16 million further down the list.) Next comes police and fire radio provider Motorola Solutions, paid $25 million for “parts, equipment, software and supplies.” Fourth is Wall Street’s JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, getting $22 million for an “equip & vehicle financing program.”

Other big-ticket items for the City include $10.5 million worth of dentistry from United Concordia Companies, Inc.; $10.49 million paid to Archer Western Contractors, Ltd., for work at the Point Loma sewage plant; and $7.6 million to Ace Parking Management. Ace has various deals to run the City’s parking lots and garages; the company’s owners, the Jones family, and its employees give often to campaign funds of various elected officials, including GOP mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio and failed GOP-turned-independent mayoral candidate Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher. Further down the City’s contractor list, $6.6 million was paid to CDM, Inc., for “Indirect Potable Reuse/Reservoir” (part of the mayor’s “toilet to tap” sewage treatment effort). And $5 million went to San Diego Sports Medicine and Family Health Center for “participant — medical and fitness evals.”