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Managed Competition

The City of San Diego strives to deliver public services to residents in the most efficient, effective, and productive manner. This goal may be achieved via direct outsourcing, managed competition, benchmarking, and employee incentive programs. The voters expressed their enthusiasm for competitive bidding for City services through their approval of Proposition C in November 2006, which authorized a managed competition process. Pursuant to Charter Section 117(c), the core public safety services provided by police officers, firefighters, and lifeguards who participate in the City's Safety Retirement System shall not be subject to managed competition. Accordingly, the City is committed to delivering quality services to taxpayers, residents, and visitors in the most economical and efficient way possible.

Competitive bidding, otherwise known as Managed Competition in the City, is a process to determine when City services can be provided more economically and efficiently by an independent contractor than by persons employed by the City, while maintaining service quality and protecting the public interest. This strategy recognizes the high quality and potential of public sector employees and seeks to tap into their creativity, experience, and resourcefulness by giving them the opportunity to structure organizations and processes in ways similar to best practices in competitive businesses, while still being compatible with public sector realities.

The City has put four functions through the competitive bidding process, leading to an estimated annual savings of $9 million:

  • The first competition was won by the Publishing Services Employee Proposal Team and was implemented in fiscal year 2012. This competition has resulted in approximately $1 million in annual savings.
  • The Street Sweeping competition was won by the Employee Proposal Team. Implementation began in fiscal year 2013. The proposal continues to yield $0.5 million in annual savings.
  • Landfill Operations was awarded to the Employee Proposal Team with implementation in fiscal year 2014. The Employee Proposal is estimated to result in up to $3.5 million in annual savings.
  • Fleet Maintenance Operations was awarded to the Employee Proposal Team with estimated annual savings of up to $4 million and implementation in Fiscal Year 2015.

For Managed Competition information from 2010 to 2012, visit the Managed Competition website.

Information on the Managed Competition program may be found below: