BOMBSHELL: Austin City Council wants to give $7 Million to Highly Suspicious Mystery Company to "Clean Up Homeless Camps" in Possible Fraud Case
Item #23 on this week's Austin City Council agenda allocates another $20 million to the Homeless Industrial-Complex to clean up dozens of dangerous homeless encampments around the city.
Item 23 (link) says it's critical for these camps to get cleaned up, since they pose "a great degree of health, safety, and fire risks."
Austin Water also needs cleanup services on "environmentally sensitive areas of the wildlands" due to toxic waste and debris contaminating the watershed.
Eleven companies submitted proposals for this lucrative Homeless-Industrial Complex contract.
Austin Finance evaluated each bid and selected the three finalists, who will evenly split $20 million to clean up homeless camps for the next five years.
But that's not the bombshell.
Scroll down for the bombshell.
THE BOMBSHELL
One of the three companies who won this big fat $20 million contract - P Squared Services, LLC - is the most suspicious, sketchy and (almost certainly) fraudulent company I've encountered during my three years of reading through these absurd Austin City Council agenda items.
Just look at the 11 bids and financial docs for Item 23 (link).
You will shake your head in anger and disbelief, asking yourself:
How could Austin Finance be so incompetent, lazy and irresponsible?
Is something more sinister going on?
Is this a case of internal corruption or criminal behavior?
No sane person would make these decisions.
QUESTION:
How did Austin Finance Procurement Specialist IV Sandra (Sandy) Wirtanen evaluate these 11 bids and select the three finalists?
Item 23 | Winning Bids:
NOTE: We crossed off #3 EPSI because they are legit and currently cleaning homeless camps in Austin
Item 23 raises alarming and disturbing questions about:
(a) City of Austin's bid evaluation process
(b) The integrity of Austin Finance procurement specialists who decided that P Squared Services, LLC should win this important seven figure contract.
Anyone who takes a look at P Squared Services, LLC will reach the conclusion that something very fishy, nefarious and possibly illegal is going on.
Meet P Squared Services, LLC
Major red flags pop up when you investigate this highly suspicious, brand new company called P Squared Services.
P Squared Services has:
No internet presence
No website
No clients
No experience
There's overwhelming evidence that P Squared Services, LLC is almost certainly up to something nefarious and possibly illegal.
The major question is whether it's an inside job and who made the final decision to funnel money to these frauds.
P Squared Services is a Texas Domestic Limited-Liability Company that was formed in Smithville on November 4, 2022.
The business address for P Squared Services is an exact match for the residential address of the two married co-owners:
Brandon Keith Pietsch
Kristina Dawn Pietsch
So the married co-owners of P Squared Services are running this mysterious business out of their HOUSE.
And this "business address" is actually a residential, single family home with zero visible equipment, tools or supplies for cleaning up industrial waste.
P Squared Services, LLC
607 Ash Street
Smithville, TX 78957
Let's look at the google street view photos of their business headquarters / house.
See if you can notice:
Empty beer cans on front lawn
Tipped-over cooler by porch
Unfinished projects like doors and window screens that were never installed
Scattered toys
Closer look at the garage and front porch of P Squared Services.
How can Austin rely on these sloppy scammers to clean up toxic trash from Austin's greenbelts, parks and waterways...
When the front yard of their house / business looks like this?
I would describe their property as: "people with resources on meth".
Carpeted pitching backstop is the pièce de résistance of their front lawn.
SKETCHY TIMELINE AND BIDDING PROCESS
How did this totally inexperienced company win $7 million to clean up hazardous homeless camps in Austin for the next five years?
Based on Austin City Council's own words:
Item 23 - 'Agenda Backup: Recommendation for Action (link)
"There are dozens of encampments identified within the City, and a number of these camps pose a great degree of health, safety, and fire risks."
"These contracts will provide services in and around Watershed lands, creeks, and related infrastructure to safely mitigate these camps."
"Additionally, Austin Water has the need for cleanup services on environmentally sensitive areas of the Wildlands."
Austin Finance issued the invitation for bid (IFB) to award $20 million for three companies to clean up homeless camps on November 21, 2022.
P Squared Services was formed on November 4, 2022. Only 20 days before Austin Finance opened the bidding process.
P Squared Services had zero clients, experience or visible equipment.
Somehow they beat out eight other companies to win a $6,666,666 contract to clean camps.
But wait, it gets worse.
Take a closer look at the winning bid from P Squared Services and compare it to a legit hazardous waste disposal company.
Hazcore Environmental Inc is one of the 11 companies who submitted bids.
Austin homeless camp cleanup costs are broken down into three categories on the proposed bids:
First time, ad-hoc and routine site cleanups in Residential areas and Downtown Austin
Emergency site cleanups within 24 hours
Routine and ad-hoc cleanups in Austin Parks and Preserves
Here is the first page of Hazcore Environmental's 17 page proposal for Item 23.
Hazcore Environmental says it will cost them $1.6 million for "mobilization per site cleanup", which is the third line item in each of these three categories (scroll down)
Now let's look at the first page of the proposal submitted by P Squared Services.
No wonder P Squared Services had a lower bid than Hazcore Environmental.
Totally inexperienced P Squared Services is charging Austin $0 for "mobilization per site cleanup" expenses that way more experienced competitors state will cost them $1.6 million.
How does P Squared Services expect to turn a profit anytime soon, when they are providing $1.6 million in costly cleanup services at no charge?
First page of their RFP shows that P Squared Services will provide Austin with 455 hours of FREE homeless camp cleanup services.
Seems weird.
No wonder the P Squared Services bid came in at 50% less than experienced professionals like Hazcore Environmental.
They aren't billing Austin a single penny for 455 hours of "mobilization per site cleanup".
Wait. It gets even worse.
Perhaps the most critical component of Item 23:
Where will these companies dump the tons of hazardous homeless waste, toxic garbage and dirty needles that they will be picking up through 2028?
On the very first page of the winning bid from P Squared Services, it says they plan on hauling all of Austin's hazardous homeless camp garbage up to the Williamson County landfill.
Four big problems with that plan:
Williamson County Landfill does NOT accept hazardous waste (forget about toxic medical waste from used needles).
Vast majority of Williamson County Landfill users are Wilco businesses and residences
Did anyone at P Squared Services contact the Williamson County Landfill to see if this is allowed?
How do Williamson County citizens feel about Austin dumping tons of homeless garbage in their county for the next five years?
Teddy will call the Williamson County Landfill tomorrow morning and get to the bottom of this.
We can only reach two conclusions:
P Squared Services is lying about where they will dump tons of homeless garbage
P Squared Services did no research, never spoke with Wilco landfill and has zero plans to actually cleanup any camps.
This urgent, dangerous and critical job should only be performed by professionals.
Austinites who live near Brushy Creek and Onion Creek are already angry with the city for failing to cleanup these toxic homeless camps.
Wonder what they think about Austin giving $6.66 million to this fake, phony and fraudulent company with no equipment or experience to clean up their neighborhood parks, greenbelts and waterways?
URGENT QUESTIONS FOR AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL AND AUSTIN FINANCE:
How did a brand new, totally inexperienced company that was formed only 20 days before the bidding began end up winning this lucrative contract?
Do any Austin elected officials or city employees have connections with the married co-owners of P Squared Services?
Was this an inside job, a case of racketeering or gross incompetence?
How did Austin Finance evaluate all 11 bids and decide on awarding one of the three $6.66 million contracts a brand new company with zero experience, equipment, supplies or clients?
How do the owners of Hazcore Environmental and the other seven companies who lost out to P Squared Services feel about the integrity of Austin Finance's evaluation process?
I'm almost positive that P Squared Services LLC is a fake, phony, money laundering scam.
I haven't really discussed the third company who submitted a winning bid (yet)
ICCS Academy was founded based on a noble cause, so I don't want to hammer them too hard.
But if P Squared Services didn't exist...
I would be hammering Austin City Council, Austin Finance and the procurement department over ICCS Academy and why they were selected.
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