Mayor Kicks Frustrated Business Owner Out of Council Meeting

Mayor Marshall Kamena on Monday had to call for a recess in the City Council meeting so that he could escort a disruptive business owner from .

The man, identified in a city staff report as Renaldo Condelerio Tagel, apparently owns the Antioch-based Cinray Construction Co.

Tagel's short outburst was over agenda item 5.01, which recommended the council reject Cinray's bid to repair sidewalks at about 75 locations in the city.

He went far over the allotted three-minute period a speaker is allowed to comment on an agenda item, prompting Kamena to pound his gavel.

Tagel eventually sat down, but voiced more displeasure while another speaker addressed the council on the same item.

Kamena then called for a five-minute break to resolve the issue. "In 21 years, I've never seen anything like this," he said.

Tagel continued to speak against the recommendation to staff and Kamena for another two minutes until the mayor removed him from the meeting.

Cinray was the lowest bidder for the sidewalk repairs among those submitted by 11 contractors, according to a city staff report.

Cinray's bid was $84,962, about $12,000 below the engineer's estimate, the report said.

However, city officials received a letter from the Foundation for Fair Contracting informing them that a Cinray bid had been rejected by the City of Lafayette as a "non-responsible" bidder.

The letter also said the state's Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement, has two ongoing investigations of Cinray, according to a city staff report.

In addition, the DLSE has filed civil and wage penalty assessments against the company.

Another city staff finding that led to Cinray being labeled non-responsible is that the company has faced payroll issues that are now the basis of a lawsuit.

Leon v. Renaldo Condelerio Tagel dba Cinray Construction et. al, outlines unpaid minimum and prevailing wages, and violations of California labor code.

"It is alleged at various times during the project for the City of Martinez, Cinray compensated the plaintiffs for their labor at rates of pay below the prevailing wages," a city staff report said. "The lawsuit also claims Cinray failed to pay overtime and violated sections of the California Labor Code."

Furthermore, a 2009 project in the City of Pleasant Hill for curb replacement revealed "poor workmanship and was unacceptable," a city staff report said.

After Tagel had been removed from council chambers and the meeting had resumed, council members unanimously approved a recommendation to reject Cinray's bid and designate the company a non-responsible bidder.