Citizens spoke out against Des Moines' preference to contract with a non-local towing company instead of Des Moines based Pete's Towing at a Dec. 2 council meeting.
However, Des Moines Police Commander Kevin Tucker said the choice is only about giving people the best and most affordable alternative.
The Des Moines City Council voted on Dec. 2 to contract again with Dick's Highline Towing. Dick's Highline Towing had the lowest bid out of the other four companies who bid; Pete's Towing had the highest.
Pete's Towing gave the city the highest bid, at $160 a class A tow, the most common kind of tow required.
Dick's Highline Towing's price was $76.
Commander Tucker said the city averages 400 class A tows a year.
Des Moines has had a contract with Dick's since the end of 2003. The contract was for five years, and was set to continue unless either party requested a rebid.
Dick's new bid is lower than the contract they had before with the city, which was $84 a class A tow.
The city was required to rebid the towing contract as part of a settlement with Gary Peterson, owner of Pete's Towing and a former councilmember.
When Peterson was voted onto the council in 2001 Pete's Towing had the towing contract with the city. Pete's Towing had held the city's contract for towing for approximately 50 years at that point.
He was sued by a group of citizens who felt this was a conflict of interest.
The trial went all the way to the Washington Supreme Court, who ruled in Peterson's favor, saying there was no conflict of interest.
Peterson then sued the city for his legal fees, saying he would not have been sued if he hadn't been on the council. Earlier this year the city settled the lawsuit for $58,000.
Former Mayor Maggie Steenrod, in a letter read to the city council, called the plan to go with Dick's towing a slap in the face to local business.
B.J. Bjorneby, owner of Bjorneby's Auto Body in Des Moines said the council should balance the money being saved against the amount of money the city would make in taxes by using a local company.
"I really believe the citizens of Des Moines deserve the best towing company in the state," Bjorneby said. "I just hope the math has been done correctly."
Pete's Towing's Office Manager Cindy Mount said Dick's Highline bid was uncommonly low.
The towing contract is only for cars towed by police, such as abandoned vehicles, or accidents or incidents where the police respond and the owner of the car does not have a preference in a tow company.
Police can only recommend a tow company their city has a contract with. If there is no contract with a towing company the police cannot recommend a company. But people can request any towing company they want.
