Staff recommends Cortez and Tony's as National City tow vendors; committee proposes modest rate increases

The city manager's working group recommended Cortez Towing and Tony's Auto Center as the two vendors to replace existing tow contractors under a three-year contract with two optional one-year extensions.

"Our current tow contracts with our 2 vendors, Road 1 and Angelo's, expire at the end of this month," Captain Andalotti said in a staff presentation summarizing the nine-month RFP process. The committee reviewed seven proposals, screened two for noncompliance and evaluated five finalists using ten technical categories plus a pricing factor.

Finance director Rachel Barrera described the scoring method the committee used: technical evaluations accounted for 70% of the weighted score and pricing accounted for 30%. "Scores were based on objective information and all members of the committee are and were responsible for their own scoring determinations," she said.

Based on the combined technical and pricing weights, staff reported Cortez ranked first and Tony's second. The working group proposed changing the city's basic tow fee to $200 and removing the $50 charge for a "dry run" (a tow that is called but ultimately not executed), a change staff said would keep National City among the lowest regional rates.

Council members repeatedly pressed staff on details of the technical review, distance to tow yards, and how pricing lines were weighted in the final score. City staff provided the RFP timeline (RFP issued after council approval on May 5; proposals due 2026-06-15) and the committee's site-inspection process as supporting evidence.