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Chairman Phil Mendelson Councilmember Brooke Pinto
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Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Matthew Frumin
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Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau Councilmember Janeese Lewis George
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Councilmember Christina Henderson
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to disapprove proposed 1
contract No. CW128791 with HME, Inc. to provide a minimum of one and a maximum 2
of 24 pumpers for the Apparatus Division of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services 3
Department. 4
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 6
resolution may be cited as the “Proposed Contract No. CW128791 with HME, Inc. Disapproval 7
Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2026”. 8
Sec. 2. (a) On March 17, 2026, the Mayor transmitted proposed definitive Contract No. 9
CW128791 with HME, Inc. in the not-to-exceed amount of $32,502,456 to provide 18 pumpers 10
for the Apparatus Division of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. 11
(b) This contract would be the first contract that DC Fire and Emergency Medical 12
Services has held with HME, Inc. Due to the contracting structure for many fire departments 13
nationwide, this contract was decided upon via a cooperative agreement, not a traditional bid 14
system. While the cooperative agreement model is effective for efficient ordering timelines, DC 15
Fire and EMS should use caution when making purchases from manufacturers for the first time 16
and avoid bulk orders from vendors that are new to the District. 17
(c) In fact, the BDA Global report from 2020, which analyzed the current operations of 18
the Apparatus Division, made it clear that bulk orders such as this order of 18 pumpers from 19
HME, Inc., are not best practice. The report states that “[d]elays in apparatus procurement can be 20
so lengthy that they can result in multi-year impacts. That includes years when the Department 21
does not receive enough new apparatus followed by years when the Department receives too 22
much new apparatus. The latter situation causes many, if not more, problems than the former. 23
When too much new apparatus is received, a ‘bubble’ is created which results in too much 24
apparatus moving into reserve status, and then too much apparatus needing to be replaced at one 25
time when the newly acquired units reach the end of their service life. This creates strains on the 26
budget. The far better option is to ensure that apparatus moves steadily through its lifecycle in 27
even and predictable numbers – this makes budgeting, apparatus preparation, and apparatus 28
maintenance considerably easier to do.” 29
(d) The Executive has failed to provide sufficient reasoning as to why the Department 30
needed to make a bulk order of 18 pumpers from a manufacturer who they have never worked 31
with. 32
(e) Emergency legislation is necessary to act on this contract because it will be deemed 33
approved on March 28. 2026. 34
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 35
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the 36
Proposed Contract with HME, Inc. Emergency Disapproval Resolution of 2026 be adopted on an 37
emergency basis. 38
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 39