If you notice more rodents and roaches crawling around Oakland City Hall, it’s possibly because the city hasn’t paid one of its vendors for pest control. 

Omega Termite and Pest Control, an East Oakland-based company, claims the city has failed to pay roughly $73,000 for pest control services for many months. Omega’s president, Allen Robert Kanady, told The Oaklandside that some of his invoices are nearly a year old. 

In July, Kanady put a credit hold on the city, which froze all one-time and recurring services until Omega gets paid. Since then, Omega has stopped providing pest control at City Hall, police and fire stations, libraries, recreation and community centers, senior centers, and Snow Park. 

Omega has been in operation since 1975 and started contracting with Oakland in 2017. The city has been late in making payments in the past, but Kanady said it’s never been like this before. Omega is a small, family-owned company that employs about 20 workers, he said, and every dollar they’re owed counts. 

Asked about Omega’s outstanding bills, city spokesperson Sean Maher said Oakland is in the process of entering into a new contract to resolve the outstanding invoices, which is anticipated to be complete in a matter of weeks. According to Maher, Omega’s previous contract exceeded capacity and expired on June 30. 

The city has also agreed on a way to pay approximately $50,000 in outstanding invoices, and Maher said officials expect to cut a check this week.

The city’s Public Works Agency director Liam Garland  “has been in direct contact with Omega to offer an apology and communicate this update,” Maher said. 

According to Maher, Oakland also has an agreement with Banner Pest Control for similar services.

Kanady told The Oaklandside he was glad the city is making good on its bills. But he said the debt hold will remain in place until he is paid every dollar Omega is owed. Kanady previously shared that he would pursue litigation if the city doesn’t pay up. 

“I obviously need to get paid for services rendered,” Kanady said.  

Kanady shared emails with The Oaklandside showing how he’s spent months unsuccessfully pursuing payment. 

At the end of August, a staffer in Oakland’s facilities division told Kanady that his office was requesting approval from the city administrator to pay outstanding invoices because the order used to confirm Omega’s contract wasn’t active. 

Kanady responded, writing that his company had performed its services in good faith many months prior. 

“We have been patient. We have been understanding. We have repeatedly followed up, resubmitted invoices, changed our invoicing structure to accommodate the City’s requirements, and done everything asked of us to facilitate payment,” Kanady wrote. “Despite those efforts, I had to escalate this to a supervisor simply to receive meaningful communication about invoices approaching a year past due.”

This isn’t the first time Oakland has failed to pay a vendor. In 2024, city officials admitted that they had failed to pay for a Ford Explorer that then-Mayor Sheng Thao had been using for 16 months. In that case, actions by the city and a local dealership contributed to a series of delays in payments. 

Contracts under $250,000 can be approved by the City Administrator without council oversight, which means they aren’t discussed at public meetings. However, each year the city is supposed to publish a report documenting all of these smaller contracts. The city has failed to publish this report since October 2023, offering vague reasons for continued delays. As a result, residents are in the dark about how the city is spending money. 

Oakland’s elected leaders have pledged to fix the city’s beleaguered contracting system. In July, the City Council agreed to pay for an audit that will initially focus on hiring and contracting practices. The council also authorized an independent forensic audit of the city’s contracting system for capital improvement projects and contracts with the Department of Human Services. 

The City Auditor also recently published a study that raised concerns about how Oakland handles contracts for big projects. The report specifically pointed out how the city is slow to pay vendors, which can result in higher costs due to interest payments. 

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