City of Oakland staff recommended in Jan. 2014 that Schneider Electric be selected as the contractor to complete phase 2 of the Domain Awareness Center surveillance center [source].

Here is the report that staff prepared evaluating and recommending Schneider: View Report.pdf

The main issue here is whether Schneider Electric meets the requirements of Measure T, which is a city ordinance that says that the city can't contract with any vendors that are in the nuclear weapons industry. The first vendor that was selected for the DAC project, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), had to be removed because it turned out that they did not meet the requirements of Measure T.

In the staff report, staff indicate that Schneider DOES meet the requirements of Measure T. They discuss this issue starting on pg. 4 of the report and conclude:

"Based on the information submitted and background check performed, staff found Schneider Electric Inc in compliance with the City's Nuclear Free Zone Ordinance As noted in the brief history below, Schneider Electric Inc was involved in armaments in 1891 but moved out of that industry into the first half of the 20 century."

You can read how staff came to this determination on pg. 4-7 of the report.

Despite the fact that staff have made this determination, it's unclear whether Schneider actually DOES meet the requirements of Measure T. Here are some articles that might challenge that determination:

Schneider Electric is already under contract for $2.5MM in surveillance projects for Port of Oakland [source (pg 20)].

News & External Links

2014-01-17 Oakland finds new vendor to complete controversial surveillance center, Oakland Tribune

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