Then, they'll perhaps be ushered into a conference room to sit in a $500 chair at a $2,460 table.

But one component of the nearly $400,000 in furniture the city will buy for the center will never be seen by visitor's eyes: a $9,494 break room booth.

Morgan Hill City Council voted Wednesday night to approve staff's purchase of mostly Herman Miller Vivo furniture from San Jose-based dealer Pivot Interiors with four votes. Councilwoman Marby Lee abstained, saying she was uncomfortable with the process. Council members Larry Carr, Mark Grzan, Greg Sellers and Mayor Steve Tate voted in favor.

The Development Services Center, located just north of City Hall at Peak and Main avenues in the former library, will act as a one-stop permit center. The total cost of retrofitting the 13,600-square-foot building is about $4.1 million, according to city spokesman Brian Stott. That figure includes the more than $360,000 for furniture and the $45,000 for furniture design consulting from San Jose-based RMW Architecture, Stott said.

The Martin Brattrud-brand booth, or banquette, is the length of a break room wall - 17 feet - and will seat 10, according to Terry de la Cuesta, senior designer for RMW Architecture. It's not one piece, so it can be used for other purposes later if the city decides, de la Cuesta said.

Mark Denham, chief executive officer of local furniture dealer 247 Workspace, took issue with Morgan Hill city staff's insistence on ordering what he says amounts to the "Rolls Royce" of furniture from a San Jose dealer to the tune of $361,058 when they could instead buy a cheaper brand from him for $347,137, a $13,920 difference. A local purchase would also keep $2,485 of the money in Morgan Hill via the sales tax, according to city staff.

Denham complained that officials placed a 2 percent utility users' tax on the November ballot that would cost each resident about $10.80 per month for seven new police officers and yet they're wasting taxpayers' dollars by selecting a furniture dealer who didn't bid the lowest.

"With the city facing a vote on a new tax this November to shore up its financing and the economy not getting any better, this would have been the opportune time to select the low bidder and local vendor," Denham said. "I hope the council reconsiders."

Tate said he appreciates the desire to "save a few bucks" in this economy, but that the city has good reason, outlined at length at the council meeting, to put forth this money on furniture that will last for 25 years.

"The case was very well made Wednesday night," Tate said. "You buy a little more and get higher quality - that was the attitude."

De la Cuesta said there are several things she looks for when considering a furniture manufacturer and corresponding dealer, chief of them the quality.

Staff reasoned they've already got a budget in place and money set aside for the center. And, what's good for the goose is good for the gander: they've bought similar furniture lines for both the Morgan Hill Library and the Morgan Hill police station.

But, de la Cuesta said, there's also a long relationship between manufacturer and dealer to take into consideration. And having an authorized, certified dealership that can design the system's furniture for a specific building helps, too.

"Basically, to provide a solution, not just a product," she said.

After initially choosing the pricey Herman Miller line, city staff approached 247 Workspace to see if it could offer a comparable line, even though Denham is not an authorized dealer of the line.

That's where it turns into a sticky, he said-they-said mess.

Denham says he wasn't invited to bid at the same time other dealers were. The city says he was. Denham says he offered a comparable yet cheaper line; the city and de la Cuesta say his proposed lines are both of a lower quality. Denham said Pivot was given data to construct their furniture plan and he wasn't. The city maintains he was given a fair shake, that Pivot's design staff drew up their own plans. At the Sept. 17 council meeting, 247 Workspace was granted a two-week extension to put together a second bid in response to Denham's complaints. Wednesday night, the council voted to go with its original decision to select Pivot and the mostly Herman Miller furniture, which was staff's preference as well.

"(The look and feel of the furniture) was important (because) we knew that cities don't buy new furniture, and that we were going to use this stuff for 10, 15 years, just like here in City Hall," Business Assistance and Housing Services Director Garrett Toy said. "And we felt that it's a proven track record, we have used similar stuff in the past."

The council wasn't entirely comfortable with the purchase, with Sellers expressing regret that the city wasn't able to buy from a local vendor they had spent much time and money to attract to Morgan Hill. Sellers called it an "untenable situation."