To: Board of Supervisors and Board of Directors
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator’s Office
Staff Name and Phone Number: Christina Rivera 707-565-2431
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Strategic Plan: Organizational Excellence, Procurement System Review
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Approve Procurement and Grants Review Scope of Work
end
Executive Summary:
The Sonoma County’s Five-Year 2021-2026 Strategic Plan supports the mission "to enrich the quality of life in Sonoma County through superior public services." The plan is organized into five pillars: Healthy and Safe Communities; Organizational Excellence; Racial Equity and Social Justice; Climate Action and Resiliency; and Resilient Infrastructure.
As part of the Organization Excellence pillar, staff recommends an outside consultant be engaged to conduct a comprehensive review of the county’s procurement and grant award system. To this end, although not required by the current procurement process, staff is seeking Board approval of the attached project scope to be included in the Request for Proposals given the effort may yield significant countywide system changes.
Recommendations will be brought back to the Board for consideration in the spring of 2023.
Discussion:
The County of Sonoma, with its 27 departments and 4,000+ employees, provides hundreds of services to the community. These services protect, preserve, support, and enhance the well-being of Sonoma County, its residents, and visitors. In order to serve Sonoma County residents and to fulfill State and Federal mandates, the County organization must perform at its best.
As a public entity, over the last 5 fiscal years (FY 2017-18 to FY 2021-22), the annual average budget for both Services & Supplies and Capital Expenses is approximately $920 million. Therefore, a review of existing procurement and award processes is likely to uncover opportunities to augment efficiency and alignment with the Climate Action & Resiliency and Racial Equity & Social Justice pillars of the County’s Strategic Plan.
The 2021-2026 Strategic Plan Organization Excellence pillar reaffirms the Board’s expectation that the county is to deliver services and programs in the most efficient and effective manner, which support the county’s ability to be a fiscally responsible and accountable entity.
The Organizational Excellence pillar is organized into four goals:
1) Strengthen operational effectiveness, fiscal reliability, and accountability.
2) Increase information sharing and transparency and improve County and community engagement.
3) Become an employer of choice with a diverse workforce that reflects our community, and an employer with a positive work culture that results in engaged and developed employees.
4) Seek out grant funding to enhance programs and improve infrastructure.
Goal 1) will be implemented through six objectives, including Objective #5, which intends to align procurement and grant guidelines with strategic priorities and racial equity principles.
Staff recommends organizing the consultant review into two phases:
I. Assessment
Intended to identify improvements in the procurement and discretionary grant award processes. Including revisions to selection criteria, local living wage compliance enhancements, as well as increased collaboration with cities and other public and educational entities.
II. Alignment with Strategic Plan
Intended to develop a plan that will transform the county’s current procurement and awards systems, in partnerships with other local entities - when appropriate, into investment of public dollars that support climate adaptation and racial equity priorities. As of this writing the cities of Rohnert Park, Cotati, and Santa Rosa have agreed to avail their procurement information to be considered as part of the consultant review.
Attachment A includes staff’s recommended consultant scope of work and projected timeline, which may be adjusted once consultant is engaged and/or based on the findings.
Project management will be provided by CAO staff with the support of the county’s procurement subject matter experts. Procurement’s staff participation capacity will be limited given current staff limitations and more importantly as only a staff of 7 full time positions support voluminous procurement tasks and transactions for 27 departments and agencies.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Organizational Excellence
Goal: Goal 1: Strengthen operational effectiveness, fiscal reliability, and accountability
Objective: Objective 5: Align procurement and grant guidelines with strategic priorities and racial equity principles.
Prior Board Actions:
March 3, 2021 <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4806176&GUID=FB32D563-DD86-415E-AED4-F65BCB56F8E8&Options=&Search=>: Approval of the Sonoma County Five-Year Strategic Plan (2021-2026).
Fiscal Summary
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
This item to request the Board’s scope approval does not result in a fiscal impact. If selected proposal exceeds department head professional services delegated authority of $150,000 over a 3-year term, staff will present agreement award for Board approval.
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
A) Proposed Scope of Work and Timeline
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None