AgdaPkt 2018-09-10 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

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6.1.B. - Page 1 REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager September 10, 2018 SUBJECT Response to San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury Report entitled "Cooperative Purchasing - A Roadmap to More Effective City Procurement" RECOMMENDATION By motion, approve the attached letter in response to the July 19, 2018 Civil Grand Jury Report and authorize the Mayor to sign and send the letter to the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury BACKGROUND On July 19, 2018, the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury ("Grand Jury") filed a report with the San Mateo Superior Court regarding how the cities in San Mateo County can save taxpayer money by adopting cooperative procurement practices. The Superior Court requires the City Council to submit a response to the report's findings and recommendations no later than October 17, 2018, and that the response be approved by the City Council at a public meeting. The Grand Jury report notes that all of the cities in San Mateo County procure goods through decentralized purchasing systems, which allows the cities to procure goods and services at fair market prices while minimizing labor costs by assigning purchasing responsibilities to staff as secondary responsibilities. This eliminates the need for professionally trained procurement staff. The report asserts that, in exchange for reduced labor costs, the cities have forfeited the advantages of a central purchasing department where trained and experienced staff can negotiate better terms and pricing for all goods and services. Unlike all of the cities, the County maintains a Procurement Division that provides procurement services to all county departments. ANALYSIS The Grand Jury report proposes that by utilizing cooperative purchasing practices between the cities and the County, significant savings can be achieved by all of the