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6.1.B. - Page 27 <br />Response: The City agrees with this finding as pertaining to Redwood City. The City uses a decentralized <br />purchasing system where departments are responsible for their purchasing needs. <br />F2.Decentralized purchasing systems successfully allow the Cities to procure goods and services at fair market <br />prices while minimizing labor costs. <br />Response: The City agrees with this finding. Decentralized purchasing promotes efficient business operations <br />and the quick purchase of goods in a cost effective manner. <br />F3. The creation of a centralized purchasing department to provide the organization with advanced <br />procurement services and guidance can be cost prohibitive. <br />Response: The City agrees with this finding. In order to create a centralized purchasing department, additional <br />staff would have to be hired and trained, including professional- level positions, which would be cost -prohibitive. <br />F4. While city employees receive training on municipal purchasing guidelines and policies, many employees <br />who conduct purchasing operations as a secondary responsibility are not trained or instructed to negotiate <br />optimum prices by leveraging market power. <br />Response: The City partially agrees with this finding. Many of the City staff that are responsible for purchasing <br />have numerous other responsibilities. Depending on the purchase, City staff have the ability to negotiate for <br />lower pricing and better deal terms. <br />F5. City employees who conduct purchasing operations as a secondary responsibility often do not identify <br />commonly purchased goods that other departments also purchase and so miss the opportunity to negotiate <br />lower costs which could be obtained by purchasing the items in bulk for multiple departments. <br />Response: The City agrees with this finding. In a decentralized purchasing environment, each City department is <br />in charge of their own purchasing. As a result, items are not purchased in bulk for multiple departments. <br />F6. Cooperative purchasing practices allow multiple public entities to collaboratively purchase goods and <br />services, thereby gaining economies of scale that they would otherwise not have. <br />Response: The City agrees with this finding. Cooperative purchasing agreements provide economies of scale <br />that are not realized when a purchase is made by one agency individually. City staff actively pursue cooperative <br />purchasing opportunities when available, this is particularly true for Public Works goods and services. <br />F7. Cooperative purchasing practices are compatible with decentralized purchasing systems and can allow the <br />Cities to leverage their collective market power, without changing existing purchasing systems. <br />Response: The City agrees with this finding. Cooperative purchasing practices are beneficial to each agency, <br />and the City actively pursues these opportunities within its current decentralized purchasing environment. <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-1000 www.redwoodcitv.org <br />