Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
APPROVE CONTRACT AMENDMENT NO. 1 WITH HARRIS & ASSOCIATES FOR ON-CALL EMPLOYEE RELATIONS INVESTIGATION (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
The City has utilized various third-party attorneys and investigators for employee investigations and other matters in the past. Based upon current workloads, staffing levels and business needs, it is a good practice for Staff to have resources on-call. Staff has sought the services of various attorney investigators over the past 12-15 months and most have been opposed to indemnifying the City as required in our professional services agreement. As a result, the contract(s) were not able to be executed. At this time, Staff has two external third-party attorney investigators under contract to address needs that require immediate attention. These contracts were initiated on November 18, 2019 and February 10, 2020. Investigations have been assigned to both third-party attorneys. Harris and Associates has been assigned four investigations (one has required more effort than expected and is partially complete; the other three are almost complete). It would be inefficient to switch to another attorney investigator at this time. Staff is presenting Amendment No. 1 for on-call services and requesting City Council approval on the proposed agreement. The Amendment allows the attorney to continue with the current investigations. Based upon the time and research required, certain work has caused them to reach the maximum contract amount. The Amendment does not extend the contract term, a one year period which expires on November 18, 2020.
An RFQ was released on June 4, 2020 for future attorney and non-attorney on-call services.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. APPROVE CONTRACT AMENDMENT NO. 1 WITH HARRIS AND ASSOCIATES FOR ON-CALL EMPLOYEE RELATIONS INVESTIGATIONS (CITY COUNCIL)
2. AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT UPON APPROVAL AS TO FORM BY THE CITY ATTORNEY.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE any action deemed appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The City has worked with various third-party attorneys and investigators for employee investigations and other matters in the past.
The Carson Municipal Code Section 2611(c) allows the procurement of professional services, attorney(s) or other providers of professional services. Staff has obtained quotes for services and selected consultants for professional services based on demonstrated competence, the professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of the required services and a fair and reasonable price. An RFQ was released on June 4, 2020 for future attorney and non-attorney on-call services. It is tentatively scheduled to be presented to City Council on July 21, 2020. The contract execution, notice to proceed and contract start date is tentatively scheduled for August 1, 2020.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
The cost to cover the investigation work that will occur this fiscal year is included in the budget. The costs of FY 20/21 employee investigation services will be included in the Human Resources proposed budget.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Harris & Associates Contract Amendment No. 1 (pgs. 3-7).
Prepared by: Faye Moseley, Director of Human Resources and Risk Management