Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH LIEBERT CASSIDY WHITMORE RATIFYING AUTHORIZATION OF SOUTH BAY EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS CONSORTIUM MEMBERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCES SPECIAL SERVICES (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
The Human Resources Department has historically executed a "Consortium Agreement" with labor relations legal firm, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW), for services included in a "membership" to the "South Bay Employment Relations Consortium," providing access certain training and HR materials. The LCW agreement that is provided to agencies that participate in the consortium to sign has general provisions that allow for basic services to be included within the membership level selected by the City. However, it also includes a provision for unrestricted and unlimited "additional services" to be performed at applicable LCW hourly billable rates, which services and charges can be triggered by a simple phone call or e-mail to LCW.
The City's procurement policies do not allow for open ended contracts approved by Directors, or by the City Manager if the costs incurred exceed the City Manager's purchasing authority; such agreements must be explicitly approved by the City Council, and even then are disfavored, as the City's practices are to require a set not-to-exceed contract sum to ensure appropriate fiscal and budgetary controls.
The "additional services" provided by LCW under the fiscal year 2021-22 consortium agreement, which was approved and signed by the City Manager (Exhibit No. 3), have exceeded the allowable City Manager authorization limit of $25,000. Additionally, the "membership fee" incurred for fiscal year 2020-21 was not properly authorized, as the consortium agreement for that year was approved/signed by the then-Director of Human Resources, who lacked the requisite authority to do so. (Exhibit No. 2).
To correct this oversight, staff is recommendi...
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