Measure G: Extend Purchase Authority Without Contract to Less Than $15,000

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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund

El Dorado County, CA

November 2, 2010 Election

Measure G
Extend Purchase Authority Without Contract to Less Than $15,000
County of El Dorado
Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required

Fail: 33621 / 48.83% Yes votes ...... 35231 / 51.17% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Results as of Nov 24 1:01pm, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (152/152)
63.8% Voter Turnout (68852/107925)

Information shown below: Impartial Analysis | Arguments | Full Text

Shall Section 602 of the El Dorado County Charter, which currently requires the procurement of all services to be pursuant to a written contract, be amended to provide the Board of Supervisors with the authority to allow the procurement of services for less than $15,000.00 without the need for a written contract; provided, that the Board of Supervisors does so by ordinance which specifies alternate procedures for processing and documenting the purchases?

Impartial Analysis
Under general California law, most contracts may be either written or oral. A written contract is one where all of the terms of the contract are in writing and that writing is signed by all parties. Section 602 of the Charter of the County of El Dorado requires that the procurement of all services by the County from a private entity be by written contract. This measure would amend Section 602 of the Charter to provide the Board of Supervisors with the authority to allow the procurement of services costing less than $15,000.00 without the need for a written contract. That authority could be exercised only through adoption of an ordinance which sets forth alternate procedures for processing and documenting such purchases. The effect of this amendment is to allow the Board of Supervisors to eliminate the requirement of having a written contract signed by all parties in the case of certain, relatively small purchases. It allows the use of a document such as a purchase order, which is signed only by the County, to obtain services. Purchase orders are already in common use to obtain goods, but do not meet the requirements ofSection 602 regarding the acquisition of services. The purpose of the measure is to simplify the contracting process with service providers who do not traditionally use signed contracts in their businesses, and who frequently resist the County's request for a written contract. However, the proposed amendment does not allow for undocumented transactions. Nor does it shift authority for making such purchases away from the County Purchasing Agent to individual County departments. Contracts which are exempted from Section 602's requirement would still have to be properly requested, authorized and documented through standard procedures set forth in the County's procurement ordinance and policies, and such additional policies as are adopted by the Board of Supervisors. For example, the County sometimes retains veterinarians to treat animals in its custody. In their everyday practice, these veterinarians do not use written contracts for their services. Instead, in their dealings with members of the public, they generally provide their services under an oral agreement. The charter requirement that the County obtain a written contract signed by both parties can meet with resistance from the service providers, can be time consuming in terms of persuading the service providers to sign a contract to begin with and having to negotiate the form of the contract, and can result in a delay in obtaining necessary services. The proposed amendment to Charter Section 602 would allow the County to use more streamlined processing for these types of routine services.

A YES vote is a vote in favor of the amendment to Section 602 of the Charter.

A NO vote is a vote against the amendment to Section 602 of the Charter.

Louis B. Green County Counsel

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Arguments For Measure G

Measure G is a common sense improvement which streamlines county purchasing requirements and reduces unnecessary bureaucracy.
As currently worded Charter Section 602 requires all business owners who provide services to the County to sign a written contract with the County. This includes providers of routine services who do not use written contracts in the normal course of their business. For example, the County had to do a written contract with a jeweler to get a clock repaired. These are the types of services for which you, as an individual, would never require a written contract. These small business owners often resist this change in their normal business routine. When they are willing to sign a contract, they usually seek to renegotiate the County's standard contract, which is designed for more complex transactions, so that most of the provisions are eliminated. The County usually agrees to such revisions in order to obtain the necessary services. This costs county taxpayers and small businesses time and money, and benefits nobody. Instead of a costly bureaucratic process, these simple services should be acquired through a straightforward, streamlined, documented agreement such as a purchase order, which does not have to be signed by the service provider.
This measure fixes the glitch in Charter Section 602 which the Grand Jury said "significantly increased costs to the County" and "creates several inefficiencies." The Charter Review Committee also independently recommended a similar fix to Section 602.
Measure G creates both efficiency and accountability by requiring the purchase of services to be made with proper and appropriate documentation. This minor change will make government more efficient, save taxpayer dollars and make it easier for small businesses in El Dorado County to do business with the County.
Norma Santiago, Chair, El Dorado County Board of Supervisors Chuck MacLean, Foreman, 2008-2009 Grand Jury Joe Harn, Auditor-Controller, County of El Dorado Vern Pierson, District Attorney, County of El Dorado Ellen Day, President, Taxpayers Association of El Dorado County
NO ARGUMENT AGAINST THIS MEASURE WAS SUBMITTED

(No arguments against Measure G were submitted)

Full Text of Measure G

Shall Section 602 of the Charter of El Dorado County be amended to read as follows:
602. Contract Administration.
The Board of Supervisors shall not authorize the payment of money or other compensation for the performance of any service or function by a private entity except pursuant to a written contract meeting all legal requirements for county contracts as established by the Board of Supervisors. Each contract shall identify the county officer or employee with responsibility for administering the contract. The Board of Supervisors, by ordinance, may allow the procurement of services or functions costing less than $15,000.00 without having a written contract. Such ordinance shall specify alternate procedures for processing and documenting such purchases.

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