Annual report examined County pattern of awarding contracts and expenditure data over the past five years
LAKE
COUNTY— The Grand Jury wasn’t the first
entity or individual to notice an uptick in no-bid purchase contracts by the
County of Lake over the past few years, but their recently released 2020-21
report identified the pattern, chronicling expenditures over the past half
decade and comparing them to more recent data.
“Our
current county administration side-steps competitive bidding in the awarding of
government funds and public contracts by using a loophole in Lake County code
Section 2-38 (38.2). I want to encourage more competitive bidding with
certified small businesses and veteran or minority owned businesses, and
potential cost savings,” candidate Chris Almind told the Record-Bee in January
2020 during an unsuccessful run to challenge incumbent Tina Scott for her
supervisorial seat in the Board of Supervisor’s 4th District during that year’s
primary election cycle.
“The
county is just using this (loophole) as a way to spend hundreds of thousands,
if not millions of dollars, and not doing competitive bidding. It takes extra
steps. I know that. It’s a lot more work to get competitive bidding. You’ve got
to do contracts. But we have an obligation for taxpayer money. We’ve got to do
it frugally and responsibly,” said Almind at the time.
Among
their findings, the Grand Jury in their report emphasized the fact that “no
regular schedule for review of on-going large scale contracts has been
formalized across all county departments.” Additionally, “the
language/classification designated for no-bid contracts utilized in Board of
Supervisors agendas and minutes does not allow for specification or detail into
why any given contract has the competitive bidding process waived.”
The
report thoroughly expands upon instances where there may be only one source
available for a needed unique purchase, item or services but the Grand Jury
also noted that “for most items, a system of bidding for fulfillment of the
need is a proven method for obtaining the best value or best desired results
for the product or service.”
Furthermore,
the report states that having most of the expenditures of local government
qualified by a bidding system is a common practice by governments at all
levels. They noted that Lake County during this current fiscal year has seen “a
significant increase in no-bid purchase contracts proposed and approved under
the description of ‘Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County
Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature
of goods or services.”
Noting
that each individual department in Lake County governance generates its own
purchase orders based on continuing needs and in keeping with established
budgets, the report outlines the results of the organization’s examination of
the county’s actual purchase expenditures for the past five fiscal years,
looking at the time from of July 1 to the following end of March (this was done
to match the portion of the current fiscal year highlighted by the report). The
Grand Jury found that from July 1, 2020 to March 23, 2021, a total of $9.4 was
submitted and approved by waiving the formal bidding process, pursuant to
County Code Section 3.82, which they noted to appear as “an exceptionally high
number for a county with our budget.”
While
the report acknowledges that some part of this may be directly related to how
any business, including government business, has been impacted by COVID-19
safety protocols and necessities, the report notes that “the amount of the no
bid contracts, when compared against recent previous years actual spending has
raised concerns.”
An
attached list of two dozen contractors employed by the county was included in
the report which outline such services as LOCE for safe schools ($250,000),
Social Solutions Global software ($115,800) and Elijah House ($376,834) as
examples of no-bid contracts approved by waiving any formal bidding process due
to “the unique nature of goods or services.”
The
Report recommends “a system of regular and scheduled reviews of on-going
contracts and supplier usage be instituted to ensure optimal efficiency in expenditure
of county funds.” The Grand Jury also recommends that these types of contracts
and purchase orders for BOS review and approvals “have specific references on
the formal meeting agendas indicating accurately as to an actual unique good or
service or as to when the last competitive analysis was performed on this
category of good or service.”
Pursuant
to state law, responses from the Board of Supervisors are required within 90
days of the submission of the Grand Jury Report. The entire 2020-2021 report is
available for the public to read at
http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Assets/County+Site/Grand+Jury/Final+Reports/2020-2021+Final+Report.pdf?method=1
Lake
County Record-Bee
By ARIEL CARMONA | arielcarmona@record-bee.com |
July 9, 2021
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