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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 01082008 - SD.2 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra FROM: SUPERVISOR FEDERAL D. GLOVER ';� Costa DATE: JANUARY 3, 2008 County T'ICOIJ�I �J SUBJECT: CHANGES TO BOARD MEETING PROCEDURES SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S)& BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: I. CONTINUE the practice begun in 2007 to start regular meetings at 9:30 a.m. 2. ACKNOWLEDGE that lengthy ceremonial presentations cause delays in the calendar and reduce the amount of time available to devote to business and policy issues requiring Board action, and AGREE,therefore,that ceremonial presentations should be limited to two per week with a five minute maximum for each presentation; STIPULATE that Board presentations will recognize individuals and events that are of countywide interest and significance. 3. CONCUR that in the interest of economy and efficiency and to the extent practicable and permitted by law,the Board should delegate routine, low-impact, and ministerial actions to the County Administrator or designee(s). ACKNOWLEDGE that the delegation of some routine actions would permit the Board to focus more time and energy on more complex, policy level issues. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: ®YES ❑NO SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATIO OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED _ OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN UNANIMOUS(ABSENT AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE AYES: NOES: SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED: JANUARY 8,2008 CONTACT: JULIE ENEA (925)335-1077 JOHN CULLEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR CC: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEMBERS COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR DEPARTMENT HEADS By D Changes to Board Meeting Procedures January 3,2008 Supervisor Federal D. Glover Page 2 4. ADOPT Resolution No. 2008/34 to amend Resolution No. 71/17 to delegate to the County Administrator the authority to approve the following ministerial personnel actions: retitling of a job classification, cancellation of vacant positions, and abolishment defunct job classifications. 5. DELEGATE to the Purchasing Agent, upon approval of the County Administrator, the authority to engage independent contractors to perform services for the county or county officers, with or without the furnishing of material, when the aggregate cost does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars($100,000), pursuant to Government Code section 25502.5. DIRECT the County Counsel to prepare the modifications to the County ordinance code and the County Administrator to issue revised administrative policies and procedures to effect these changes. BACKGROUND Meeting Start Time. Due to lengthy morning commute times, I recommend that we continue the current practice of starting our regular meetings at 9:30 a.m. instead of 9:00 a.m. This will help us to start on time and keep to the daily schedule. Presentations. While it is important to take a few moments to recognize notable individuals, actions and events, ceremonial presentations often take up more time than intended, causing delays in the calendar and reducing the amount of time available to devote to business and policy issues requiring Board action. The current policy limiting ceremonial presentations to three per meeting for a maximum of 15 minutes per meeting is not working. In practice, the Board is spending closer to 30 minutes per meeting on presentations, detracting from the time scheduled for complex, provocative, and/or time-sensitive business issues. The Board's priority should be on the business needs of the County. Therefore, I propose to limit ceremonial presentations to two per meeting for a maximum of 10 minutes per meeting, and stipulate that only presentations of countywide interest and significance be permitted. The Board of Supervisors meeting should not be the venue for District- specific events, public service announcements or awards and recognition ceremonies sponsored by other bodies such as Board advisory bodies or community groups and organizations. There are other, more suitable venues for those activities. Efficiencies. The Board at each meeting takes action on an average of 87 Consent calendar items that require staff preparation, review, approval, copying, distribution, certification, redistribution, and filing. Preparing an item for Board action adds up to three weeks to the processing time for these items. The volume of routine items produces a compendium of documents that must be reviewed by the Board during the 96-hour period between Friday and Tuesday in order to prepare for the Board meeting. To better utilize Board member and staff time, I propose that the Board delegate the following routine and ministerial actions to the County Administrator: ■ DELEGATE to the County Administrator the authority to approve the following ministerial personnel actions: retitling of a job classification, cancelation of vacant positions, and abolishment of defunct job classifications. These administrative actions have no budgetary or cost impact and generally do not involve the exercise of judgment and discretion. Changes to Board Meeting Procedures January 3,2008 Supervisor Federal D. Glover Page 3 ■ DELEGATE to the Purchasing Agent the authority to engage, upon approval of the County Administrator, independent contractors to perform services for the county or county officers when the aggregate cost does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). Government Code section 25502.5 provides that for counties having a population of 200,000 or more, the board of supervisors may authorize the purchasing agent to engage independent contractors to perform services for the county or county officers, with or without the furnishing of material, when the aggregate cost does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). County Ordinance Code section 1108-2.215 currently authorizes the Purchasing Agent to enter into service contracts up to the statutory limit of$100,000. However, County policy and practice has limited this authority to aggregate amounts of$25,000 or less. The Purchasing Agents for the counties of Fresno, Monterey, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, and San Mateo all have authority to execute contracts up to $100,000. On average, 51% (530 of 1,046 annually) of all contracts referred to the Board of Supervisors for approval are for amounts of$100,000 or less. In addition to a savings in staff effort to prepare these items for Board consideration, approval of these contracts at the administrative level will expedite the processing of the contracts by up to three weeks. I recommend that the Board delegate to the Purchasing Agent, upon approval of the County Administrator, contracting authority of$100,000 or less, as provided in statute. The County Administrator will be charged with reviewing contracts for operational necessity, policy compliance, and budgetary impact, and will ensure that these contracts receive the proper legal review by County Counsel. I recommend that the Board direct the County Counsel to draft an amendment to the County Ordinance, and that the County Administrator be directed to update relevant administrative policies to reflect this delegation of authority and responsibility to the County Administrator and Purchasing Agent. THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Adopted this Resolution on January 8, 2008 by the following vote: s -__- ;oma AYES: Moth, u 4:*Akfit, 16Y901 16PILlA 4C4o06P NOES: — o, "WAAe , ms's = •c3` ABSENT: O TA_COUIZ ABSTAIN: SUBJECT: AMENDING RESOLUTION 71/17 TO ) Resolution No. 2008/34 DELEGATE CERTAIN MINISTERIAL PERSONNEL) ACTIONS TO THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR ) WHEREAS the delegation of some routine actions would permit the Board to focus more time and energy on complex, policy-level issues; and WHEREAS certain personnel actions have no budgetary or cost impact and generally do not involve the exercise of judgment and discretion; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board's policy set forth in Resolution No. 71/17 is hereby amended to provide as follows: "It is the policy of the Board of Supervisors to make changes in the authorized personnel complement of County departments by order and resolution, except that the County Administrator is authorized to perform the following ministerial acts without action by the Board of Supervisors: the County Administrator may retitle job classifications, cancel vacant positions, and cancel/abolish defunct job classifications, as needed. " I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown ATTESTED: January 8,2008 John Cullen,Clerk of a Board of Supervisors An;County AdTni strat ... y Deputy cc: COUNTYADMINISTRATOR HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR RESOLUTION 2008/34 l 6�