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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 04142007 - C.71 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS '� s L..°'� Contra ............ FROM: JOHN CULLEN, County Administrator Costa o• -��J� ��'•s C e •� • l I e e �o DATE: AUGUST 6, 2007 d•: cs'` County TA ------ SUBJECT: CONTRACT WITH JCG TECHNOLOGIES FOR AUTOMATED AGENDA SYSTEM SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Administrator, or designee, to execute a contract with JCG Technologies, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $75,000 for the development of a system to automate the preparation and distribution of the Board of Supervisors agenda and supporting documents for the period September 1, 2007 through August 31, 2008, and in the amount of$2,750 annually commencing with County acceptance of the system for a perpetual software license. FISCAL IMPACT: The estimated total project cost is $197,000, comprising hardware, vendor software and implementation support services, project management services, and Department of Information Technology support. Costs will be funded with general revenues reserved specifically for countywide administrative and financial automated systems. Costs for the perpetual software license will be funded from the Clerk of the Board's annual budget. r CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: ❑ YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR ❑ RECOMM TION OF BOARD COMMITTEE M,010PROVE ❑ OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BO ON /l P190 r APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS: I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND )(VNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF AYES: NOES: SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED: AUGUST 14,2007 Contact: JULIE ENEA(925)335-1077 JOHN CULLEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR cc: County Administrator Chief Information Officer IT Cabinet Members(via CAO) GSD-Purchasing and Materials Manager By: -deputy Automated Agenda System August 6, 2007 Contract with JCG Technologies, Inc. Page 2 BACKGROUND: On March 13, the Board of Supervisors authorized the County Administrator's Office to evaluate systems to automate the Board's agenda process and return to the Board with a project recommendation. The Purchasing Agent issued a request for proposals and the County received seven proposals. An evaluation team ranked and saw demonstrations of the three top proposals and selected JCG Technologies, Inc., (JCG) AgendaQuick software. The County Administrator's Office requests approval to enter into a contract with JCG to commence the project. The next steps for the project are to procure new server hardware, develop a project schedule with the project manager, and assemble a project working group. For many years, there has been interest in modernizing and automating the very labor- intensive process of creating the weekly Board of Supervisors meeting agendas and packets. Key agenda tasks include creation and review of agenda items, development of the agenda and packet materials, agenda publication and notification, summarization of the meeting and preparation of meeting minutes, publication and distribution of certified Board documents, and archival and retrieval of official Board records. The current agenda process is mostly manual and paper-driven. The advent of email has partially automated some agenda transmittals, but these items are ultimately converted to paper for distribution and final action. Many individuals are involved in the development of the weekly agenda and packet. Items can go through as many as ten independent levels of review before they are finally placed on the Board agenda. In 2002, former Supervisor Donna Gerber requested the County Administrator's Office to study the feasibility of implementing an electronic agenda process to replace the County's paper-based system (see attached Board Order). In 2002/03, the County Administrator's Office examined several off-the-shelf systems and also the system built by Sacramento County. As cost was a particular concern at the time, the County Administrator's Office and Office of Information Technology assembled a departmental work group and began working with a private vendor from Maryland to adapt a generic workflow automation tool to the County's agenda process. The 18-month effort was eventually abandoned due to technological obstacles, a lack of project management resources, and changes in several key staff positions in the Clerk's Office. Instead, the County Administrator's Office changed its focus to modernizing the visual display capabilities in the Board Chambers, resulting in the current visual projection and digital recording systems. Although not wholly successful, the County's first attempt at automating the Board agenda process was a tremendous learning experience and since 2002/03, a cottage industry has evolved that offers a variety of new agenda tools and products at affordable prices. The County Administrator requests the Board to authorize a commitment of staff and financial resources to develop and implement an electronic agenda process in this County. The new and key feature being recommended and which is incorporated in the estimated system cost are the services of a project manager to develop and implement the project plan. Desirable features for an agenda system include: ■ Secured electronic submission of agenda items using standard input screens developed to County specifications ■ Variable and fixed electronic routing of items for review and approval Automated Agenda System August 6, 2007 Contract with JCG Technologies, Inc. Page 3 ■ Electronic reporting of item status and audit trail of document changes ■ Standard templates for Board documents and agenda language ■ Ability to attach supplemental documents in a variety of common formats ■ Conversion of documents and attachments to PDF (portable document format) for universal access ■ Automated distribution of agendas to subscribers ■ On line publication of agenda and packet materials ■ Automated distribution of certified Board documents ■ Automated digital archiving of agendas, certified documents, and attachments ■ Automated search and retrieval of archived documents ■ Electronic tabulation and recordation of vote count ■ Incorporation of meeting summaries and minutes Potential benefits of such a system are manifold: ■ Items automatically routed, never lost ■ Promotes collaboration among all participants in the agenda building process ■ Task list tells user where an item is at any time in the review process...no need to track down status ■ Audit trail of changes during development, improved accountability ■ Eliminates requirement for packet copies, saving paper and staff time in duplication ■ Documents converted to PDFs for ease of access ■ Historical documents can be retrieved and re-used, reducing data input ■ Convenient public and staff access to current and historical Board agendas and packet materials via the Internet ■ Print out selected items only, not the whole packet ■ Standardized formats for consistent, high-quality documents ■ Eliminates redundant data input ■ Enables Clerk and department staff to focus efforts on high-level tasks, e.g., accuracy, completeness, public noticing On March 1, 2007, staff from the County Administrator's Office made a presentation to the Information Technology (IT) Cabinet, which was assembled by the County Administrator in 2006 as a standing review body for new information technology initiatives. The IT Cabinet unanimously recommended to the County Administrator that this project be given a high priority for funding and implementation in recognition that the Board agenda process is critical to the mission of the County and that automation of this process benefits all County departments, the Board, and the general public. CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION A decision to not automate the agenda process would result in missed opportunities for operational efficiency and improvement in the quality of Board documents, and continued limited access by staff and to the public of Board documents and records.