Training in North Carolina: Best Practices in Purchasing

The Carolinas Association of Governmental Purchasing (CAGP) will host an all day training event on best practices in purchasing on July 20, 2010.

Where:  Graham, North Carolina (Alamance Community College)

Registration Deadline: July 13, 2010

Agenda:

• Best Procurement Practices for Cities (Angelene Brinkley, Ron Goodwin)
• Best Procurement Practices for Counties (Debbie Anderson)
• Best Procurement Practices for Schools (Craig Garner, Paul Walters)
• Conflict of Interest and Ethics (Eileen R. Youens)
• Purchasing Panel Discussion (Angelene Brinkley, Debbie Anderson, Ron Goodwin, Craig Garner, Paul Walters)

Cost: $25 for CAGP members.  $30 for non-members.  Continental breakfast and lunch included.

More Information and to Register:  Visit the website of the Carolinas Association of Governmental Purchasing

NIGP Promotes Public Procurement Principles

The National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) is leading an effort along with more than a half-dozen supporting organizations to collaboratively develop a document on "Values and Guiding Principles for Public Procurement."

The initiative is part of NIGP's 2009-2012 Strategic Plan "with a primary objective to gain recognition of public procurement as a profession by developing guiding principles for public procurement."

Values:  The values included in the document at this point include the following:

• Accountability
• Impartiality
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Service
• Transparency

View Draft Principles Online:  The draft material is online at http://nigp-principlesandpractices.blogspot.com/. 

Submit Your Comments:  NIGP views this as a collaborative effort and invites input and comments from procurement professionals in an effort to refine the document.  There is a place to comment at the bottom of each webpage.  You can also read the comments of others that have been posted so far.

Questions may be directed to Tina M. Borger, CPPO, Research Director for NIGP at tborger@nigp.org.

Illegal Use of Capital Money to Support Small Business Program

Over a two year period, the Seattle School District used close to $2 million of capital project funds to pay for  costs to administer a Small Business Development Program designed to help small businesses "overcome barriers to growth." 

According to a recent audit finding issued by the Washington State Auditor's Office, the Seattle School District was unaware that Washington state law (RCW 28A.530.010) prohibits the use of capital project money for such purposes.

The school district has agreed to reimburse the Capital Projects Fund for ineligible expenses.

Click here to read a copy of the audit finding that begins on page 5 of the report containing other audit findings as well

Los Angeles County Awards JOC Consultant Contract

Los Angeles County has awarded a $1 million a year consultant contract to RS Means to help manage the County's Job Order Contracting program. At the sole discretion of the County, the contract is subject to four one-year renewals.   Click here to read the award recommendation to the County Board of Supervisors.

Transition Period:  The contract with RS Means has not yet been executed and their work will not actually begin until sometime in October, when the current contract with The Gordian Group expires.

Only 2 Responses:  The County issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to 38 firms on October 8, 2009.  Two firms responded:  RS Means and The Gordian Group.

Scope of Work for RS Means:  RS Means will assist the County with "conducting market research to determine local prevailing costs for construction equipment, materials, and labor for vertical construction, horizontal construction, general work, and demolition; preparing and updating detailed construction cost catalogs that include unit prices and technical specifications; maintaining project control and estimating software; and providing technical support as needed."

Los Angeles vs. Washington State Thresholds:  Los Angeles County may issue work orders under the Job Order Contract program for up to $4.2 million each.  That is contrasted with the State of Washington, where RCW 39.10.450 authorizes that each work order may be up to $300,000.  Other states and the federal government have different thresholds and requirements.

Implementation of JOC in Washington State:  In Washington State, public agencies that have chosen to use Job Order Contracting have generally used the RS Means estimating guide as their price book.  To my knowledge, RS Means has not previously competed directly against The Gordian Group for JOC consultant services.  Only one agency in Washington State has issued an RFP for JOC consulting services.  The City of Bellevue, Washington this year awarded a consultant contract to The Gordian Group to help them establish a JOC program. 

More Information:For more information about Job Order Contracting, you can visit the JOC subject index on my blog for other entries about Job Order Contracting.

Federal Support of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) Criticized

An opinion piece in The Seattle Times on July 6, 2010 addresses concerns about how Obama administration's support of labor unions is having a negative impact on the construction industry, which, according to the editorial, is 85% non-union.  The opinion piece criticizes President Obama's support of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs), among other actions.

The opinion piece is written by Jim Elmer, the 2010 national chairman of the Associated Builders and Contractors, and the president of James W. Elmer Construction Co. of Spokane, Washington.

No Bids Received

Many bidding issues in 1906 were the same as they are in 2010.

The following is a great quote from the book Novels in Three Lines, which is a collection of more than a thousand items that appeared anonymously in the French newspaper Le Matin in 1906.  This book by Felix Feneon has been translated by Luc Sante.

"On a contract to transport coal to ships at Toulon (France), none of the 24 bidders made an offer; they were daunted by the stipulations."

And the size of specifications and scopes of work has only increased in the last 104 years!  I'm sure we have many bidders today who are also "daunted by the stipulations."

Follow-up: Missouri's Rejection of Bid Not Submitted Electronically

In an earlier blog posting, I reported that the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) had rejected a bid as non-responsive because the low bidder submitted their bid on paper, rather than electronically.  MoDOT awarded the project to the second low bidder at an additional cost of $83,000.

I was somewhat surprised by MoDOT's decision as it appeared to me, based on the facts I had, that the failure to submit the bid electronically was an immaterial irregularity, and that the bid should have been considered responsive.

Public Disclosure Request Denied:  I filed a formal public disclosure request with MoDOT for additional documents.  I just received an e-mail back from MoDOT denying my public disclosure request.  They cited that the non-responsive firm, Steve & Associates, has threatened litigation, and that under Missouri's Open Records Law, the documents I requested were therefore not subject to disclosure at this time.