EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: October 4, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Patrick Heisinger, Interim City Manager
BY: Sandra Floyd, Human Resources Manager
SUBJECT: Actions Related to Consultant Agreements in Support of City Human Resources Activities
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution to:
1. Pay outstanding invoices to: a) Oppenheimer Investigation Group in an amount of $7,200; and b) Sloan Sakai Yeung Wong, LLC (SSYW) in an amount of $38,664.50; and to extend the date of the previously approved agreement with Municipal Resource Group (MRG), LLC Consulting to December 31, 2023;
2. Execute a new three (3) year agreement with SSYW, retroactive to January 1, 2022, in an average amount of $75,000 each year and a total not-to-exceed amount of $225,000, with allowance for the City Manager to approve two (2) six-month extensions; and
3. Waive the formal bid procedures pursuant to East Palo Alto Municipal Code section
2.84.070(D) due to the special circumstances that the City has ongoing work with these firms, and it would be neither practical or productive to change firms.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
➢ Priority #3: Increase Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency ➢ Priority #5: Improve Communication and Enhance Community Engagement Background
Fiscal Years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 marked a period of enhanced critical personnelrelated activity, including labor relations, personnel investigations, and a rising number of key vacancies. As these factors significantly impacted the capacity of the Human Resources Division to conduct the necessary efforts to resolve these issues in a timely manner, the City sought support from qualified consultants to provide added capacity and technical assistance.
The purpose of this staff report is to seek City Council authorization to: 1) resolve past due invoices for firms that have provided professional services to the Human Resources Division; and 2) execute an agreement to provide legal services to the Human Resources Division and waive formal bidding procedures for this agreement.
Analysis
Recent staff review of professional service agreements related to personnel matters, along with the amount authorized under each agreement, determined that certain outstanding invoices exceeded the authorized amounts because extra staff support, and services were required or because services were provided after the expiration date of the agreement.
The status of existing agreements and outstanding invoices for three firms that have provided services, and the staff recommendation for resolving these outstanding invoices, is provided below. These invoices are currently past due and pertain to services primarily performed during Fiscal Year 2021-2022. As such, City Council approval is needed to ratify payments for these services.
Oppenheimer Investigation Group
Oppenheimer Investigation Group specializes in legal and investigatory services. On July 6, 2021, the City Council approved an agreement with this firm for investigative services for a notto-exceed amount of $60,000. The investigation services were conducted from December 23, 2021, through January 21, 2022, and totaled $67,200. Authorization by the City Council is necessary to pay the exceeded agreement amount of $7,200.
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize payment to Oppenheimer Investigation Group to cover past due invoices to close out this agreement. No extension to the agreement is proposed.
MRG Consulting Services, LLC (MRG)
On September 7, 2021, the previous Human Resources Manager obtained approval from City Council for an agreement with MRG for support to the Human Resources Division due to the vacancy in the Human Resources Manager position. The agreement was for an amount up to $50,000 with an expiration date of December 2021. Services were provided beyond December 2021 and there remains $27,224.07 of unused funds per the agreement. An outstanding amount of $3,225 is due to MRG for services provided after the December 2021 expiration date. Although sufficient funds are available in the agreement to pay the outstanding amount, an extension of the agreement is desirable in order to provide for future Human Resources support. MRG may also be utilized to assist the City with additional tasks, within the existing not-to-exceed amount.
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute an amendment to extend the date of the agreement with MRG retroactive to January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2023. No additional funds are proposed.
Sloan Sakai Yeung & Wong, LLC (SSYW)
SSYW has provided legal advice to the City for over seventeen years and retains a high degree of historical labor relations knowledge for the City. SSYW has assisted with labor negotiations with all bargaining groups (SEIU, MEA, and POA), Executives, and Unrepresented staff under current negotiations. The firm has provided continuous guidance related to workplace investigations, workers’ compensation, and employment.
On May 19, 2020, the City Council approved an amendment to the agreement with SSYW for a two-year extension in the amount of $75,000 each year with a total not-to-exceed amount of $150,000 to provide legal services. The agreement with SSYW ended on June 30, 2022. With the vacancy of the Human Resources Manager position and the need for additional support to deal with labor challenges, additional legal advice from SSYW was required for Fiscal Years 2021-22 and 2022-23 through September 22, 2022. These additional services resulted in an amount that exceeded the agreement limit by $38,664.50. This outstanding amount requires City Council approval for payment of SSYW past due invoices.
Additionally, staff recommends continuing to engage SSYW for legal support to the Human Resources Division for services similar to those provided under the previous agreement.
These services would include assisting with labor negotiations and providing guidance related to workplace investigations, workers’ compensation, and employment matters. The proposed terms for the new agreement would be structured, as follows:
Term: Three (3) years from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025 Amount: Average amount of $75,000 each fiscal year and not-to-exceed total amount of $225,000, subject to annual appropriation.
Extensions: Authorization of the City Manager to approve two (2) six-month extensions; City Council approval would be required to increase the agreement amount.
Staff further recommends that the City Council waive the City’s bid procedures under section
2.84.070(D) of the Municipal Code due to the special circumstances that the City’s ongoing work with SSYW renders the prospect of changing firms to be neither practical nor productive.
Fiscal Impact
The payment to Oppenheimer in the amount of $7,200 would be absorbed in the FY 2021- 2022 budget. The funding for the proposed contract extensions with MRG and Sloan Sakai were already considered in the FY 2022-2023 budget.
Environmental Impact
The proposed actions are administrative decisions that will not have an effect on the environment and are statutorily exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Attachments
A. Resolution related to Oppenheimer and MRG, LLC Consulting Services B. Resolution for new agreement with Sloan Sakai Yeung Wong, LLC