EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: September 5, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Melvin E. Gaines, City Manager
BY: Ana Maria Torres, Human Resources Manager
Jessica Caballero, Management Analyst II
Greg Henry, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT: Award Agreements with Bolt Staffing, Muchmore than Consulting, LLC & 22nd Century Technologies, Inc for On-Call Administrative and Technical Staffing Support
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to award, negotiate and execute agreements with Bolt Staffing, Muchmore than Consulting, LLC & 22nd Century Technologies, Inc for OnCall Administrative and Technical Staffing Support, in a form approved by the City Attorney for all three (3) vendors sharing a total not-to-exceed amount of $500,000, and for a term through June 30, 2026.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
· Ensure our financial and organizational health
Background
Next month, the City will begin onsite training and Enterprise Resource Program (ERP) implementation. Further, the City has experienced long-term vacancies in various positions.
This places tremendous strain on staff, specifically Finance and HR, staff.
Having support staffing on-call will offer several valuable benefits to the City:
1. Immediate Coverage: When a regular administrative staff member is unavailable due to illness, vacation, or unexpected absence, having on-call administrative support ensures that there is no stop in service and essential tasks and responsibilities can still be managed promptly.
2. Operational Continuity: Administrative tasks are often critical for smooth operations.
On-call administrative staff can step in to maintain operational continuity, ensuring that workflows are not disrupted even when regular staff members are absent.
3. Flexibility: On-call administrative support provides flexibility in managing workforce fluctuations. In particular, the City will be able to surge staff during the ERP implementation to help manage increased workloads effectively.
4. Cost-Efficiency: Hiring full-time administrative staff for occasional vacancies might not be cost-effective. On-call staff can be a more budget-friendly solution, as the City will only pay for the services when needed.
5. Specialized Skills: Some administrative and technical tasks require specialized skills or expertise. On-call staff members can be chosen based on the specific skills required for the task at hand, ensuring that the work is done efficiently and effectively.
6. Reduced Stress and Burnout: Regular administrative staff might experience burnout if they are constantly expected to cover for absent colleagues which also contributes to the high turn-over rate. On-call support can alleviate some of this pressure and contribute to a healthier work environment and work life balance.
7. Enhanced Productivity: With on-call administrative support in place, regular staff can focus on their core responsibilities instead of being stretched thin by additional tasks during staff shortages.
8. Rapid Response: When unexpected situations arise, such as urgent meetings or lastminute events, having on-call administrative staff available allows the organization to respond quickly and professionally.
9. Temporary Needs: Some administrative tasks arise only sporadically or temporarily, such as organizing a conference or managing a special event. On-call staff can be specifically brought in for these periods without the need for long-term commitments.
10.Skill Diversification: On-call staff members might bring diverse skill sets and experiences from various industries or organizations. This can inject fresh perspectives and ideas into the organization's administrative processes.
11.Reduced Training Time: On-call staff can often be chosen based on their prior experience and familiarity with administrative tasks, reducing the time needed for training. Further, by partnering with these firms, the City hopes to have access to the same temporary staff pool over the three-year period, meaning that the same person might be able to return, with limited retraining should a similar staffing need open more than once.
With the anticipated needs for limited term staffing, the City desired a short list of firms contracted with the City under a shared not to exceed of $500,000 and each with a three-year term. The goal is to have multiple firms from which staff can make a staffing request ensuring that the role can be filled quickly.
For these reasons, on May 10, 2023, the City issued a request for proposals (RFP) to provide on-call as needed temporary staffing services for the City’s administrative staff positions. The request was for limited term support (generally 1 to 6 months, though there may be requests for emergency 1 day or 1-week requests). In particular, the City’s administrative staffing positions that were included in the RFP were:
· Accountant I/II
· Account Technician I/II
· Administrative Assistant
· Executive Assistant to the City Manager
· Human Resources Analyst
· Human Resources Technician
· Management Analyst I/II
· Office Assistant
· Secretary I/II
· Senior Accounting Technician
· Senior Management Analyst
Proposals were due June 9, 2023. The City received 18 proposals, of which 16 met the minimum conditions for review. From those 16, a group of 6 had the highest match to the City’s requirements. From those 6 a further review was completed with 4 selected for interviews.
Following the interviews staff are proposing 3 firms for Council approval, Bolt Staffing, Muchmore than Consulting, LLC & 22nd Century Technologies, Inc.
Analysis
For the firms that were selected for interviews, their proposals demonstrated the following traits:
· Cost and Value: Because each position was priced separately, while staff reviewed the overall average cost across all positions, each firm was slightly different in cost on the per position basis. All firms selected were competitive on pricing. · Local Presence: Given that much of the City’s staffing needs require staff to be in person, a local presence is required. This in part was considered for the proposed hourly rates. Positions with low hourly rates, but that then required out of state remote work candidates were not rated has highly as firms with local candidates. · Alignment with Requirements: The selected firms demonstrated a clear understanding of the project's requirements and objectives as outlined in the RFP. Their proposals scored highest in terms of meeting the specifications of the RFP. Further, these firms had the highest quality and comprehensiveness of their proposals. A wellstructured and detailed proposal demonstrates the firm's professionalism and commitment.
· Expertise and Experience: The firms selected were required to have candidate pools with experience in working in local municipal governments. Firms that only had light local government experience did not score as high, as working in government for finance and human resources in particular requires specialized knowledge that candidates need to have.
· Technical Competence: These firms were assessed with the highest the technical skills and qualifications of the firm's team members. This helps to ensure that they have the expertise required to execute effectively.
· References and Reputation: The selected firms had the strongest references and reputation in the industry.
· Cultural Fit: The selected firms best matched the City’s cultural. · Legal and Contractual Considerations: All selected firms matched the City’s proposal and align with the legal and contractual requirements outlined in the RFP.
For the interviews, the three approved firms scored highest from all members of the panel. The interviews demonstrated in particular how well the firms communicate and collaborate.
Effective communication is essential for project success. The questions in the interview focused on:
· Having access to a strong local pool of candidates,
· Having flexibility to respond to emergency staffing needs, and · Having strong skills assessments for the pool of candidates.
Fiscal Impact
Administrative staffing augmentation support will either due to position vacancies, and thus use salary savings, or will be for Enterprise Resource Program implementation support for which the City has set aside a specific reserve (in the technology fund).
Public Notice
The public was provided notice by making the agenda and report available on the City’s website and on a bulletin board located at City Hall: 2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto.
Environmental
The proposed action does not constitute a “project” with the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15378(b)(4) and (5) in that it is a governmental fiscal, organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
Attachments
1. reso Staff Augmentation