Agenda Item: 8
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: September 27, 2022
SUBJECT: UPDATES TO THE CITY'S PURCHASING POLICY
DEPARTMENT: Administrative Services
PRESENTER: Andrew Adams
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council approve updates to the City of Santa Clarita's Purchasing Policy to enhance and strengthen the City’s procurement practices.
BACKGROUND
City Council adopted the City of Santa Clarita's (City) Purchasing Policy on April 24, 2012, and approved the most recently modified version on March 10, 2020. The policy establishes the guidelines for staff to make fiscally responsible purchases in compliance with applicable codes and laws.
In an ongoing effort to refine processes, establish best practices, and proactively review the City's policies, staff recommends several updates to the Purchasing Policy, most of which are minor and intended to clarify current practice. The two primary changes, as outlined below based on specific policy sections and identified by page numbers, include 1) the establishment of a designated signatory authority hierarchy and 2) the inclusion of the design-build procurement approach.
Contractual Signing Authority
Per City municipal code section 2.08.060, contractual signing authority for the City resides with the Mayor and the City Manager; the latter delegates his authority to the Assistant City Manager on an as-needed basis. Delegation of this authority is necessary as the City routes more than 1,000 contractual agreements annually. These range from complex, capital project contracts to small-scale performer agreements. Each contract template has specific language that protects the City from liability and outlines each party's unique contractual responsibilities. Moreover, each contract is routed through an approval process that obtains authorization from various City staff before execution.
To formalize these procedures and establish a more efficient contractual approval workflow, staff recommends updating Section 1.0 (II) (Pages 2-3) of the Purchasing Policy to include language memorializing the City Manager's authority to designate contractual signing authority to key staff members for the approval of specific types of contractual agreements. As a result of this update, signatory approval authority will be reasonably distributed among appropriate designated City staff, allowing for timely and streamlined contract executions while still abiding by the City's established contract approval process for all contracts Citywide.
Design-Build Procurement Approach
The Purchasing Policy, as written, currently authorizes four procurement approaches: 1) request for proposal, 2) invitation to bid, 3) request for qualifications, and 4) request for quote. The proposed update to Section 2.0 (II & VI) (Pages 5-6 & 9) of the Purchasing Policy recommends the addition of design-build procurement as the fifth authorized approach. Design-build is a project delivery method in which the City can contract with a single entity for design and construction. Historically, when the City has selected the design-build approach for its respective projects, City Council approval was required on a project-by-project basis due to the Purchasing Policy's specific solicitation parameters. With this proposed update, staff would no longer be required to seek the approval of the City Council to use the design-build procurement method.
However, the award of any design-build contract would still require City Council’s approval.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other actions as determined by the Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
None by this Council action.
ATTACHMENTS
Purchasing Policy 11 - Redlined