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New Government Blogger in the State
Sat, 2006-08-26 11:52 — joemoraca
The Alachua (Gainesville) County Manager now has a blog this is from his first post on July 18th... very good start and something for politians to remember in this election season.
Where do you start? There is no better place for a Web log dedicated to civic education to begin than to go back to the cradle of democracy. For that I suggest we begin this conversation with what I believe is one of the finest statements ever articulated on citizenship. This oath, which was taken by the young men of ancient Athens when they reached the age of seventeen, highlights all the values so necessary for good citizenship drawing upon such virtues as integrity, courage, reverence, and a sense of duty. It is also one of the strongest statements for sustainability in a civic sense that exists.
The Athenian Oath
"We will never bring disgrace on this our City by an act of dishonesty or cowardice. We will fight for the ideals and Sacred Things of the City both alone and with many. We will revere and obey the City's laws, and will do our best to incite a like reverence and respect in those above us who are prone to annul them or set them at naught. We will strive increasingly to quicken the public's sense of civic duty. Thus in all these ways we will transmit this City not only not less, but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us."
He is not near as brave as our own City Manager -- who has been blogging much longer -- there are no comments on this new blog
Comments
Recent VanWezel irregularities
Based on the above and also the recent recommended changes to the overall Purchasing structure for the City I offer the following comments.
If it is determined that the actions of two employees within the City were the cause of the irregularities it would be a knee jerk reaction to change the procedures and process for quoting to a centralized operation as recommended by the Purchasing Manager. I commend the diligence in pursuing the irregularities but as of yet a final determination has not been received.
The City should adopt the NIGP Code of Ethics and have every employee sign it.
Verbal quotes should be on a form created by Purchasing that clearly reflects the name of the company contacted for a quote, a copy of what was provided to them to provide a quote and the name of the individual at the company who provided a quote.
The present thresholds are utilized by the State and the majority of municipalities.
Centralizing the function to Purchasing would not prevent this from happening again if it was an intentional action by individual employees. Who is to say that at some point in time a purchasing employee couldn't do the same thing.
Utilize bids available from surrounding communities and publish them for use by City departments. Leverage the work done by these communities and do not replicate so that time can then be used wisely in developing specialty bids particular to the City operations.
Develop specialty bids for special functions like the Van Wezsel so that they can utilize those bids.
Develop catalog bids or utilize those all ready produce by other agencies for the same or similar supplies so that e-procurement can continue.
The Pareto Principle assumes that 20% of the orders result in 80% of the spend. If other bids for incidental items, although cumulatively can exceed the thresholds, are utilizied then Purchasing can concentrate on effecting savings through negotiations and meeting the needs of the departments.
This incident at the VanWezel should not be used by the General Services or Purchasing departments to jump to a quick solution that only a centralized system can avoid this type of irregularity.
Enforce the rules all ready in effect. Have employees who may have a family relationship been informed that they should disclose the relationship?
Public Purchasing can be confusing to vendors as well as internal employees. This is not an excuse for the alleged recent actions if proven true but it is a reality. However, review your processes before jumping to the conclusion that only centralization will fix it.