Jim Province
During the recent planning of Capital Improvement funding, attention has been focused on the School Board's and District Staff's absence of accountability, inclusiveness and collaboration, but a related issue has quietly slipped past the attention of many.
In these times of budget cuts and furlough days, clearly $400,000 is not an insubstantial amount of money. However, the apparent failure of the School Board to use a competitive selection process for choosing an architect to renovate the athletics facilities (one worth in excess of $400,000) has been largely glossed over.
This decision, made at the Board meeting on July 26, 2011 (with only the minimum three board members present) appeared innocuously on the Consent Agenda as “9.8 Approval is Recommended for the Contract Between Culver City Unified School District and Westberg + White."
No mention was made of the dollar amount of the contract or the nature of the project. Largely escaping the attention of the public, the item was quietly passed without public input.
This raises several issues of great concern:
- Why was such a costly project relegated to the Consent Agenda and not an Action or information Item?
- Why was it deemed urgent enough to make such a significant outlay of funds without the benefit of all Board members being present?
- Why did the District choose not to issue a request for proposals on a project of this size?
- Why did the District award a contract to a firm with which it had not used a competitive selection process in nearly a decade?
To assure future project quality, while controlling costs and avoiding any future appearances of impropriety, The Board must consider that the public has an expectation that The Board will use a fair and competitive selection process as it awards such large contracts.
Additionally, the District should ONLY enter into a contract after it establishes a proper RFP process that includes:
- Post notices advocating responses
- Request known, qualified companies respond
- Analyze all responses based on objective and fair standards in writing
Only if the above are enacted will the public feel the process has been a truly fair, ethical and open one.
Jim Province is a parent in the Culver City Unified School District and a regular attendee of School Board meetings.
Apparently, the district also has an internal policy of using a competitive selection process whenever contracts over $79,500 are entered into. During the board discussion of this item at the last school board meeting, the legality of the contract approval process was discussed, but the board's internal policy was not discussed. Another useful question to add to the list above is, "Why didn't the district staff or school board follow their own internal policy?" and, "Why wasn't the internal policy discussed when the item was discussed at the last board meeting?"
ReplyDeleteMr. Barton – Your article is very relevant and the things you describe lend themselves to all sorts of conspiracy theories. I will keep my imagination to myself, but I can’t help wondering what is going on behind the scenes in the district. I will say, however, that I have gotten the feeling that some board members have not always been kept in the loop.
ReplyDeleteMs. Collins - Your comments are interesting and informative; I think there are a lot of relevant policies that the community might not be aware of. I have tried reading the board/district policies and must admit I do not always understand them. Perhaps the board could appoint a committee to review all of the district/board-related rules, policies, regulations, etc. and post/clarify them in a conspicuous place on the district website.
Sorry, but I think this whole thing is a red herring. First of all, the contract did not go "unnoticed." After the board vote, I heard about it within probably 24 hours, and I have heard a lot of debate about it since. In addition, the district has explained repeatedly why this was not an illegal decision. Personally, as a parent with a child who used to play baseball and another who is involved in the performing arts, I am glad that the board is finally beginning to move this whole process forward.
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