SAN MATEO COUNTY

QUARTERLY STATUS

1999 and 2000-01

GRAND JURY REPORTS

(January 15, 2002)

ADMINISTRATION AND FISCAL

Commodity Procurement Practices

Recommendation 1.1: The county should undertake a program to inform all eligible entities about the system, of their option to use the system, and of the prices available to users.

RESPONSE: Agree. On July 6, 2000, the Grand Jury sent 37 letters to various cities and school districts to inform them of the County's vendor agreement purchasing program, seven (7) agencies responded and to date six (6) are using the County's vendor agreement program.

We propose the following actions to inform all eligible entities about the system:

1.

Attend a meeting of the City/County Managers and Financial Officers Group.

2.

Meet with the County Superintendent of Schools to decide the best way to disseminate information to school districts in the County.

3.

Send information to special districts.

STATUS: Employee and Public Services Director Mary Welch attended a meeting of the City/County Managers on March 16, 2001 and described the Vendor Agreement Purchasing Program. At that meeting it was agreed that information would be sent to the City Finance Directors. Purchasing Manager Steven Rossi attended a meeting of the San Mateo County Fiscal Officers Group (SAMFOG) on November 16, 2001 to describe the County's Vendor Agreement Purchasing Program and distribute program materials, including cost comparisons of selected commodities, a list of vendors and commodities that are included in the program, two sample vendor agreements (Office Depot and Sierra Springs Water) and the application form to join the program. To date, eleven cities and towns have enrolled in the program: Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Hillsborough, Millbrae, Redwood City, San Bruno, South San Francisco and Woodside.

As discussed in the previous update in September 2001, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Floyd Gonella suggested that information on the Vendor Agreement Purchasing Program be sent to him for distribution to the 24 superintendents of schools in the County. Program materials were sent to Dr. Gonella on August 30.

To date, two school districts have enrolled in the program: San Mateo Union High School District and San Mateo-Foster City School District.

Program materials were also sent to 28 special districts on September 5, 2001. To date, five special districts have enrolled in the program: West Bay Sanitary District, Montara Sanitary District, Sam Trans, Highlands Recreation District and the Mid-Peninsula Water District.

The Employee and Public Services Department will continue its aggressive outreach to increase participation by local agencies in the Vendor Agreement Purchasing Program.

There will be no further report back.

Recommendation 1.2: The County should review its procurement of those items that others local governmental bodies are buying at prices lower than the master contract prices.

RESPONSE: Agree. However, when the County contacted the Grand Jury to identify those agencies which indicated lower pricing on selected commodities than the County's pricing, the Grand Jury stated that the they were unable to release this information as they promised confidentiality to the agencies that responded to the survey. We will explore the feasibility of establishing an e-mail group with cities and interested school districts to share and ensure the best pricing on commodities.

Quarterly updates will continue to be provided.

STATUS: All cities, school districts, and special districts have been notified in writing that the County wants to know if any agency has obtained better pricing on any commodities than those attainable through the Vendor Agreement Purchasing Program. To date, we have not learned of any instance in which another agency has secured lower pricing.

There will be no further report back.

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES / ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES

San Mateo County Pet Overpopulation Program

RECOMMENDATION 3.6: The Board of Supervisors should direct the Director of Animal Control Services to develop a program encouraging adoption of the San Mateo County Pet Overpopulation Program Ordinance, in its entirety, by cities which have not already done so. In addition, information regarding the ordinance should be provided to the public.

RESPONSE: Concur. The Director of Animal Control Services will develop a program encouraging adoption of the ordinance by the cities which have not already done so. This will be accomplished primarily through discussion and distribution of literature to the Animal Control Task Force, a quarterly meeting of representatives from each city. In order to inform the public about the ordinance, literature will be distributed primarily though the Peninsula Humane Society shelter, and field officers will educate citizens in the field. The Animal Services Guide, a handbook of San Mateo County animal related laws and educational articles, will be distributed to the public. In order to represent the opinions of all animal related groups which actively work to improve the situations of companion animals in San Mateo County, an invitation to apply for a position on the Animal Population Trust Fund Committee will be extended. The Committee oversees the Animal Population Trust Fund, which was established by the Pet Overpopulation Ordinance and is used for spay/neuter education and assistance.

STATUS: The Pet Overpopulation Ordinance was discussed at the last quarterly Animal Control Task Force meeting, and literature about the ordinance was disseminated. Animal Control Services also distributed information to representatives of various city attorney's offices. The Animal Services Guide, which contains information about the ordinance, was published and distributed to the Task Force, local veterinarians pet stores and other animal-related businesses and individuals. The Peninsula Humane Society was given copies to distribute to interested individuals. In the past three months, four new members were appointed to the Animal Population Trust Fund Committee who represent various interests in animal-related issues.

There will be no further report back.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT / PUBLIC WORKS

Hall of Justice Seismic Retrofit

RECOMMENDATION 33: The San Mateo County 1999 Grand Jury recommends that the County Board of Supervisors direct the Director of Public Works to prepare a comprehensive time-phased plan for completion of the seismic retrofit and lead/asbestos abatement of the County Hall of Justice. Urgency should be placed on the development and implementation of the plan, including a detailed time-phased series of actions and the designation of personnel responsible for each action and associated deadlines. The plan should include details on office and employee relocation. The County Board of Supervisors should give high priority to implementation and funding of this program.

RESPONSE: Concur. The Director of Public Works will work with the Court on developing a tentative phasing plan that allows for the work to go forward on the 7^th and 8^th floors. A similar approach will be undertaken with the Probation Department for the 5^th Floor. However, a key aspect of this plan will be to identify additional funding sources. An additional $2.2 million will be required to complete the project. To date, the County has spent approximately $1.6 million in the design of the seismic retrofit plan, the remediation work that was done immediately after the Loma Prieta Earthquake, and for the work completed or under construction on the 4^th and 6^th floors. Public Works estimates that it will take approximately two years to complete the work once funding is identified and agreement with the Court and Probation is obtained.

Abatement work is generally done in conjunction with other work on the structure, as encapsulated lead and asbestos in the building will remain in place and does not present a threat to either the citizens visiting the Hall of Justice or employees.

Status of the County's response to this Grand Jury recommendation will be reported in the next quarterly report to the Board.

STATUS:

On June 5, 2001 under resolution #64501, a contract was awarded to Gonsalves and Stronck for seismic retrofit work on the 7^th and 8^th floors of the Hall of Justice. The contract bid was for the amount of $2,125,000.

Work on the 7^th floor began July 9, 2001 and all work is confined to the 7^th floor. Construction operations take place between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Work is done Sunday through Thursday with an option to deliver heavy materials on weekends and holidays.

As of December 11, 2001, the contractor has mobilized, completed demolition, removal of asbestos and lead based paint, saw cutting of concrete slab, installation of rough plumbing, installation of panel connections, damper bays, stiffener plates and erection/welding of structural steel braced frames. Installation of metal and walls and relocation of mechanical, electrical, data and telephone lines are ongoing. Reinstallation of acoustical ceilings, painting and cleaning will continue through mid-January.

January 2002 is the target finish date for the 7^th floor and start date for the 8^th floor with an expected completion date of June 2002. The start of the bid process for the 5^th floor seismic retrofit is anticipated for June 2002. The Recommended FY 2001-02 budget includes $1.2 million for the 5^th floor.