COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Department of Public Works

DATE:

November 24, 2004

BOARD MEETING DATE:

December 14, 2004

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Neil R. Cullen, Director of Public Works

SUBJECT:

First Amendment to the Agreement for Staff Services to the South Bayside Waste Management Authority

Recommendation

Adopt a resolution authorizing the President of the Board to execute the First Amendment to the Agreement for Staff Services to the South Bayside Waste Management Authority, which will extend the term of the Agreement to June 30, 2005.

Previous Board Actions

Ø

Entered into the Agreement for Staff Services to the South Bayside Waste Management Authority (“Agreement”) in 2003, whereby the County provides, and the Authority funds, two full time staff persons to perform the work of the Authority as set forth in the Agreement.

Key Facts

Ø

The Authority is in the process of evaluating and implementing the recommendations of an organizational study it commissioned, which when implemented will eliminate the need for the Agreement, and has requested a six months extension of the Agreement, to June 30, 2005, to allow it time to conclude this process.

Ø

The Agreement clearly defines that while the County is providing staff services (employee relations and payroll services) the Authority’s programs are separate and distinct and not County programs.

Discussion

The Authority is comprised of the cities of Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos and San Mateo; the County of San Mateo (for County Service Area No. 8 - the North Fair Oaks area); and the West Bay Sanitary District, and provides waste management programs within the Authority’s service area. The County has provided staffing to the Authority for the past eight years, and this staffing arrangement worked well for the County and the Authority in its early years when both entities were developing their recycling programs. However, in recent years, the effectiveness of this arrangement has diminished significantly as the two programs have matured. The current Agreement, entered into last year, was a step towards ending the County/Authority staffing relationship by limiting the County’s involvement to hiring, payroll and employee relations. The Authority took a second and more significant step during the past year when it commissioned an organizational and staffing study of the Authority. One of the study’s recommendations is to hire an executive director for the Authority and to transfer the Authority’s recycling program staffing function directly to the Authority thus terminating the County/Authority staffing relationship.

The Authority has formed a subcommittee to consider and develop all of the recommendations of the organizational and staffing study. The Authority is asking the County to extend the Agreement, which is set to terminate at the end of this year (December 31, 2004), by six months to June 30, 2005, to give this subcommittee time to do their work. We believe the Authority is proceeding responsibly to address its organizational and staffing needs and recommend that your Board agree to this time extension.

Vision Alignment

We believe our recommendation is consistent with the Shared Commitment to be a “responsive, effective and collaborative government,” and Goal Number 22, “County and local governments effectively communicate, collaborate and develop strategic approaches to issues affecting the entire Government,” as this agreement extends an existing collaborative undertaking of the County and the Authority.

Fiscal Impact

The Agreement provides that the Authority will reimburse the County for all the associated costs of the employees that are hired on behalf of the Authority. Therefore, there is no net cost to the County and no impact on the General Fund.

A form of agreement and resolution has been approved by County Counsel and the Agreement has been executed by the Authority.