Orange County Grand Jury • 2015-2016

Procurement Big Budget, Low Priority Grand Jury 2015-2016 Procurement –Big Budget, Low Priority

Published: June 28, 2016 62 pages Consolidated Report
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Findings 18 findings

F1
For several years the Orange County Procurement Office and the County’s procurement functions have not been prioritized to bring about necessary changes to achieve an efficient and cost effective operation despite numerous recommendations from Grand Juries and auditors.
F2
Training requirements for new and experienced Deputy Procurement Agents is inadequate. Further, the inconsistent enforcement of training compliance, and confusing training and 2015-2016 Orange County Grand Jury Procurement –Big Budget, Low Priority certification timelines is a high risk practice because it allows untrained and/or uncertified employees to perform procurement tasks.
F3
The current de-centralized Procurement organizational structure is outdated and not consistent with other large California counties or current procurement Best Practices and deprives the County of the ability to leverage its collective buying power to reduce costs.
F4
The County does not appear to have an in-house expert on centralization who could design and implement the transition to centralized procurement.
F5
The automated procurement tracking system is outdated and thereby difficult to use and appears to contribute to errors and additional costs.
F6
) 2015-2016 Orange County Grand Jury Procurement –Big Budget, Low Priority R.12. The CEO, in cooperation with Human Resources, should conduct a salary survey and make
F7
Advanced training and professional certification are not encouraged and are not credited in hiring or promotion of employees with procurement duties.
F8
The Request for Proposal (RFP) process has a number of correctable technical operational issues such as inconsistencies in solicitation packets, conflict of interest, uncorrected errors and bidder qualifications
F9
In pursuit of centralizing OCIT services, a cross-agency Working Group developed a program for the pilot phase recently launched which, if successful, may be a model for centralization of Procurement.
F10
There are Procurement best practices readily available for consideration that could be adopted to improve Orange County Procurement performance.
F11
The number of contracts annually reviewed for compliance with the Contract Policy Manual is insufficient for a dependable assessment.
F12
There are no current specific minimum qualifications for County Purchasing Agent or a selection /testing procedure to identify and appoint the most qualified candidate.
F13
Orange County does not offer competitive compensation for the Purchasing/Procurement Job Classification Series (and related positions) and pays up to 30% below the average of three like-sized California counties. 2015-2016 Orange County Grand Jury Procurement –Big Budget, Low Priority
F14
There has been no action taken on many of the recommendations made by 1997-1998, 2002-2003 and 2013-2014 OC Grand Juries, the 2009 Procurement Policy Study, and the 2014 Performance Auditor and the Internal Auditor.
F15
The Contract Policy Manual – 2012 is outdated.
F16
There are no consistent hiring standards and qualifications for employees working in Procurement assignments, and most procurement staff are hired by agencies other than County Procurement into job titles outside the Purchasing/Procurement Job Classification Series.
F17
The County lacks approved procedure manuals for procurement functions.
F18
Some executive and upper management selections are made without an active recruitment and a testing process to identify the most qualified candidate, but by transferring an existing manager into the position, some without related education or experience. RECOMMENDATIONS In accordance with California Penal Code §933 and §933.05, the 2015-2016 Grand Jury requires (or, as noted, requests) responses from each agency affected by the recommendations presented in this section. The responses are to be submitted to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court. Based on its investigation titled “Procurement – Big Budget, Low Priority”, the 2015-2016 Orange County Grand Jury makes the following 14 recommendations:

Recommendations 2

Agency Responses 1

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.