Nevada County Request for Proposal and Procurement Practices

Recommendations 9

• R1
  The CEO, in cooperation with the County’s Purchasing Agent, should continue researching procurement best practices and establish appropriate written procurement policies, practices, and procedures that would be followed in executing County procurement processes.
• R2
  The County’s Human Resources department and Purchasing Agent should conduct an assessment of the training needs of current procurement staff and implement a plan for the training of new procurement employees on generally recognized best procurement practices.
• R3
  The Purchasing Agent should submit a report to the BoS on completed revisions to the Purchasing Guide, as well as policies and procedures.
• R4
  The Purchasing Agent should, of establishing formal written policies, practices, and procedures, and completing revisions to the Purchasing Guide, lead each County agency through training on the County’s new policies, practices, and procedures. Policies, procedures.
• R5
  The Purchasing Guide should be reviewed and updated annually.
• R6
  The Purchasing Guide should be updated to include the following: a. required BoS approvals prior to issuance of an RFP; b. establishment and handling of protest periods; c. evaluation panel reviewer selection and recusals; d. procedure in the event of evaluation panel reviewer statistical anomalies; e. bidder qualification reviews where contract administrators have escalated concerns regarding a vendor’s past contract performance; f. maintenance of documented administrative files during a blackout period of County employee contacts involved with the RFP process and RFP respondents other than the County person named in the RFP document; and g. maintenance of complete administrative files documenting and justifying final decisions when that decision goes against the evaluation panel’s recommendation.
• R7
  The CEO’s office should complete a review of the Office of the Auditor-Controller and the staffing needs required to comply with BoS Resolution No. 98479 as soon as possible.
• R8
  The CEO’s office should work with the Office of the Auditor-Controller to develop a checklist for contract administrators to document at least annually vendor performance and compliance with liability insurance requirements.
• R9
  All County contract administrators should, using the checklist referred to in R8, conduct performance evaluations and document them in an administrative file. Problems or concerns with a vendor’s performance should be formally investigated and addressed.