An Examination of Monterey County Contracting and Purchasing Practices*

The Contracts/ Purchasing division of the Monterey County Administrative Office does not have access to all contracts executed by/on behalf of the County, which inhibits visibility and transparency of vital management information.

Two Monterey County departments have developed homegrown software systems to track contracts, while other departments use Microsoft Excel or other methods for contract tracking. Because contract tracking is performed using multiple methods at the departmental level, cumulative contract business across Monterey County government departments requires manual tabulation. The lack of timely information being available to decision-makers can contribute to ineffective decision making by senior management. Based upon discussions with numerous Department level employees, not having standardized contract information available across Monterey County government departments precludes information sharing and could lead to poor business decisions such as inconsistent terms and conditions and variable pricing among other contract stipulations.

Based upon discussions with Department level employees, a lack of departmental access to other department contracts is a barrier to consistent pricing from vendors and creates the potential for different departments to pay the same vendor different prices for the same services.

Based upon discussions with Department level employees, a lack of departmental access to other department contracts is a barrier to checking experience with vendors among the various County departments.

Based upon discussions with Department level employees, the lack of a method of providing real-time contract details could lead to added cost when multiple departments are competing for the same services from the same supplier.

Standard Operating Procedures associated with the Contracts & Purchasing Academy, as approved by the Board of Supervisors on July 22, 2014, are not consistently followed in some Monterey County government departments which has the potential for County employees to avoid policies and procedures deemed critical by the Board of Supervisors for the efficient execution of contract commitments on behalf of the County.

The County's practice of allowing departmental-level staff ("The person in a department with the need for supplies or services") to contact potential suppliers may create bias toward or away from some suppliers, leading to reduced competitiveness in County purchasing. This also takes away the vital negotiating tool of using a professional negotiator to seek the best terms and conditions available.

The County's practice of allowing "The person in a department with the need for supplies or services" to contact potential suppliers can create the potential for such staff to make an unauthorized or inadvertent commitment.

The County's practice of allowing "The person in a department with the need for supplies or services" to negotiate contracts with suppliers could lead to fraud and abuse.

Not requiring Monterey County departments to use the Contracts/Purchasing division to acquire goods and services can lead to staff who are not contracting specialists agreeing to contracts that are not optimal.

The Contracts & Purchasing Academy is a valuable resource for Monterey County employees because it guides them through the contracts and purchasing processes.

Training offered by the Contracts & Purchasing Academy is not required of all Monterey County employees involved in contracting and purchasing of supplies and services, which could cause those employees to deviate from the Contracts and Purchasing Standard Operating Procedures.

Discussions with numerous Department level personnel revealed that ethics and contract management training was either minimal or nonexistent in the current format of the Contracts & Purchasing Academy, which may lead to unintentional ethical lapses and the perception by county employees that they have authority beyond what law and regulations allow. New departmental contracting personnel have not been able to attend the Contracts & Purchasing Academy since early in 2020 due to COVID-19, which could lead to errors due to lack of training.

The Contracts & Purchasing Academy is not available online, which is an impediment to achieving and maintaining an optimal level of flexibility in delivery of employee training,

The Monterey County Contracts/Purchasing Manual has not been updated since 2008 and may have sections that do not comply with current County and State laws and regulations. County employees who rely on the accuracy of the Manual could use that information to make non-compliant decisions.

The Manual lacks an index, glossary, and references about where to obtain more information. In addition, the Manual's table of contents does not contain page numbers, making it difficult to use.

The Manual does not connect to County training in contracts and purchasing- including required ethics involved in contracts and purchasing, making it difficult for employees to gain a deeper understanding of their responsibilities.

The Manual does not make it clear that it is the final and authoritative source of information for County contracts and purchasing leaving County employees to use other sources for contracts and purchasing policies and procedures which may not align with current County policies and procedures.