Summary of Responses to the Final Reports of the

Recommendations 14

• R1
  Increase the use of cooperative purchasing practices, including piggyback contracts and joint procurement agreements.
• R1a
  Consider the uncertainty regarding the safety of tire-derived products used on school fields, particularly crumb rubber.
• R1b
  Evaluate and make their decisions on policy development and field replacements based on current scientific evidence regarding the use of crumb rubber on athletic fields as it becomes available, whether or not the EPA report is complete.
• R1c
  Undertake measures to increase community involvement during the field replacement evaluation process, including discussion regarding potential concerns about the safety of crumb rubber or other tire-derived products. This could be similar to the 2013 City of San Mateo study regarding the possibility of using artificial turf on its fields, which included extensive public outreach for comment, using post cards, email, website comment, community workshops and capture surveys to solicit and collect public input.
• R2
  Share with other Cities and the County Procurement Division their procurement needs in order to identify opportunities for cooperative procurements between the Cities and the County. The 2017-2018 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury recommends that the County of San Mateo do the following by no later than February 1, 2019:
• R3
  Increase the use of cooperative purchasing practices, including the development and insertion of piggyback language into County contracts, with the Cities.
• R4
  Share with the Cities the County’s procurement needs to identify opportunities for further cooperative purchasing.
• R5
  Relocate the County’s Procurement Division into an appropriate reporting structure, such that the Procurement Division shall report directly to the County Manager. The 2017-2018 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury recommends that the County of San Mateo do the following by no later than July 1, 2019.
• R6
  Develop and study a plan to achieve the Checkpoints on the Pathway towards City-County Procurement Cooperation within current plans to improve the Purchasing Division, including: a. Hire experienced buyers. b. Create and distribute to the Cities a register of open contracts. c. Ensure the County’s purchasing software can track key indicators. d. Ensure the County’s purchasing software can accommodate city purchases. e. Identify, in conjunction with the Cities, the goods and services with the highest potential savings. f. Negotiate discounted contracts for those goods and services. g. Distribute and report discounts to the Cities on a consistent basis. APPLICABLE FOLLOW UP RESPONDING AGENCY RESPONSE
• R7
  Commit to completing the CFAI accreditation process
• R8
  Once accredited, annually budget sufficient funds to cover all costs associated with maintaining accreditation, including staff resources, training, and consultant services. Maintenance of accreditation should be added to the fire chief’s annual performance evaluation. These policies should be formally adopted by the District’s Board by June 30, 2020. Donations
• R9
  Adopt a policy not to pursue or accept donations from any private entity over which it exercises any official powers, such as building or plan inspection, or enforcement of any law or regulation. This policy should be adopted by December 31, 2018. District Identity
• R10
  Expand its website to include a description of special districts in general and the Menlo Park Fire Protection District in particular by June 30, 2019. APPLICABLE FOLLOW UP RESPONDING AGENCY RESPONSE
• R18
  The Grand Jury recommends that the San Mateo County Local Agency Formation Commission do the following: Initiate a service review of the Westborough Water District to examine whether its operations might be more efficiently and effectively run if they were consolidated with another entity’s operations. APPLICABLE FOLLOW UP RESPONDING AGENCY RESPONSE