Purchasing & Procurement Oversight Committee Agendas & Minutes

PURCHASING & PROCUREMENT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE (PPOC) IDA Conference Room – 6th Floor – Ruppert Sargent Building Meeting Minutes – May 16, 2012 Call to Order – Jessica Spencer, Minority Business Coordinator, called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. Ms. Spencer reported that Mr. Graves, Chairman; and Ms. Yee, Vice Chairman, would not be attending today’s meeting. According to the by-laws, if the Chairman and Vice Chairman are both absent, the PPOC members must appoint another board member to act as presiding Chairman of the meeting. Ms. Teresa Walker was nominated and accepted the responsibility of presiding over the meeting. Committee Member Attendance: A roll call was taken by Jessica Spencer: Members Present – Willie Brown, James Crocker, Eddie Deerfield, Eugene Johnson, Crystal Kleiber, Teresa Walker and George Wallace. Members Absent – Martin Cross (with notification), Michael Graves (with notification), Dave Pearson, and Lauren Yee (with notification) Staff and Citizen Attendance: Legal Representation: Karen James, Deputy City Attorney Staff Present: Jessica Spencer, Arnelia Hancock, Pete Peterson, Doris McRae, Denise Howard, Suzy Scott, Octavia Andrew, Debbi Brightbill (recorder) Staff Absent: Karl Daughtrey Citizens in Attendance – Edwin Boone (Sunshine Carpet Cleaning), Larry Wright (DMBE) Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the April 18, 2012 meeting were unanimously approved as submitted. Old Business Disparity Study – Ms. Spencer updated the members on the status of the Disparity Study solicitation. The selection committee met and reviewed all submitted proposals. Four companies have been selected to be interviewed. The interviews will be held on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 and Friday, June 15, 2012. Mr. Johnson inquired as to the number of actual proposals received and Ms. Spencer replied that six proposals had been submitted. Ms. Spencer then responded to other questions about the proposals; one of the proposals received was from the company who conducted Hampton’s first Disparity Study, the companies selected for interviews are all out of town and the solicitation did include aspirational sub-contracting goals for M/WBE vendors. New Business Small Purchases – Ms. Spencer reviewed the FY12 3rd quarter Small Purchases Summary by Departmental Origins. American Express transactions are not included in this report. She also distributed a chart comparing FY11 to FY12 small purchases since there is now two years of data to compare. Staff is still responding to departments who ask for assistance in locating W/MBE vendors and meeting with them if they need additional assistance. Compliance Reports – Ms. Hancock reviewed two reports with the members: Projects Estimated Under $100,000 (FY 2012 – January 1, 2012-March 31, 2012) and Projects Estimated Over $100,000 (FY 2012 (January 1, 2012-March 31, 2012). She shared information on the companies awarded these contracts as well as the contract amounts. Procurement Reports – Ms. McRae reviewed the Minority and Women Business Participation in the Bid Process 3rd Quarter FY12. This report included the following reports: SWaM Comparison Ending March 31, 2012, Construction Summary Report July 1, 2011 – April 30, 2012, and Goods & Services Summary Report July 1, 20122-April 30, 2012. These reports indicated the number of vendors notified and the number of vendors who responded to the bids. Ms. McRae also defined a “cooperative bid” as being one where municipalities are invited to be included in each other’s bids for procurement purposes. This type of cooperative bidding is often used by government agencies to reduce costs for all involved. Ms. McRae also reviewed a report on Current Solicitations for Goods and Services. Announcements Conference Announcement: Ms. Spencer reminded the members of the East Coast Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Conference & Expo to be held at the Hampton Convention Center on May 23-24, 2012. This is the second year Hampton has participated as one of the sponsors along with ODU. Retired Colonel Oliver North will be the luncheon guest speaker on Thursday. Ms. Spencer encouraged the members to attend the opening night reception on Wednesday, May 23. June PPOC Meeting - The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 20, 2012. It will be held in the IDA Conference Room, 6th floor, Ruppert Sargent Building, 1 Franklin Street, Hampton, VA 23669. Public Comments: Edwin Boone, Sunshine Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning – Mr. Boone stated he’d like to know what happened to the Chairman, Mr. Graves. He then stated he has attended these meetings for three years and has never been awarded work. He said the committee would not be considered legitimate until he received some work. He stated that he was born and raised here and has a college degree in Business Administration. He has been registered with the city, state and federal government for 18- 20 years. He has his business here, a business license and is a homeowner, tax payer and voter. 2 Mr. Deerfield asked if Hampton has carpet work that is put out for bid. Mr. Peterson referred to a contract to re-carpet the Convention Center a few months ago but Mr. Boone responded he does not install carpet, he cleans carpet. Mr. Peterson explained a janitorial contract for building maintenance is used for the City’s primary buildings such as City Hall and the Ruppert Sargent Building and these maintenance contracts include floor maintenance such as carpet cleaning and buffing of floors. Mr. Deerfield stated that Mr. Boone asks the same question about getting work every month and this would be a good time for him to understand that large carpet cleaning contracts are not available through the City. Mr. Peterson shared that he assisted Mr. Boone 3-4 years ago with a FOIA request to gather information over a period of 5 years about carpet cleaning services done for the City. The results indicated there were only 4-5 payments for carpet cleaning, approximately $1,500 each, that were solicited by various departments. No carpet cleaning contracts were issued through Procurement. At that time, he suggested to Mr. Boone that he introduce himself and his business to the buyers within each department. Ms. Spencer shared that staff previously assisted Mr. Boone by forwarding a flyer to the City departments introducing the services of Sunshine Carpet Cleaning. Mr. Boone then referred to a former employee named Bill Mingee who told him some carpet cleaning jobs were not posted because “buddies” were just called to do it and it would be difficult to get a job unless you knew someone. He then inquired if all carpet cleaning jobs are below $1,500 and no jobs are available for $5,000 or more. Mr. Peterson replied that was the information he found at the time Mr. Boone asked to clarify that carpet cleaning jobs were up to the buyers, or whoever gives out the contracts, in each department and that jobs are usually $1,500 and below. Mr. Wallace replied that it has been suggested that he get this information from the buyers or department heads because they are the ones issuing the smaller carpet cleaning contracts. He also repeated that Ms. Spencer previously emailed his business information to the departments and is willing to do it for him again. Mr. Boone then replied he can do that himself. Mr. Wallace reminded Mr. Boone that, even in the best of circumstances, opportunities for his type of service are limited because carpet cleaning is incorporated into Hampton’s janitorial maintenance contract. Mr. Boone replied, “So what you’re telling me is that I’m wasting my time coming here.” Mr. Wallace responded, “I’m saying there could be other places you could make better use of your time by virtue of the fact that opportunities are limited.” Mr. Boone replied, “So, you’re saying I’m wasting my time coming here.” Mr. Wallace responded, “You can draw your own conclusions.” Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m. Copies forwarded to: Mayor Molly Joseph Ward James A. Peterson, ACM Michael Graves, PPOC Chairman Vice-Mayor George E. Wallace Karen S. James, Deputy City Attorney Lauren Yee, PPOC Vice-Chairman Councilman Christopher G. Stuart Karl S. Daughtrey William Brown Councilman Will Moffett Jessica Spencer James Crocker Councilman Ross A. Kearney, II Arnelia Hancock Martin Cross Councilman Donnie Tuck Doris McRae Eddie Deerfield School Board Member, Dave Pearson Denise Howard Eugene Johnson City Manager, Mary Bunting Victor Hellman Crystal Kleiber Suzanna Scott Teresa Walker 3