City Council

Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – April 14, 2016 Savannah City Government SUMMARY/FINAL MINUTES COUNCIL WORK SESSION& CITY MANAGER’S BRIEFING April 14, 2016 – 10:00 a.m. PRESENT: Mayor Eddie W. DeLoach, Presiding Mayor Pro-Tem Carol Bell (arrived at 10:15 a.m.) Alderman Julian Miller, Chairman of Council Alderman Brian Foster, Vice-Chairman of Council Tony Thomas (arrived at 10:35 a.m.) John Hall, Estella Shabazz (arrived at 10:20 a.m.), Bill Durrence City Manager Stephanie Cutter City Attorney W. Brooks Stillwell Assistant City Attorney William Shearouse ABSENT: Van Johnson, II – out of town Mayor DeLoach called the meeting to order. Increasing Procurement Opportunities for M/WBE’s in Savannah City Manager Stephanie Cutter, Taffanye Young, Community Planning & Development Bureau Chief, Marronde Lotson, Entrepreneurial Administrator, Manuel Dominguez, Economic Development Director, Nate Miller, Contract Compliance Officer; Esther Kerns M/WBE Coordinator; and Molly Huhn, Purchasing Director presented a PowerPoint Presentation (Presentation on file in the Office of the Clerk of Council) The following questions and comments were made during and after the presentation Alderman Foster asked will it be an assumption that we probably don’t have enough small minority companies that can handle large bids so they have to participate with larger communities so we need to focus on that aspect. Manuel stated yes that is true. Part of the M/WBE team role is to ensure that businesses have the capacity to be able to bid on large contracts and we remove any barriers that prevent them from getting those large contracts. For small businesses we make sure there is an opportunity to have a joint venture with other business to get larger contracts. Alderman Durrence asked the disparity study is required because you have to show the evidence of why are you conducting the study. Taffanye replied yes, it was a decision by your predecessors that will continue to be a decision because it has to be fixed into show the statistical evidence. 1  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – April 14, 2016 Alderman Miller stated the people who are biding locally are doing well it’s just not enough of them. Manuel replied you are correct. Alderman Thomas asked are there any private sector studies and can we find out if local firms are involved with other businesses that are doing private construction. If not maybe we can ask the City to offer a tax incentive for private development that utilizes local M/WBE firms. Manuel replied the final disparity study will have a chapter on the private sector analysis, but it doesn’t get specific local firms like the previous disparity study which uses a more broad approach. :46 Alderman Bell how do you ascertain whether or not you are offering the services that the business community needs. Marronde replied through the evaluation forms at the end of each session. We take the responses from the evaluation and incorporate them into the next session. Alderman Bell asked have you reached out to end users to ask them if the entrepreneurial center is providing the services that the City of Savannah needs. Marronde stated since 2013 there has not been any extensive research survey effort. We have made modifications within the last 12 months. The business education segment has been revamped it was 12 sessions now its 24. Alderman Bell it may be a good idea to have your end users conduct a major comprehensive form as you did in 2013 because they use the services. Manuel stated in addition to the evaluation at the end of the year we send a survey to every business in Savannah. We don’t get responses from everyone but the responses we do receive are fairly good. Alderman Miller asked what the reaction of the amount of people who showed up and the conversation. Marronde stated those were very successful business classes that we had. Alderman Miller asked how many people participated in one of these sessions. Marronde stated between 50-75 people. Alderman Miller I see this took place in 2014 is this going to stop or will it be ongoing. Marronde replied it is in our best interest to continue the conversation, so we are open to do it again. Alderman Miller asked have you reviewed the paperwork to make changes to reduce it since it is too cumbersome. Marronde replied we have two tracks the simplified version is the short form. If you are certified by an agency we will accept that and you will be able to be fast tracked. If you do not have certification by any of those agencies that was stated previously we have to take a further at you. Alderman Miller stated we have doubled the staff since 2013, but the number of business participants that we reach has only increased to 27%. Do we have an opportunity to reach out to more business participants and is there a program to do that. Marronde replied we do. City Manager Cutter stated we are doing more internal training versus contract and training so that is why staff has increased. Mayor DeLoach asked why don’t these business owners know about the programs that you all offer. Do we mail out or give information about the minority program when people apply for a business certificate. Ms. Cutter replied no. Taffanye stated when people register their new business and get a certificate with the City it is a separate process that allow them to do business in the City, but they can create an opportunity to link those programs. Business Certificates is through the Revenue Department. Ms. Cutter the significant changes we have made over the years are the way we write RFP’s we include language that encourage outreach to local small businesses and workforce development to share the business opportunity. 2  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – April 14, 2016 Alderman Durrence asked if a company have a sub-contractor who is a minority or women owned business do they count towards the statistical information in terms of participation. Taffanye replied no because they have to be certified so we can verify them. Ms. Cutter stated when they are certified it helps us to help them. When a prime asks us for a list of certified W/MBE’s we give them a list and it fosters the mentor relationship and allows others to participate in the City’s procurement process. Alderman Thomas for a long time I have heard that it is difficult to do business with the City and part of the reason is the registration and meeting with someone to complete the paperwork properly. A lot of small businesses don’t have the aptitude to understand the jargon so they walk away from the opportunity to do business with the City. One thing I would like to see for this program is a tracking system for these small businesses to see how effective the $480,000 really is. Taffanye stated they are taking notes on all suggestions. Alderman Shabazz asked in regards to our certification list how is it possible that the school board is using the same list and their W/MBE is higher than ours. Ms. Cutter stated it depends on the project that the city is engaged with in comparison to the school board. Ms. Cutter stated this is not the final disparity study, there is ongoing work. As for the executive summary, it is in the process to be completed. The content is not changing and the executive summary will be bond. The final document will be made public and distributed to Council and that is expected in the next couple of weeks. Upon motion of Amend Mayor DeLoach, seconded by Alderman Bell, and unanimously carried Council amended the agenda to discuss the progress of the SCMPD. Executive Session Upon motion of Alderman Durrence, seconded by Alderman Bell, and unanimously carried Council went into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing Litigation. Upon completion of this session, a motion was made to come out of Executive Session by Alderman Miller, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried. City Manager Stephanie Cutter presented the City Manager’s Briefing of the agenda items for the Council Meeting of April 14, 2016. The agenda is attached and made a part of the permanent record. Mayor DeLoach adjourned this meeting. Dyanne C. Reese, MMC, Clerk of Council 3