Public Contracts (Office Of The City Manager) • MuckRock

7 Communications
0 Files

Communications

From: Dan Rubins

07/11/2018

Subject: California Public Records Act Request: Public Contracts (Office Of The City Manager)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

To Whom It May Concern:

I. Background Information

Contract administration is frequently a source of concerning behavior in the public sector. For example:
- In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, a company with only two employees (Whitefish Energy) was hired hired by PREPA, Puerto Rico's public utility company, to restore power to the island at a cost of $300M. The contract had audit-proofing clauses and left little recourse for PREPA due to nonperformance. After 8 months, Puerto Rico did not have power fully restored and now Congressional and FBI investigations are pending.
- During an internal audit of the City of San Diego's contracting practices, the contract with office products supplier Staples was found to exceed the City Council's approved $2M annual threshold by a full $1M. Auditors found found insufficient financial controls and produced a further 60 pages of recommendations.
- The US Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) found sustained exceptions for incurred costs audits 28.6% of the time in its 2017 Report to Congress.
- From 2010 to 2013, a Maryland Transit Authority employee allegedly used poor contracting oversight to siphon $6.3M from the state coffers.
- The City of Vallejo, CA was recently the victim of an alleged contracting kickback scheme run by the city's landscape maintenance manager, only uncovered in an FBI investigation. The kickback scheme occurred only a few years after the city was in Chapter 9 bankruptcy because of ballooning contractual obligations.
- In recent years, officials in the southern California cities of Bell, Irwindale, La Puente, Monterey Park, Pico Rivera, Temple City, and Vernon have been brought up on various public corruption charges.

While the vast majority of public contracting is done with integrity, bad actors and a lack of public knowledge have a disproportionate effect on the fiscal wellbeing and public trust of every level of government.

II. Requested Records

Pursuant to the { law }, I hereby request the following records:

1. Any and all executed contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), and other equivalent agreements that are currently active, or were active within the last two years, other than standard employee agreements. Please provide a copy of the executed document as well as any addenda, amendments, attachments, exhibits, materials, and schedules.

2. Any and all contract template documents, for example, employee agreements, vendor agreements, master services agreements, nondisclosure agreements, or interagency cooperation contracts.

3. General policies and procedures for contract administration, including training materials and records used to instruct members of your agency in contract administration.

4. Any available process narratives, audit reports, or findings regarding contract administration covering the last two years.

I am happy to discuss any issues or suggestions to make fulfillment more manageable for your office.

III. Fees

If there are any fees for searching or copying these records, please inform me in advance of fulfilling the request.

I would also like to request a waiver of all fees in that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest and will contribute significantly to the public's understanding of how governments manage public money and the obligations to which they are entrusted.

Neither I, nor my company (Legal Robot), has any commercial interest in obtaining the requested information. Rather, we intend to use software to analyze and disseminate the requested information free of charge so that the public may identify patterns of bad behavior that, when eliminated, will benefit governments and the public alike.

We plan to enrich and cross-link the information we receive from multiple jurisdictions, and provide an exploratory interface for the public on the internet, for free. Because we consider this work to be Data Journalism, and we further expect to provide our analysis to other media organizations for additional print and online publication, I ask to be categorized as a representative of the news media. Upon request, I am happy to provide our analysis and any articles we write based on our analysis in advance of publication, though I cannot speak for other media outlets.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Dan Rubins

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.

I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Dan Rubins

From:

07/30/2018

Subject: RSC Online: Message About Request # 3870435 [3433623335353537]

---If replying by email, please enter your response above this line---

Dear Mr. Rubins:

The City is in receipt of your public records request. Under the provision of Government Code 6253, staff requires additional time to fully and appropriately respond to your public records request. Pursuant to the extension provision, you will be contacted on or before August 13, 2018, with the availability of the records responsive and appropriate for disclosure. At such time, you may make an appointment to review records.

Please contact Sara Knutzen, Project Technician, at (661) 255-4334 should you have any questions in this regard.

This message is in reference to the Request you submitted on 07/18/2018 12:22 PM regarding

From:

07/31/2018

Subject: RSC Online: Message About Request # 3870435 [3433623335353537]

---If replying by email, please enter your response above this line---

Dear Mr. Rubins:

The City of Santa Clarita (City) received your records request on July 18, 2018, seeking “Any and all executed contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), and other equivalent agreements that are currently active, or were active within the last two years, other than standard employee agreements. Please provide a copy of the executed document as well as any addenda, amendments, attachments, exhibits, materials, and schedules. Any and all contract template documents, for example, employee agreements, vendor agreements, master services agreements, nondisclosure agreements, or interagency cooperation contracts. General policies and procedures for contract administration, including training materials and records used to instruct members of your agency in contract administration. Any available process narratives, audit reports, or findings regarding contract administration covering the last two years”.

Conducting a search for the type of records and information referenced above as “Any and all executed contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), and other equivalent agreements that are currently active, or were active within the last two years, other than standard employee agreements”, would include personally examining thousands of files throughout several types of repositories. Producing these records will require a considerable amount of time and resources. We would like to ensure the scope of your request includes these types of records.

I ask if there is an opportunity to narrow the scope of the City’s search. However, if you wish for us to move forward with making these records available to you for your review, please contact me at (661) 255-4334 to discuss a rolling schedule for production that does not interfere with the City’s ability to provide services to its constituents.

Sincerely,
Sara Knutzen
Clerk and Contract Services

This message is in reference to the Request you submitted on 07/18/2018 12:22 PM regarding

From: Office Of The City Manager

08/13/2018

Subject: RSC Online: Message About Request # 3870435 [3433623335353537]

---If replying by email, please enter your response above this line---

Hello Mr. Rubins:

This email serves to further respond to your public records request. I've attached to this email records responsive to a portion of you request in which you are seeking "Any and all contract template documents, for example, employee agreements, vendor agreements, master services agreements, nondisclosure agreements, or interagency cooperation contracts. General policies and procedures for contract administration, including training materials and records used to instruct members of your agency in contract administration. Any available process narratives, audit reports, or findings regarding contract administration covering the last two years,"

The records referenced above represent all documents responsive to a portion of your request maintained either by the City Clerk's Office or as a result of contacting those City departments that are believed to have records responsive to your request.

Please note, your request is not being closed since we are only responding at this time, to a portion of your request.

Additionally, I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding an email I sent to you on July 31, 2018, requesting if you could please narrow the scope of some of your request. As mentioned in my previous email conducting a search for the type of records and information you've referenced as “Any and all executed contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), and other equivalent agreements that are currently active, or were active within the last two years, other than standard employee agreements”, would include personally examining thousands of files throughout several types of repositories. Producing these records will require a considerable amount of time and resources. We would like to ensure the scope of your request includes these types of records.

If you have any questions in this regard you can reach me by responding directly to this email or contacting me at 661-255-4334

Thank you,
Sara Knutzen
Clerk and Contract Services

Attachments sent: Amendment Template, Artist Agreement Template, CIP Agreement Template - Federal, CIP Agreement Template - State, Lease Agreement Template, Community Services Grant Agreement Template, Letter of Agreement Template - Per Year Lump Sum, Software Letter of Agreement Template, License Agreement Template, Letter of Agreement Template, Maintenance Agreement Template, Performer Agreement Template, Presenter Trainer Agreement Template, Professional Services Agreement Template - Environmental, Professional Services Agreement Template - Design, Professional Services Agreement Template, Sponsorship Agreement Template - Over $10K, Sponsorship Agreement Template - Under $10K, Arts Grant Agreement Template, Contract Management Video Tutorial for Staff Use, Contract & Agreement Policy, Contract Management Page in rNet

Please click the link(s) below to view attachment(s).:

Amendment Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247688:

Artist Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247689:

CIP Agreement Template - Federal - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247690:

CIP Agreement Template - State - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247691:

Lease Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247692:

Community Services Grant Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247693:

Letter of Agreement Template - Per Year Lump Sum - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247694:

Software Letter of Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247695:

License Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247696:

Letter of Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247697:

Maintenance Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247698:

Performer Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247699:

Presenter Trainer Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247700:

Professional Services Agreement Template - Environmental - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247701:

Professional Services Agreement Template - Design - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247702:

Professional Services Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247703:

Sponsorship Agreement Template - Over $10K - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247704:

Sponsorship Agreement Template - Under $10K - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247705:

Arts Grant Agreement Template - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247706:

Contract Management Video Tutorial for Staff Use - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247710:

Contract & Agreement Policy - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1247716:

Contract Management Page in rNet - http://user.govoutreach.com/santaclarita/attachment.php?request=3870435&access=3433623335353537&aid=1248098

This message is in reference to the Request you submitted on 07/18/2018 12:22 PM regarding

From: Office Of The City Manager

09/06/2018

Subject: RSC Online: Message About Request # 3870435 [3433623335353537]

---If replying by email, please enter your response above this line---

Dear Mr. Rubins:

An email was sent to you on August 13, 2018, requesting if you could please narrow the scope of some of your request. As mentioned in my previous emails conducting a search for the type of records and information you've referenced as “Any and all executed contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), and other equivalent agreements that are currently active, or were active within the last two years, other than standard employee agreements”, would include personally examining thousands of files throughout several types of repositories. Producing these records will require a considerable amount of time and resources. We would like to ensure the scope of your request includes these types of records.

Having received no response from you I will consider this request closed unless I hear from you by September 10, 2018.

Thank you,
Sara Knutzen
Clerk and Contract Services
661-255-4334

This message is in reference to the Request you submitted on 07/18/2018 12:22 PM regarding

From: Office Of The City Manager

09/11/2018

Subject: RSC Online: Closed Request # 3870435 [3433623335353537]

---If replying by email, enter your response above this line---

Hello Mr. Rubins:

An email was sent to you on September 6, 2018, in a final attempt to reach out to you regarding your request.

Since we have not heard from you this request is being closed.

Thank you,
Sara Knutzen
Clerk and Contract Services
661-255-4334

This message is in reference to the Request on Public Records Request you submitted on 07/18/2018 12:22 PM Request# 3870435

From: Office Of The City Manager

09/18/2018

Subject: RSC Online: Survey for Closed Request # 3870435 [3433623335353537]

Dear Dan,

Your request # 3870435 was recently closed with an option to
fill out our customer service survey. As of today, the survey
has not been filled out. The survey takes less than 60 seconds
to complete and we would greatly appreciate your feedback.

This is in reference to the Request
you submitted on 07/18/2018 12:22 PM
Description: From: <requests@muckrock.com>

Files

There are no files associated with this request.