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CC - (1) Waiver of Formal Competitive Bidding Procedures; and (2) Approval of a Two-Year Professional Services Agreement with Kristi Callan for Providing Meeting Transcription Services for City Council and Commission, Board and Committee Meetings and Preparation of Summary Minutes for Approximately 75 Meetings Per Year in an Aggregate Amount Not-to-Exceed $46,200 Annually, with an Option for Two Additional One-Year Extensions.
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Meeting Date: July 23, 2018
Contact Person/Dept: Jeremy Green, City Clerk
Phone Number: 310-253-5859
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date:
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (07/18/18);
Department Approval: Serena Wright, Administrative Services Director (07/17/18)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) waive formal competitive bidding procedures; and (2) approve a two-year Professional Services Agreement with Kristi Callan for providing meeting transcription services for City Council and commission, board and committee meetings and preparation of summary minutes for approximately seventy-five meetings per year in an aggregate amount not-to-exceed $46,000 annually, with an option for two additional one-year extensions.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Kristi Callan has been providing minutes transcription and preparation services for Culver City governmental meetings since 2008. In 2008, Ms. Callan only prepared minutes for City Council and the ancillary bodies, in addition to the four commissions. As the City has added additional boards, committees and task forces, Kristi’s scope of work as grown as well. Last year, Ms. Callan spent approximately 1200 hours viewing, reviewing and preparing minutes for more than 75 meetings annually.
Prepared minutes take three forms: action, summary or verbatim. Action minutes are the briefest form of minutes. They include the agenda item title, a very brief synopsis of who spoke, any motions/seconds and the results of the City Council votes (Action Minutes focus on what was done). Verbatim minutes provide exact transcriptions of everything that was spoken, and are extremely time intensive. Ms. Callan prepares summary minutes which contain detailed, written synopses of what was said at a meeting, in addition to what was done. Preparation of Summary Minutes is time intensive but not as time-consuming as verbatim minutes.
The most recent agreement between the City and Ms. Callan just expired on June 30, 2018. Staff has contacted Ms. Callan and a new agreement would maintain the current rate of $35/hour, based on the actual amount of time it takes for transcription, review, and editing services. With an assumption of 1200 work hours and a 10% contingency, the total annual amount is expected not-to-exceed $46,200.
Staff reached out to other City Clerks to research the cost for meeting transcription in other cities. The following information was obtained:
• City Clerk Management Services provides summary minutes and charges $175 per meeting hour with a turnaround generally of five business days.
• The Chavez Group does not provide summary minutes, only verbatim transcripts and they charge $130 per hour of meeting time, billing at quarter hour increments, with electronic transcripts delivered typically within 48 hours.
• Granicus currently provides a mechanism to create action minutes. However, this would require extensive staff or other external resources to review, prepare and summarize city meetings that are not currently visually recorded. In addition, Granicus provides the ability for verbatim transcripts to be generated via a real time captioning service. The cost is $135/per hour.
Staff deems Ms. Callan’s rates to be very competitive and she specializes in governmental transcription. Ms. Callan has extensive knowledge of Culver City’s history, legislative processes, people, locales, programs and projects. She is able to identify speakers from hearing their voice, which is essential to produce minutes efficiently for the majority of the bodies whose meetings are not recorded visually.
Ms. Callan has always provided quick turnaround and updates when necessary. Over the timeframe of her agreement, she has consistently provided the draft minutes for approval from the most recent regular meeting for approval at the very next regular meeting of the body. Ms. Callan has also developed a language style for the minutes which is now consistent throughout all of the City’s bodies. To start with a new organization would require a large learning curve.
For these reasons, Staff recommends the City enter into a new two-year agreement with Kristi Callan with authorization to administratively approve two optional one-year extensions.
In general, Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) Section 3.07.065 exempts professional services from the formal competitive bid process. However, pursuant to CCMC Section 3.07.045, where the same consultant has been utilized for a period of five years, the formal bidding procedures shall apply unless waived by the City Council. In this case, for the reasons set forth above, City staff is requesting that the City Council waive this requirement in accordance with CCMC Section 3.07.075.F.3.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
Funding for the noted services has been appropriated across the various Departments that staff the associated Commissions, Boards and commissions. Funding will be appropriated annually for the duration of the contract.
ATTACHMENTS
None.
MOTION
That the City Council:
1. Waive formal competitive bidding procedures in accordance with CCMC Section 3.07.075.F.3; and
2. Approve a two-year professional services agreement with Kristi Callan (in an amount not-to-exceed $46,000 annually), and;
3. Authorize the City Manager to administratively approve two optional one-year extensions to the agreement; and
4. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents, and;
5. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.