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CC: CONSENT - (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 130 Meetings Per Year in an Aggregate Amount Not-to-Exceed $66,400 Annually, with an Option for Three Additional One-Year Extensions.
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Meeting Date: October 24, 2022
Contact Person/Dept: Jeremy Bocchino, City Clerk
Phone Number: 310-253-5859
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date:
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (10/19/2022);
Department Approval: Jesse Mays, Assistant City Manager (10/17/2022)
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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 one-hundred thirty (130) meetings per year in an aggregate amount not-to-exceed $66,400 annually, with an option for three 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 a few 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. In 2021-22, Ms. Callan spent over 1500 hours viewing, reviewing and preparing minutes for more than 130 meetings this past year.
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 expires on October 31, 2022. Ms. Callan’s rate has been $35/hour for the last five years and prior to that she has not had an increase in over 10 years. The rate proposed is $40/hour which is still below most government minutes transcribers and is based on the actual amount of time it takes for transcription, review, and editing services. With an assumption of 1523 work hours, a 10% contingency, and insurance costs of approximately $400 annually to comply with approved City insurance requirements, the total annual amount is expected not-to-exceed $66,400.
Staff reached out to other City Clerks to research the cost for meeting transcription in other cities. The following information was obtained:
• Marc Donohue, a City Clerk who also does minutes transcription, charges $100 per hour for summary minutes.
• City Clerk Management Services provides summary minutes and had provided a $175 per meeting hour rate with a turnaround generally of five business days.
• Online transcription service companies, which provide only verbatim transcripts charge rates ranging from a low of $46.20 to $105.00 per hour, with electronic transcripts delivered typically within 5 days. They also typically are not all located in the United States.
• 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 Granicus. In addition, Granicus provides the ability for verbatim transcripts to be generated via a real time captioning service. The cost was $135/per hour when the request was originally made in 2018. A request was made to provide an updated cost but has not yet received a response from Granicus.
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 agreements, 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 the City’s bodies.
For these reasons, Staff recommends the City enter into a new two-year agreement with Kristi Callan with authorization to administratively approve three 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
The Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2022/2023 includes sufficient funding for the noted services across the various Departments that staff the associated Commissions, Boards, and Committees. Funding will be appropriated in future fiscal year budgets 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 $66,400 annually), and;
3. Authorize the City Manager to administratively approve three 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.