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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Police Exam ContractCITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM TO : FROM : Beverly Pryltt Director Department of Employee Relations Johnny Martinez, P.E City Manager Officer of the City Manager DATE :. October 27, 2011 FILE SUBJECT :Request to Waive Requirements for Competitive Sealed Bidding Police Exam Contract REFERENCES ENCLOSURES: This is a request to waive competitive procurement, by a four -fifths (4/5ths) affirmative vote of the City of Miami ("City") Commission, for a vendor to provide legally defensible promotional examination services to develop, administer, score and report for one (1) promotional examination processes for the classification of Police Lieutenant. It is requested that the City waive the requirements for competitive sealed bidding as this action is not practicable or advantageous to the City. In lieu of competitive sealed bidding, it is requested that the City execute an amendment to extend, for a period of one (1) year, the current Professional Services Agreement (PSA) for promotional examination processes in the Department of Police with the current provider, EB Jacobs, LLC for a maximum amount of $381,816.69. This amount was included in the original PSA and approved via City Commission resolution number 05-1419. No additional funding will be added to the terms of the PSA. Efforts to establish a new Police .Lieutenant Eligibility Register from which to fill active, budgeted, and vacant positions have been negatively impacted by the City's financial challenges in the last few years, despite repeated requests for funding. In an effort to meet the timing requirements of the promotional examination needs for development, implementation and administration, scoring and reporting for the Department of Police, the Department of Human Resources has determined that it is not practicable and advantageous to the City to adhere to competitive bidding andtherefore waive competitive bidding to provide consulting services for Police Lieutenant examination processes to the City, and has presented this determination to the City Manager. The City is currently under a Federal Order for the classification of Police Lieutenant. Accordingly, the City continues to obtain approval from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) at every step of the examination development process. In accordance with paragraph C(5) of the Federal Order, "...the United States' expert in test development shall be permitted to ... (b) review and approve the work product, including raw data, at each stage of the development of the examination before development proceeds to the next step." Examples of 'work product' Request to Waive Requirements for Competitive Sealed Bidding of Police Promotional Examinations Page 2 include, but not are limited to, the test plan, candidate preparation guide and examination -related materials. The one (1) year extension to the current PSA would provide the City with sufficient time to develop one (1) promotional examination for the classification of Police Lieutenant with the current vendor, EB Jacobs, LLC, and continue to comply with the Federal Order. Although the current PSA includes promotional testing for the classification of Police Sergeant, the current request for contract extension is solely for the purpose of completing one (1) Police Lieutenant promotional examination process, and not for Police Sergeant testing. The Police Sergeant Eligibility Register was established on October 1, 2010, and was frozen in accordance with the City Manager's May 7, 2009 hiring and promotional freeze. On October 20, 2011, the Police Sergeant Eligibility Register was released by the City Manager via signed memorandum from the hiring and promotional freeze. In accordance with the Civil Service Board Rules, the duration of the Police Sergeant Eligibility Register is from a minimum of one (1) year to a maximum duration of two (2) years. At the request of the Department of Police, the Police Sergeant Eligibility Register has typically been active for the maximum duration of two (2) years. Hence, it is anticipated that the current Police Sergeant Eligibility Register will remain active from October 20, 2011 to October 19, 2013 to provide for the filling of active, budgeted Police Sergeant vacancies for the Department of Police. With regard to the classification of Police Lieutenant, competitive bidding at this juncture will incur further delays to the establishment of a new Police Lieutenant Eligibility Register, as well as delay the filling of current and anticipated Police Lieutenant vacancies.' This is due to the fact that additional time will be required to redo the steps that were previously completed during the initial solicitation and contracting phases in 2006. More specifically, delays would result as the City would be required to engage in a second solicitation and subsequent evaluation of new proposals; negotiation and contracting with a new group of successful proposers; secure approval of the new testing contract from the Office of the City Attorney; internal routing of a new contract for required approvals by several Department Directors; obtain final approval from the City Commission; and conduct a new legally defensible job analysis for the Police Lieutenant classification in accordance with Federal guidelines and professional practice. Additional delays to the timeline would result as the City complies with the paragraph C(5) of the Federal Order to obtain DOJ approval for all stages in the solicitation process including, but not limited to "...examination development parameters, proposals received, and the selection of a consultant for the development of the examination" despite meeting these requirements in 2006. It should be noted that the current testing company, EB Jacobs LLC, assisted the City with release from the Federal Order for the classifications of Police Captain and Police Sergeant, and has an established record of successfully meeting the intricate and detailed testing needs and requirement; of the City -in the past. Request to Waive Requirements for Competitive Sealed Bidding of Police Promotional Examinations Page 3 As a result, the City wishes to execute an amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with the current consulting firm, EB Jacobs, LLC, for a period of one (1) year, for promotional examination services for the classification of Police Lieutenant to include time period of January 10, 2012 to January 9, 2013. Disapproved: GLGt Ke eth Roberts , Director Department of Purchasing G-- BP\EK