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
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BP\EK