BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

♪ Good morning everybody. Welcome to this regular meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, our last for this calendar year and we're glad that you're here. We have a very full agenda today and Mr. Allen would you call the roll

please? Ms. Wolfe? Here. Mr. Carbajal? Here. Ms. Gray?

Present.

Ms. Farr?

Here, would you all

Yes, I do. This weekend we opened the Orcutt Library which was just a remarkable feat and so I brought a picture for everyone to look at. That's me with scissors in front of my face and that's Mayor Lavinino telling me how to cut the ribbon But we went from a library that was 2,000 square feet to a library that's 4,000 square feet in a brand new building in a place where there's parking.

The library staff told me that on Saturday they were open from 10 to 2 and 1,500 people went through the Orcutt Library which has to be a record in itself. So I wanted to thank my fellow board members it's just you guys thank you thank you thank you. You have smiled on Orcut and it's all because of what you've done and there we are with the Orcut library. I invite you all to come up. Just one of the interesting things that happened is the library that was in Orcut 1922 Had a metal gate made out of sucker rods, because this is an oil field town.

So we have this gate made out of sucker rods that says library. Well about a year ago that gate showed up at my front door and I don't know where it came from or how it got there but eventually Diane Corral, Diane LaFranchi she's a descendant of the LaFranchi family called and told me, oh yeah I dropped it off. I thought you might want it. So the library now has the gate that was in front of the library in 1922. We're making a real effort to try and put photos of old Orkut and I'm just really thankful. Thank you very much. The Orkutt Library

And thank you Supervisor Gray for all of your hard work on that and your advocacy. We know it's just going to be a wonderful resource for the Orkut community, and also points out I think the needs that we have throughout the county for all of our libraries so I'm really glad that Orkut was able to meet this milestone and now we'll look forward to trying to do an upgrade in some of the other libraries that we have in the county as well.

Mr. Allen actually any other members of the board that want to make public comment at this time? Otherwise I think we have one member of the public

Yes, Madam Chair and members of the board. We're going to go to Santa Maria for Doug Coleman.

Good morning Mr. Coleman.

Good morning. On behalf of Katya Osagian I'm his North or Santa Barbara County representative and just want to say how much we appreciated Joni over the last number of years and personally my family and I just think that Orchid has a huge treasure in Joni And we just want to thank her again for all the hard work that she's done, for the community and for us and for this nation. Thank you again, Joni. We love you.

And all the best to you.

Supervisor Wolf? Thank you Madam Chair. I think the four of us sitting here would have so many words of appreciation for Supervisor Gray Because she is such an amazing classy woman, she's asked that we not talk about her. Not shower her with praise right here. It is so difficult to do but I'm going to honor her wishes and it's very difficult because She is an amazing. I tried

to explain to Janet that you have to have a funeral so your friends can come and I'd really like to pass on the funeral, so.

So I just am going to say thank you. You're

welcome it's been great fun.

All right, there's no other public comment. Supervisor Lavagnino?

This is a big change for all of us and for me particularly because I've had the honor of being real close to Joni for the last two years. You look at, well for me it's really going to be different because I've been coming to Santa Barbara for two years. SPCAG APCD meetings I've been riding with my dad and Joni and Lupe And I'm going to be a lone guy in that car from now on.

I guess Peter will be there and Alice Patino and Francis Romero. Everything moves on, but it doesn't mean we forget those who have come before us. You know when I look on my wall and I've got all those supervisors that have retired, you think of all the great things that they've done. Joni, you can leave with a big smile on your face. I think just the Orchid Library anywhere anybody looks in Orchard they're going to see you and remember you Union Valley Parkway, what Old Orkut looks like now compared to when you first came into office. Everything you've done with the parks and I know nobody likes to be forgotten and there's no way anybody can be up in North County and forget about you so I love ya and I would just wish you all the best and George.

Supervisor Carbajal.

Well, if we have some rambunctious supervisors I might as well join the ranks as well You know this board if you look back over the last 20-30 years There's been enough acrimony to go around and I think Every there's been a lot of contributors to that but I think one of the things that our board has really tried to do is to get beyond a A lot of those skirmishes that have naturally plagued this Board of Supervisors. And it hasn't been easy, one in particular that I am particularly keen on is this North-South divide and I got to tell you that For me, it's always not been a real issue but there's a lot of people that have really promoted that. And it hasn't really gone to promote the type of camaraderie and civility that we want in our county and on our Board of Supervisors.

And I will tell you that Supervisor Gray, at least as part of my tenure along with the rest of my colleagues, we have really worked hard Getting beyond those north-south issues. And a good part of that credit is attributed to Supervisor Gray and I say that because we are going to have new members on the board in future elections in January, and I don't want that to be lost because it's so easy to play those silly games and not do the people's work And I think Joni Gray has worked hard to address that divide with all of us. And I give her lots of credit for that. Joni, my hat's off to you because I know you've traversed many boards of supervisors and I think that you founded upon yourself in recent years with all of us To try to find that common ground when at all possible, and you have been great.

I'm going to miss you.

And I'd certainly like to echo what my colleagues here on the board have said. And just to continue on with what Supervisor Carbajal was talking about, we always hear the expression that all politics is local. But my corollary is that all local politics is personal. It's personal relationships with constituents, with staff, with other electeds and particularly with our fellow board members.

And having that atmosphere of collegiality that has been talked about is absolutely key in doing the work, doing the people's work and doing the work of the county. That is a benefit not just for people in my district but for the people in all of the county and in all of the districts. So again, I know that this is probably not what you wanted Supervisor Gray. But please, please accept it as the outpouring of warmth and affection that we have for you in the respect for all the work that you've done here on this board for the people of Santa Barbara County and the people

Supervisor Gray. Well, thank you. I really thank you so much. I leave the county with a very heavy heart and this is the second time I've done this. It happened to me in 1980 when Supervisor Fletcher was not reelected and in that time the board actually got along well And they had their disagreements but they actually got along well. And then it deteriorated into, and I can't put a time when that happened, it deteriorated into we are from North County and so let's go down and explain to those poor souls in Santa Barbara how to act.

Well surprisingly didn't work really well. And I have to admit that I tried it the first couple of years because I thought that was my job. But because we worked together so much at a time, you know we're together at least once a week for really heavy decisions. So it doesn't work and I'm glad I learned that because now I have the Orchard Library, Clark, Union Valley Parkway all those kinds of things but I was just reminiscing with Mike Allen about starting.

Fourteen years ago when I started, Mike was here, Bob Geis was here And that was it, except I was hoping that Mr. Thorndike would show up today so there'd be one more survivor. But obvi darn he just couldn't make it down. So we go through many changes and as I started out the heavy heart thing is because you department heads and you folks that work for the county are really smart and really dedicated and really hard working And really fun to be around. So everybody pat themselves on the back and we will just continue to be the county we are, so thank you very much. Thank you!

Thank you if I could ask Pat Wheatley to come forward Madam Chair It is an honor for me to present this resolution to Pat Wheatley For her many years of service as the first five executive directors. She was the first director of the First Five Commission since it started 14 years ago. She has an extraordinary career that was topped by this latest public service post that she's held, but her career has really been to Be a champion for children and families.

I think we all know that especially low income families, but not just low income families. But children, all children in our community needs a champion and needs champions to look out for their interests, for the well-being. And Pat certainly has been a pillar and a champion in making sure First five in particular dollars go to strengthening families, the safety net and the well-being of our children.

Pat you have made major contributions to our community your leadership has been extraordinary on the first five commission and I want to recognize you for your many years of service in helping to helping improve our community thank you for your service Mr. Allen if you could read the resolution

Madam Chair, members of the board. This is a resolution honoring Patricia Wheatley upon her retirement from the County of Santa Barbara. Whereas, Pat Wheatley is retiring after serving as Executive Director of the first five of Santa Barbara County where she has worked to develop programs and educate our community on the benefits of early childhood education.

And whereas, Pat began her career serving at risk in vulnerable communities working for Catholic charities where she developed personal relationships with the youth and their families that helped lead her to become a welfare rights worker for the elderly blind and disabled And whereas, Pat Wheatley along with her loving and supportive husband Joe and beautiful daughter Julie came to Santa Barbara to put down roots and raise their family. In doing so she embarked on a great adventure meeting individuals who inspired her passion for community service including Ida Cordero, Bill Cerrone, and Roger Hero.

And whereas, Pat went on to serve as Executive Director for the Community Resource Information Service and developed a comprehensive service system including a merger with Helpline, the 24-hour Crisis Intervention Service, the CRIS Directory, Share A Home For Senior and Handicapped Adults and the Volunteer Bureau of Santa Barbara. And later went on to assist in the development of the Adult and Aging Network.

And whereas, with the passage of Proposition 10 in 1998, California Children and Families Act now known as First Five. The County of Santa Barbara established the First Five Commission and chose Pat Wheatley to serve as the first Executive Director. And whereas in this role, Pat has fulfilled a vision of impacting the lives of young children and their families by creating a system that provides them greater opportunity to maximize their full potential. She repeatedly refers to her service in the first five as a blessing and a gift through which she has tremendously impacted the lives of children from zero to five, from Quiama to Carpinteria.

Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors honors Pat Wheatley upon her retirement as Executive Director for the First Five of Santa Barbara County and further commends her for her leadership in helping create A Santa Barbara County where all children can live and thrive in safe, supportive, nurturing and loving environments. Enter school as healthy active learners and develop resilience and achieve their potential. Passed and adopted today by the board

Thank you. Those that know me well, these, and Jonah you can, I don't know if these aren't the easiest things but they are done with such gratitude. I've worked in Santa Barbara County. I was born and raised in Santa Barbara and left for ten years and came back with our daughter, my husband and I and started in social services Many, many years ago and it has been a blessing and a gift. As Michael said thank you. I really do feel deeply honored to have had the opportunity when Prop 10 passed in 1998 went into effect in 1999 A friend from the county called and said, do you remember Prop 10? And I said, I think I voted for it.

And then the adventure began and I applied for the position and was very, very grateful to have been accepted. Prop 10 truly is a movement for the importance of young children and What we've been able to accomplish here and throughout the state is to raise that importance to many, many fronts. And I am so grateful to have worked in a county with supervisors that have been so phenomenally supportive, a commission that has been supportive, and the staff of First Five, many of whom are here today who really, really make it work But what a lot of people don't see is the work that Bob Geis and the County Auditor's Office, and our county council, and all of the departments. We end up working with the Ag Commission. We end up working with so many different departments in this county.

So the First Five movement isn't just about First Five and the First Five commission. The First Five mission is about the county of Santa Barbara and the state of California. And I deeply thank you and I want to thank my family for all the support of picking me up at airports and aero squadrons early in the morning, and all of those things because it truly has been a team effort. My grandson was born in the middle of this period of time and now he's in the third grade so It's very, very special and thank you. I'm deeply touched.

Thank you so much, Pat, for your service. You really leave very big shoes to fill and you're going to be greatly missed. Right. And then the next presentation resolution that we're going to present is to Morell Brooks. Morell would come forward. Morel and her husband Chris are pillars of the community and just outstanding citizens of Santa Barbara County. After retiring as teachers, a long wonderful career they stayed very involved in their community in the Lompoc area particularly in Vandenberg Village. In so many ways which you will hear in the resolution But on top of all of that, Morrell was willing to be my planning commissioner. Which as any of us who have done the job know or have spent any time in the Planning Commission hearing room is an enormous job and out of all the boards and commission assignments that we make is probably one of the ones that is not only the most visible But takes the most amount of time.

And I have been so appreciative of all the time and effort that Morrell put into that in being so hardworking and so gracious to me, to the people of Santa Barbara County, to the staff, and to really moving forward so many of the important land use issues that come to the planning commission and particularly the third district. So you're going to be missed, but I know that you're still very involved and we're still gonna be working together on a lot of important issues particularly for Vandenberg Village. So Mr. Allen would you read the resolution please?

Madam Chair members of the board this is a resolution honoring Morelle Brooks for her service to Santa Barbara County Whereas, Murrell Brooks has served as the third Supervisorial District Planning Commissioner for four years representing the largest most geographically diverse district in the county. And whereas, Murrell Brooks played an active role in the adoption hearings for Los Alamos and San Ynez community plans and ensured that hearings were held in the San Ynez Valley so as to enable maximum community participation.

And whereas, Morell approached her job as the Planning Commissioner with an incredible work ethic and was always thoughtful, well-prepared, respectful of other commissioners, the public, and the staff. And whereas, Morelle Brooks has been a very active member of our community including serving as a member of the Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara County, the Lompoc Vandenberg American Association of University Women, the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women, the Vandenberg Village Association, as well as the Grow the Village Library Committee, and then the Planning Commission.

And whereas, Morelle Brooks has demonstrated an outstanding dedication to public service and will continue to remain active and involved in the community affairs as she transitions to new endeavors for the continuing betterment of Santa Barbara County. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors honors and commends Morelle Brooks for her service and contributions to our community passed and adopted today.

I want to thank first of all Supervisor Farr, who I consider an expert in land use issues. And when she asked me to serve as her planning commissioner, I was honored and I continue to be honored. I was glad to be able to serve third district and the county for those four years. As I traveled throughout the 3rd District, it was just...I took it as a great responsibility. Going from Vandenberg Village over to San Ynez Valley down Highway 1 along the Gaviota Coast into Isla Vista It's a huge and very varied district, and I certainly learned quite a bit about it. And I took the responsibility for the district and for let's say the county very seriously, and I was delighted to serve for those four years. So I want to thank also my fellow commissioners.

I was listening to the very nice presentation for Supervisor Gray And I felt that the whole time I was on the Planning Commission for those four years, our commission also we got along very well. We always try to work for compromise and consensus, and I think we were able to come up with the best projects for the community by sharing with one another and giving and taking where necessary. So I think that is important. I also want to thank very much the planning and development staff. I used to sit on the other side. I'd sit in the audience and I'd be up there and I would be ranting and raving about something Well, your perspective changes when you're on the other side of the desk. And I was just always impressed with the professionalism of the staff.

Anytime I had a question they would call me to set up site visits. It made the job so much easier and I did appreciate that. Some people think that Santa Barbara has too many regulations No, I don't think so. I think the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development has good regulations, there's rights and responsibilities that are laid out there, and when people follow the process it's a good one, very good one. And it allows especially the public to get involved in the communities to get involved, and I learned that.

Lastly, I'd like to say We had a good four years. San Ynez Community Plan, Los Alamos Community Plan, the Elwood Pipeline ended the barging on the coast. I saw wonderful projects out in Isla Vista. I think Isla Vista is really being transformed. There's kind of a young generation of developers taking an interest in Isla Vista and I was very glad to be part of that process.

I will go home now, I will continue reading my latest novel. I will put aside the EIRs and the negative decks and I do appreciate all the work that you do and thank you for this honor.

Thank you so much. All right, we'll now turn to the balance of our administrative agenda. And I think that we have some items that both board members and the public want to pull.

Madam Chair, we have requests to speak on items A3, A4, A8, and A13 with a request from the public on items A3 and A4. OK,

well why don't we just go ahead and take them in numerical order then? So why don't you start with A3.

Madam Chair, members of the board. Item A3 comes to the board from the auditor controller. The request is that the board receive and file the 2011-2012 expenditure summary of county vendors over $100,000. And we have requests to speak from Steve Labard and Mr. Caldwell in Santa Maria.

OK I think that Supervisor Lavagnino you wanted to comment? Do you want the public first? So who did you? Mr. Caldwell?

Mr Labard to be followed by Andy Caldwell.

Good morning, Supervisors. Thank you for this opportunity to speak. I'd like to start out first by thanking Joni Gray for everything that she's done for the 4th District, especially for Old Town Orchid. I'm here today representing Labarge Computer Center. We've been in business in Santa Barbara County and Santa Maria since 1979 for 33 years. We're a local vendor and we have one of the vendors for the sales contract that's brought up Auditor Controller's report for the year, which shows that sales to us were approximately $650,000. And our competitor, the sales to them were about $1.6 million. That concerns me quite a bit because basically the way this contract was put out and everybody had good knowledge of this from all the IT managers to all the department heads that whenever they went out to get bids for service work or anything computer related with purchases, That they were supposed to go to these three vendors that had been predetermined to be good solid vendors for the county and get bids before they buy the equipment.

So as time goes on through the year, we keep wondering why and why we don't have any business? Well come to find out many of these departments have bought in 3, 4 or $500,000 worth of equipment from the other vendor and they never give us the opportunity to bid on the equipment. So this has, unfortunately we don't find any of this out until it's way too late. We've already lost a business. We've already had to lay people off. We already had to put all of our employees on a furlough And this is all while I'm trying to be, you know a good citizen and do my part in helping out with different community events and different veterans groups and everything else.

So it kind of takes me away having to fight this battle from what I really enjoy doing helping out in my community. And the other vendor that is a local vendor he was in a local vendor for 14-15 years but He managed to wiggle his way in there and become a local vendor just and meet the minimum requirements. So this is what I feel like I've been given in return, and I'd really like to meet with the county CEO to see if there's some way that we can't rectify this so that because everybody wins when it's a competitive bid. When it's competitive bid, the county wins The taxpayers win, everybody wins. So thank you for this time to speak and hopefully I can meet with the CEO and see if we can't do something to rectify the situation. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for being here.

Mr Caldwell?

Madam Chair, members of the board. I'm Andy Caldwell representing CoLab. I've been a customer of Labarde's Computer Center. You know what? Can I wait till Salud comes back because he's been one of the biggest fans of this local vendor program since its inception thanks to Naomi doing it even before. I guess he is back. Thank you. Can I start over? I've been a customer and fan of Labar's Computer Center since I was working at Union Sugar.

And I have found this company to be incredibly honest and competitive and competent in everything they do. And I, too, want to thank Joni for her many years of service. And Joni will remember the number of meetings we've had over the years with regard to the local vendor program and getting it started, which again, we want to thank the late Supervisor Naomi Schwartz for that. But I have to tell you it's incredibly frustrating To know that your contract, the county contract requires all approved vendors to be given a notice of bidding opportunities.

And for one of the longest standing local vendors you have in this county doesn't get the bids. There was one instance where Supervisor Centeno looked into it and Labarge could have saved one department $50,000 on one contract. I have to tell you and this is bad news but there's been times when I've complained or Labarge complained they've had retaliation taken against them by some IT people in these county departments We don't understand why in this fiscal crisis your department heads and your IT purchasing agents wouldn't want to do everything they can to save money.

Because the equipment's the same, whether they buy it from CompuWave or Labarge, the equipment is the same. It's the price that's lowered. And I don't need to remind you that Labarge has also been your maintenance provider and has had a stellar record. It makes sense to buy and have the maintenance contract with the same local vendor that's been giving the county excellent service for 20 years, but they're being frozen out. Why?

I honestly am at a loss I hope, I've never brought this up to CEO Waller. I hope that we can meet with her. Supervisor Lavinino, I haven't brought it up to you because I didn't know how bad the situation has gotten cuz Labarge doesn't complain. I made the inquiry after I saw this list and asked why is CompuWave two-and-a-half times higher than you when you consistently beat them in price, and you're the longest running local vendor we've got?

Thank you.

And I urge them to come here today. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Levin.

Thank You Madam Chair I'm not going to speak to that issue because I'm not aware of it, but it's obviously something now that it's raised. I'll be involved in that. But I guess my concern is just that the report was great and it did raise what Mr. Geis was saying. I think one of the things that came out of this report is we have 306 contracts over $100,000 I think we counted 95 of them or over $500,000.

But you know, I think this all came out of the response to the grand jury report on a failure of oversight But what I'd like to do is see if we can bring this back as a D agenda item so that we can discuss, okay now we know what the contracts are. First off, there were so many of them and it's...I loved the way it was presented. It was very easily detailed out but one of the things for me that was lacking was it didn't say what the contract was for. So some of them were a little bit confusing What I'd like to see now is what's the next step with, and I don't know what we planned on doing with this list. But I mean, I'd like to see what's the next step in the process of how do we identify or how do we prioritize?

Mr. Geis, I don't know if you wanna come forward but it's like, what do we do with this list now? No, we've got the list. We all understand what the contracts are but that wasn't really what the... That was one part of what the grand jury was asking for so what's the next process?

Madam Chair and Supervisor Lavanino, I think you hit it right on the head. The first thing missing from the report is what it's for and we don't capture that data. And so that's one of the things that immediately came to us is to say oh we need to improve this list include additional information that you know you can't sort by that category. You know you could use that report for another thing. I'll tell you the first thing on the list that hit me There's $11 million contract to the state, so that's the contribution for the courts.

What that made me think of is we're one of only 20 counties still making a 6.8 million dollar contribution to the courts maybe now is the time to You know, try and get some relief from that payment since we could be, you know, we're doing realignment. I put that idea to Chandra. She said give me a position paper on that and we're working on something like that but the idea is of the smallest 10 counties in there There are only 50 million of the 489 million still being paid to the court, so maybe there's opportunity for relief. And of those eight counties, five are building new jail facilities. So maybe there's a nexus to say hey is it time? Could we do something with Prop 30 and realignment and get some relief there? So there's a lot of other ideas in that report about really saying you know, what else could we do with it?

You know there's some pretty big contracts out there where we have multiple agencies with multiple contracts all going to the same service provider. Similar to what we had with LHCDC and how are those pieces all working together and how are we doing the monitoring? You know one of the things I suggested is give me another position So that we can constantly monitor these contracts and, you know do a selection. And we said well bring that back into budget hearings were broke. We understand that but I still think that monitoring components there. We have an item later on the agenda today about Contracts and trying to do some additional work at the front end, but I've told Sean there's also some work on the whole contracting process. Getting it automated, making it more efficient, getting them renewed annually in a timely manner, making sure all the standard provisions are in there.

We have one person in my office reviewing 306 contracts for accountability. What does that even mean? What am I doing for that? So there's a lot of work there.

And that is something I would like To hear at budget time also, because I think you're right. If you have one person looking at 306 vendors and $206 million in contracts, you're spinning your wheels. We're not getting done what we need to get done. So it might be one of those positions that makes us as much money as it costs us or saves us as much money as it costs us. So I'm very interested in what the follow-up is going to be.

And I don't know if we want to bring this back as a D agenda item or just talk about it during budget. Chandra, do you have any idea what you'd like?

Chairwoman's supervisor. Perhaps after we hear the item today that goes into a little bit more detail, you could make your decision at that point what next steps you'd like to see whether it be a D item on this specific issue or follow up on the compliance piece that we're going to present later today.

Actually, I would like it to come back as a D item before budget because I think that Mr. Geis has raised a number of issues including due through the legislative committee we want to look at this issue of paying money to the courts and relief and connection to building a jail and all that which might be a result of a discussion about this issue of which then certain Certain actions would be recommended, including perhaps staffing increase that would come up then during budget as well. But it seems like we should have some sort of a preliminary discussion to get into some of these, including the fact that we have one vendor with multiple contracts coming from different county departments and information as far as how they are coordinating or if they are coordinating.

So Supervisor Carbajal-

Thank you Madam Chair. I did hear Mr. Geis loud and clear about The limited staff he has, so I would hope that if he needs additional resources to be able to complete this project that you let us know because I think this is of paramount importance to our board and the organization. So I think it's important. Andy brought up a collateral issue that has always been front and center as it relates to the local vendor outreach program and us trying to promote more procurement for our local businesses at least provide them we do have an advantage program But as part of the automation issue that you raised, Mr. Geis, as part of our policy as it relates to under and over $100,000 when we go to an RFP or not, I don't think we want to stifle the organization because you want to provide enough latitude to purchase items, procure items even outside of our area items especially when you have items that can't be procured in our area.

So I'm not saying go overboard. But certainly there's a lot of room to improve whether it's automation, whether it's that local vendor issue so that our local businesses could get more of this business. So I like to explore and if tonight I might bring back or we consider in the future that in addition to what Supervisor Lavinino has raised that we really look at how we can continue to enhance the Local Vendor Outreach Program because I think Mr. Labarge raises a good question, I mean if there are opportunities to give more businesses locally our business We would all benefit our economy benefits our local residents benefit So to the extent we can beef that up to make sure it's working better or more optimal I think that would benefit all of us so I'm looking forward to having that as a piece Not necessarily connected if it could be connected great But if if it's separate That's fine too, but I do think that's important to focus on as well.

Thank you. Supervisor

Wolf? Thank you Madam Chair. So in the board letter it talks about Mr. Geisert your office is working with CEO Waller's office to construct a policy for the departments when they go out and complete these contracts. So when is that policy coming back to us? And I assume you also are including county council

in these discussions. Madam Chair, Supervisor Wolf it's on the agenda today so...

Well that's what I was wondering if...

That policy is more related kind of to one part of the contracting process. It's really the front end of the process and getting the departments a couple more tools when they're out going into a complex contract. I think some of the other process, it's getting back to what Supervisor Carbajal says and Supervisor Lavinino. I think the whole contracting process is ripe for continuous improvement. You know we do pretty good with 306 contracts. It's a big burden on the departments to get a contract done. Big burden on county council and a pretty good sizable burden on us. We tried to do what Dennis does in his offices, separate the contracts out to different staff and then we go, ooh there's 40 different types of contracts we're in and it's pretty complicated and that doesn't seem gonna work in our department but I think the whole process after today's discussion later on, that's part of this continuous improvement we need in the whole contracting process.

And the importance of doing it at the departmental level is of utmost importance because that's the genesis of all of these contracts. So regardless of, you know, yes it's good for you to look at it and your department to look at it and to monitor which we do need to have but we need...and this is something that I think that the board has talked about with county council in bringing us Contracts and making sure that certain provisions are included in the contracts. So we have to make sure at that early stage that the contracts are done appropriately and that our staff is trained. to implement these contracts.

And I would agree, and I'm a real fan that the contracts belong out in the departments who have the expertise of doing those kinds of contracts. I wouldn't want anybody but our own office writing our audit contract of how do we do an audit? We have the expertise to write that contract. We use the GFOA standards to implement that contract along with the county standard terms and conditions, and that's the right place for them.

You know, so that's what this kind of tool is to kind of give the department some more tools on the front end and you're right. Training is an essential part of that once we start putting things in. Thank you.

Thank you. Supervisor Gray?

Oh thank you.

Am I

on? I don't know when it becomes historical and when it becomes just Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting And I've learned way more than I was able to learn 10 years ago about what's being spent and how it's being spent. So now you have the tools to figure out how to do it, and that's a huge part of what's going on here. And I think there's two goals. One is to monitor, and one is to try and find a way to do it maybe more effective and for less money. Now you have the tools to do with so it's kind of exciting. Thank you.

Supervisor Farr, just a comment. I'll also miss you, Supervisor Gray. Oh, thank you. And I'm one of those guys that appreciate it. I've been around a long time getting along.

I was counting us, the three of us, you, Mike and I.

There's a few more but thank you.

Well, I meant that we're here all the

time. Thanks Bob. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate your being here. All right so we've concluded that item direction is to

Well I'm not sure what the, where we went with it. I mean as far as pull it and make it a D item? Or bring it back.

Bring it back as a D. Okay.

I

think we can go ahead and did you want to go ahead and approve this for today? What's in the package?

Oh yeah that's fine. The report isn't going to change so I'm okay with that. It's just the direction

to bring

it back for follow up. Direction

would