REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 23, 2020
FROM
GARY McBRIDE, Chief Executive Officer, County Administrative Office
SUBJECT
Title
Agreement with Granicus for Email Subscription Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve a one-year agreement with Granicus to provide hosted e-mail subscription services from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, in an amount not to exceed $84,393.87.
2. Designate the Chief Executive Officer as authorized to renew the agreement for a one-year period, through June 30, 2022, upon satisfactory performance, at the same annual cost plus a maximum 5% increase or $88,613.56, for a total maximum two-year cost of $173,007.43, on behalf of the County, subject to review by County Counsel.
3. Direct the Public Information Officer to transmit all documents and amendments in relation to this agreement to the Clerk of the Board within 30 days of execution.
(Presenter: David Wert, Public Information Officer, 387-4842)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). Sufficient appropriation for the $84,393.87 cost of this agreement has been included in the 2020-21 County Administrative Office (CAO) budget, and should the agreement be extended by one year, the cost of $88,613.56 will be included in the CAO 2021-22 Recommended Budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On June 13, 2006 (Item No. 104), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved a one-year agreement with GovDelivery, Inc. (now known as Granicus), and authorized subsequent automatic renewals with a 5% annual increase for an indefinite period, to provide hosted e-mail subscription services as a means of providing information about County government programs, services, and activities directly to the public with minimal to zero impact on the County’s information technology infrastructure. The service allows email users to subscribe to a variety of County internet sites and types of information, such as emergency notifications, meeting agendas, requests for proposals, newsletters, and news releases, and receive email notifications when new content within their individual areas of interest is available.
On June 2, 2015 (Item No. 41), the Board approved a one-year non-competitive agreement with GovDelivery for the period July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016, authorizing the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) the option to extend the services for four one-year periods upon satisfactory performance. All options to extend the agreement were exercised, with the last option period ending June 30, 2020. The recommended agreement will continue the services from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, with an option for the CEO to extend the agreement for one-year, from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. Per the Agreement, the annual increase shall not exceed 5%.
Per County Policy 11-05, contracts containing non-standard terms must be approved by the Board. The recommended agreement with Granicus presents the following non-standard contract terms that requests Board approval:
Terms and Conditions: In the recommended agreement, Terms and Conditions can be changed unilaterally with only notification of changes to the County. The potential impact is that the County may agree to Terms and Conditions that are acceptable to the County today, but these Terms and Conditions may change, creating additional risk and potentially resulting in other non-standard contract terms that are revealed at a later date after the Board has approved the agreement.
PROCUREMENT
On November 8, 2005, Request for Proposal No. ISD 05-04 (RFP) for Hosted Email Subscription services for services to provide and maintain email subscription service for all County websites from the vendor’s own server platform was released. ISD received one proposal in response to this RFP, reviewed the proposal, and recommended GovDelivery because they met the requirements of the RFP and was determined to be the only organization providing such service at the time.
On June 2, 2015 (Item No. 41), the Board approved a one-year non-competitive agreement with GovDelivery, authorizing the CEO the option to extend the services for four one-year periods upon satisfactory performance. This agreement was non-competitive because in 2015, through an extensive search, it was also determined that GovDelivery was still the only vendor who could provide not only email subscription services, but had the ability to host and service more than 200 distinct subscription topics, provide simultaneous text message and social media alerts, and allow subscribers to pick and choose from a menu of topics and opt out if desired.
COVID-19 has impacted business operations across the country which has hindered the County’s ability to obtain quotes for a potential new service provider. The County is using the Granicus platform to provide COVID-19 information to more than 230,000 residents, journalists, and city officials. There is no back-up system to assume this communications task upon the June 30, 2020 conclusion of the Granicus contract. The recommended agreement for the period July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, and the option to extend the agreement for an additional year, are the result of a procurement based on a prior agreement and on the satisfactory performance of Granicus in delivering its services and meeting the County’s needs for email subscription services among multiple topics. County Purchasing recognizes the specialized credentials of the prior agreement and supports the non-competitive procurement for services with Granicus.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Penny Alexander-Kelley, Chief Assistant County Counsel, 387-4270) on June 8, 2020; Purchasing (Michelle Churchill, Buyer III, 387-2070) on May 28, 2020; Finance (Stephenie Shea, Administrative Analyst, 387-4919) on May 27, 2020; and Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on June 8, 2020.