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APPROVE AN AGREEMENT WITH GRANICUS FOR AGENDA SUPPORT SOFTWARE SERVICES
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RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that City Council approve a motion:
1. Approving findings for an exception to the competitive bidding process;
2. Authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with Granicus, LLC for agenda support software services in an amount up to $313,650 for a term of three years with two potential one-year extensions; and
3. Authorizing the City Manager to take necessary and appropriate action to carry out the purpose and intent of the motion.
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Summary
The City of Stockton prepares agenda packets for the City Council and other meeting bodies through a Granicus agenda management software service, better known as Legistar. Since implementing this service in 2012, the City has experienced improved efficiency, consistency and transparency in preparing agendas. In addition, the City tracks boards and commissions applications and members through the software service, increasing efficiency and transparency for this process as well. Furthermore, the City has contracted with Granicus since 2003 to provide government transparency services, which include online video streaming, minutes management and archiving for City Council and other City meeting bodies.
The contract for agenda management and boards and commissions tracking services expires in October 2018. The contract for government transparency services was originally designed to renew on an annual basis. Staff considered issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit proposals for consolidating these services into one comprehensive contract. However, given the high demand for other mission critical projects, such as the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project, staff determined that there are insufficient resources to implement a new agenda management software system at this time. Instead, staff proposes entering a new contract with Granicus, LLC, that consolidates these services into one contract for a short to mid-term period (Attachment A - Granicus Contract). By entering a new contract with the same terms and conditions in the short-term, the City can maintain the increased efficiency, consistency and transparency in preparing agendas until there are sufficient staff resources to consider changing agenda management systems through a competitive process.
DISCUSSION
Background
In 2003, the City entered a government transparency contract with Granicus, LLC to provide video streaming, minutes management and archiving for City Council meetings. This contract was originally designed to renew on an annual basis. Over the past fifteen years, the City has expanded the use of these services to other public meetings bodies authorized by the City Council and City Charter. In addition, Granicus has enhanced their services and technology tools within the government transparency suite and the City has leveraged these new services to improve communication and transparency of public meetings with the community.
In late 2012 the City entered into a contract with Granicus, LLC for an agenda management and voting solution. The total project funding was $142,520 which included the purchase and installation of the agenda management solution, voting solutions, and four years of monthly managed service fees. Prior to 2012, the City did not have a software system for reviewing and producing City Council agendas. Agenda items were reviewed through a series of email attachments and agenda packets were compiled by hand. Implementing an agenda management software system has dramatically improved efficiency, consistency and transparency in preparing City Council agendas. In addition, Granicus has made improvements to their products in recent years and have introduced new solutions to their product line to further enhance citizen transparency and streamline City operations.
During the implementation of the agenda management solution, Granicus developed two new applications for their product suite - iPad voting and a boards and commissions tracking application. By changing the original scope of the agenda management and voting contract to take advantage of the iPad voting option, the City realized a project savings of $29,655. The City used the project savings to pay for 2-years of managed service fees to implement the boards and commissions tracking solution. In September 2016, the City executed a Change Order to extend the agenda management and boards and commissions contract for an additional two years, through October 18, 2018.
Present Situation
The Granicus contract for Legistar agenda management and boards and commissions tracking software expires in October of 2018. During the past year, staff conducted analysis to determine the best way to acquire future agenda management software services. It is a best practice to solicit market competition for software services every 5 to 10 years. The City has contracted with Granicus for agenda management software for 6 years and government transparency services for 15 years. Serious consideration was given to packaging all agenda support software services into a consolidated RFP for a new 5-year term. However, this agenda management support services project was assessed within the context of all other City technology initiatives. It is worth noting there is a high demand for new technologies in support of City Council goals as the City restructures and responds to years of deferred investment in technology. An internal technology governance team of City executives ranked agenda management services as a lower priority project, while the citywide ERP project and other critical public safety projects were considered higher priority.
Given the pending implementation of the citywide ERP project, staff does not recommend taking on another large technology implementation project. In assessing the citywide impact in changing agenda management software, staff determined that it would pull critical Information Technology staff resources away from the ERP project and public safety projects. In addition, taking on another technology project that impacts every department would create too much additional change management for staff already stretched thin with ERP implementation. For these reasons, staff recommends entering a new contract with Granicus for a three- to five-year period to allow time for the City to implement the ERP before issuing an RFP for agenda management software services. Staff does propose consolidating the distinct agenda support services into one consolidated contract to increase efficiency and transparency in procuring these services.
By entering into a new consolidated contract for a three- to five-year period, the City will be able to maintain the efficiencies that staff have experienced as a result of having an agenda management software system. In addition, the new contract will allow the City to maintain the current service level to the public for meeting transparency and online boards and commissions tracking while staff focuses on the implementation of the citywide ERP solution. A three-year contract allows the City the opportunity to pursue an RFP in the near-term if the City completes the ERP solution and has resources for a new project. Moreover, authorizing a contract with two additional one-year terms provides the City flexibility if additional time is necessary before implementing a new agenda management software solution.
During this three- to five-year period, staff will also assess the best way to leverage the new ERP system and any potential compatibility with agenda management systems. Staff will also work to align the distinct agenda support software services contracts and develop an RFP in a timeline that would allow the City to consolidate all services into one comprehensive contract.
Findings
Pursuant to Stockton Municipal Code (SMC) section 3.68.070, Council may approve findings which support an exception to the competitive bidding process. The proposed findings include:
1. There is a high demand for technology projects, while there are limited resources to carry out high priority technology projects.
2. Issuing an RFP for new agenda management software services is a lower priority by comparison with the citywide ERP project and other critical public safety projects.
3. Changing the agenda management software system during the pending ERP implementation would have a negative impact on the critical ERP project; the City does not have the resources to carry out multiple technology projects that have citywide change management impacts to employees. As such, soliciting vendors through a low-bid process or RFP process is not feasible.
4. The City would be negatively impacted without an agenda management software system and boards and commissions tracking system.
5. By entering a new contract with Granicus, LLC the City will be able to maintain the dramatically improved efficiency, consistency and transparency in preparing City Council agendas through an agenda management system.
6. By entering a new contract with Granicus, LLC the City will be able to assess compatibility with potential agenda management systems and the new ERP system.
7. By entering a new contract with Granicus, LLC the City will consolidate all agenda software support services into one comprehensive contract, allowing for greater transparency and ability to transition services in the future.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
The initial three-year term of the proposed contract totals $178,945, with a potential total amount of $313,650 over a five-year period. The cost for the same services over the past year has been $54,060. The proposed contract includes a first-year cost of $56,763, which represents an industry standard 5% increase. The annual costs for the proposed services increase at a rate of 5% each year, with a final annual cost of $68,995 in the fifth year. These moderate cost increases are anticipated in the Computer Equipment 502 Internal Service Fund (ISF). There is budget available in the current adopted budget for the first-year cost of $56,763 in ISF account number 502-5101-571. Future annual cost estimated for the remaining term of the proposed contract will be included in the annual budget appropriation process.
Attachment A - Granicus Contract