PROPOSAL:

Authorize Purchase of Network Laser Printers

SYNOPSIS:

Many of the AQMD’s laser printers are older models nearing the end of their life cycles. They also lack the capabilities and features that are currently necessary such as duplex and envelope printing, and multiple input paper trays. This action is to authorize purchase of network laser printer replacements or upgrades from a qualified vendor to enhance staff productivity. Funds for these fixed assets ($50,000) are included in the FY 1997-98 Budget.

COMMITTEE:

Administrative, September 19, 1997, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Authorize purchase of network laser printers from Business Technology at a cost not to exceed $50,000.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Acting Executive Officer

Background

Thirty-four of the 106 network laser printers at AQMD were purchased before 1990. These older models are nearing the end of their life cycles and have begun to negatively impact staff productivity through excessive maintenance requirements and lack of necessary features. On July 16, 1997 the AQMD released RFQ #2000 for the purchase of network laser printers to replace existing old printers, and the purchase of printer components to upgrade marginal printers. The total cost of these printers and printer components will not exceed $50,000. These purchases will provide greater capabilities at a lower maintenance cost.

Outreach

In accordance with the AQMD’s consulting and contracting policies, a public notice advertising the RFQ and inviting bids was published in the following publications:

1.	Antelope Valley Press	10.	La Opinion	19.	Precinct Reporter
2.	Black Voice News	11.	La Voz	20.	Rafu Shimpo
3.	Chinese Daily News	12.	Los Angeles Daily News	21.	Riverside Press Enterprise
4.	Eastern Group Publications	13.	Los Angeles Sentinel	22.	San Bernardino Sun
5.	El Chicanos	14.	Los Angeles Times	23.	Santa Clarita Signal
6.	Excelsior, The	15.	M/W/DVBE Source	24.	State of California Contracts
7.	Inland Empire Hispanic News	16.	Orange County Register		Register
8.	Inland Valley Daily Bulletin	17.	Palm Springs Desert Sun
9.	Korea Central Daily	18.	Philippine News

Additionally, potential bidders were identified using the Los Angeles County MTA and Cal Trans Directories of Certified Minority, Women, Disadvantaged and Disabled Veterans Business Enterprises; the Inland Area Opportunity Pages Ethnic/Women Business & Professional Directory; AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors; and AQMD Purchasing’s mailing list. Copies of the RFQ were mailed to the Black and Latino Legislative Caucuses and various minority chambers of commerce and business associations; and placed on the Internet at AQMD’s Web site [http://www.aqmd.gov, "Business and Job Opportunities" icon] and AQMD’s bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line (909) 396-2724.

Bid Evaluation

Two hundred ten (210) copies of the RFQ were mailed out to prospective vendors. Forty (40) bids were received in response to the RFQ when final bidding closed at 1:00 p.m. on August 15, 1997. Of the forty bids, one was from a disabled veteran-owned business enterprise, two were from women-owned business enterprises, six were from certified minority-owned businesses (three African-American-owned, two Asian-Pacific-owned, one Asian-Indian-owned), one was from a non-certified minority-owned business enterprise (Asian-Pacific-owned), and one was from a non-certified woman-owned business enterprise. Attachment 1 reflects the evaluation of the proposals and the respective ratings/costs for vendors which submitted bids.

Panel Composition

The panel consisted of: Janet Okamoto, Computer Programmer, Home Savings of America; Art Guerrero, Computer Operator, AQMD; Anthony Tang, Telecommunications Technician II, AQMD; and Steve Yoos, Contractor, AQMD. Of these four panelists, one is female and three are male; two of the panelists are Asian-Pacific, one is Hispanic-American, and one is Caucasian.

Proposition 209 Compliance

On August 28, 1997, Proposition 209 went into effect when a stay of enforcement was lifted. Proposition 209 prohibits granting of preferential treatment based upon race, ethnicity, color, sex or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. On September 19, 1997, the Administrative Committee considered options for amendment of the District’s contracting policies to conform with the Proposition. The matter will be further considered at the Committee’s next meeting. In the meantime to ensure compliance with the Proposition, the Committee recommended for adoption an Interim Contracting Policy. This policy will be considered for adoption as part of another agenda item at the October 10, 1997, Board Meeting. The proposed Interim Policy eliminates the granting of preference points based upon race or gender and only requires a good faith effort to subcontract with minority and women-owned businesses if subcontracts are to be let, when contracts are funded in whole or in part by EPA grant funds. (Proposition 209 does not prohibit actions necessary to maintain eligibility for federal funding.) In addition, in compliance with certain federal requirements, local preference points are allowed only if the contract does not involve federal funding. If the Interim Policy is adopted by the Board, this contract award will be based on that policy. The remainder of the District’s Contracting and Purchasing Policy and Consultant Selection Policy remains unchanged.

Resource Impacts

Funds for the purchase of network laser printers ($50,000) are included in the FY 1997-98 Budget.

Attachment(s)

Attachment 1 - Evaluation of Respondents to RFQ #2000

Attachment 2 - Current Status of Information Management Major Projects
for the Period from July 1, 1997 through December 31, 1997

Vendor	Bid Amount	Meets Minimum Requirement/Score
1. Business Technology	$2,780.00	Yes
2. Computop Inc.	$2,842.00	Yes
3. PC Systems Design (Pasadena Office)	$2,859.00	Yes
4. Inacom Information Systems	$2,880.00	Yes
5. PC Systems Design (Brea Office)	$2,899.00	Yes
6. Magic Tek Computers Inc.	$2,920.00	Yes
7. MTSI Inc.	$2,920.00	Yes
8. MicroWorld	$2,923.00	Yes
9. Westech	$2,949.00	Yes
10. Pacific Rim Capital Inc.	$2,969.00	Yes
11. Northwest Micro	$2,973.00	Yes
12. Lan Solutions Center Inc.	$2,987.00	Yes
13. Jadtec Computer Group	$2,992.00	Yes
14. Banana Office System Inc.	$3,017.80	Yes
15. Dexon Computer Inc.	$3,018.00	Yes
16. Computer Consulting Operations	$3,028.00	Yes
17. Thirdwave Corporation	$3,028.10	Yes
18. Innovative Micro Technologies Inc.	$3,040.00	Yes
19. Computer Connecting Point	$3,042.00	Yes
20. Image Express	$3,045.00	Yes
21. Fax Unlimited Inc.	$3,046.83	Yes
22. Hoffman Technologies Inc.	$3,050.00	Yes
23. PC University Distributors Inc.	$3,084.00	Yes
24. Comp USA Inc.	$3,099.00	Yes
25. Atlantic Computer Products Inc.	$3,120.00	Yes
26. Micro Controls International	$3,137.00	Yes
27. Sandpiper Computers	$3,138.00	Yes
28. G & C International Trade	$3,147.00	Yes
29. Peak Compute Solutions	$3,220.00	Yes
30. Integrated Systems Inc.	$3,250.00	Yes
31. Comp USA	$3,259.98	Yes
32. Microage Computermart	$3,300.00	Yes
33. Mars Office Machine Company	$3,883.00	Yes
34. Unitek	$2,703.00	No
35. Pacific Information Systems Inc.	$2,736.00	No
36. New Technologies	$2,775.00	No
37. Oscar International Inc.	$2,831.00	No
38. Source Diversified Inc.	$2,954.33	No
39. Azarat Marketing Group Inc.	$2,976.00	No
40. Small Business Computers of NE	$2,981.00	No

*Under the AQMD’s bid evaluation procedure that grants points to M/W/DVBE and local businesses,
Bidder #3 PC Systems Design would have received the award with the lowest weighted bid.

Item	Brief Description	Budgeted Funds ($)	Schedule of Board Actions	Status
Purchase Replacement Banyan Servers	Replace/upgrade older file servers to provide better network access, improve performance, and stabilize the network through reduced downtime.	$150,000	Issue RFQ 8/8/97; Execute contract 11/14/97	RFQ approved and released; proposals due 9/16/97
Purchase Replacement Network Laser Printers	Upgrade or replace network laser printers that have reached the end of their useful life. The printer upgrades and replacements will ensure compatibility of both hardware and software throughout the AQMD.	$50,000	Execute contract 10/10/97	Requesting Board approval as scheduled
Purchase Centralized System Management Software	Obtain system management software that will provide administration of desktop computer systems from a central network server.	$125,000	Approve pur-chase 8/8/97	Purchase approved 8/8/97
Purchase Laboratory Information Management System	Replace the current Laboratory Information Management System which is becoming obsolete. Originally planned for completion FY 1996-97 but, following a competitive bid, the allocated funding was found to be insufficient and neither bidder was fully qualified.	$75,000	Issue RFP and reappropriate funds 8/8/97; Execute contract 11/14/97	RFQ approved and released; proposals due 9/9/97
System Development Outsourcing	Add funding to the four system development outsource contracts to cover new task orders for FY 1997-98. Tasks include the following: • Cut Smog Compliance System ($50,000 from SSC) - Recommend award to Sierra Cybernetics	$630,000	Amend contracts 9/12/97	Contract amendment approval requested on September Board agenda

Item	Brief Description	Budgeted Funds ($)	Schedule of Board Actions	Status
System Development Outsourcing (continued)	• Contracts Tracking System - Recommend award to COMSYS Technical Services
	• Permit Application Tracking System (PATS) - Recommend award to Majesco Software, Inc.
	• CLASS-Finance System Conversion to 32-bit Architecture - Recommend award to COMSYS Technical Services
	• CLASS-Compliance System Enhancements ($85,000 from SSC) - Recommend award to Majesco Software, Inc.
	• CLASS-Permit System Enhancements ($50,000 from SSC) - Recommend award to Majesco Software Inc.
	• STIMS Enhancements ($75,000 from AST)			Task order under development
	• Further Development of AIRNet			Task order under development
	• Migrate CAPPS to CLASS - Recommend award to Majesco Software Inc.
	• Migrate Board Agenda Tracking System to New Workflow System - Recommend award to COMSYS Technical Services
	• CAR Conversion			Task order under development
	• Records Tracking System			Task order under development

Item	Brief Description	Budgeted Funds ($)	Schedule of Board Actions	Status
Facility Permit Processing System	Approve amendment of the FPPS contract to allow funding allocated for Phase I to be used for Phase II so that targeted system modules can be fully developed.	None ($650,000 previously allocated)	Amend contract 9/12/97	Contract amendment approval requested on September Board agenda
Emission Reporting System	Obtain public data network services in support of the RECLAIM Emission Reporting System. This service agreement will include an option for annual renewal in the future. Recommend contract with Global Payment Systems, Modular Data Inc.	$49,000	Execute contract 9/12/97	Contract approval requested on September Board agenda
Purchase Standard Office Software Upgrades	Upgrade standard office software products (word processing, spreadsheet, graphics and presentation, and database management system) to 32-bit versions to take advantage of the capabilities and features of the upgraded 32-bit desktop operating system. Recommend authorize purchase from CompUSA Corp.	$135,000	Approve pur-chase 10/10/97	Originally planned for September action; submitted for approval on October Board agenda
New Finance Accounting System	Acquire an integrated accounting system (including an accounting software package to replace Bi-Tech, a new computer that combines a UNIX operating system with a relational database management system to replace the HP935, and migration/ conversion of the current system functionality and addition of new functionality needed to achieve an efficient unified accounting system) for Finance.	$420,000 ($270,000 in contracts and $150,000 in fixed assets)	Issue RFP 11/14/97; Execute contract 4/10/98	Requesting approval for release of RFP

Item	Brief Description	Budgeted Funds ($)	Schedule of Board Actions	Status
Network Bandwidth Upgrade	Upgrade network cabling from the computer room to the desktop to achieve higher information transmittal speed (100 million bps). This solicitation will be based on an analysis of AQMD’s current network architecture (RFP released in August 1997, bids due 9/16/97, $25,000 budgeted).	$350,000*	Issue RFQ 12/12/97; Execute contract 5/8/98	Information gathering in process

* Pending further technical and financial analysis.

Shaded Columns - Activities completed

Double-lined Columns - Current Board letter topic

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