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REPORT:

Administrative Committee

SYNOPSIS:

The Administrative Committee met Friday, December 19, 1997, and reviewed the proposed agenda for the January 9, 1998 Board meeting. The Committee also discussed various issues detailed in the Committee report. The next Administrative Committee meeting is Friday, January 23, 1998, at 9:30 a.m., in Conference Room CC8.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Approve this report.

Norma J. Glover, Chairman
Administrative Committee

Attendance:

Present were Chairman Norma Glover, Vice Chairman James Silva, and Committee Members Richard Alarcón, and Nell Soto. Absent were Committee Members Mee Hae Lee, Wayne Nastri, and Roy Wilson.

DISCUSSION ITEMS:

1. Status of EPA’s Proposed Standards Regarding Ozone and PM2.5: Acting Executive Officer Dr. Barry Wallerstein reported that the Federal Advisory Committee has concluded its work effort. Staff will track implementation milestones of the new standards, update the Board, and provide comments to the federal government.

2. Chairman’s Report of Approved Travel: In addition to noting the approved travel of Supervisor Silva to the CARB meeting in Sacramento on January 22-23, 1998, Dr. Wallerstein provided the Committee with advance notice of proposed travel, pending Chairman Burke’s approval, for Board members Nell Soto, Richard Alarcón, Wayne Nastri, and Jim Silva to Sacramento in January as part of AQMD’s legislative outreach.

3. Approval of Compensation for Board Member Assistant(s): The Committee considered and recommended approval of the proposed compensation and contract for Chairman Glover’s Board Consultant Maureen Toal. Ms. Toal’s compensation was confirmed at $35 per hour as a Board Member Consultant (employee status). Moved (Silva), seconded (Soto) and unanimously recommended for approval.

4. Out-of-Country Travel: None.

5. Enhancements to Board Advisory Group Process: General Rules Governing All Advisory Groups (including Advisory Council), which had been forwarded by Chairman Burke for the Committee’s review, were unanimously approved.

JANUARY AGENDA ITEMS:

6. Audit for FY Ended June 30, 1997: Director of Finance Rick Pearce introduced Richard Lopez who represents Vargas, Lopez and Company, Certified Public Accountants. The firm has completed the audit for Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1997, and AQMD has received an unqualified opinion (the highest rating available) on its financial statements. The final report is expected the week of December 22, 1997. The Committee received this information; no action was taken.

7. Execute Sole-Source Contract with Los Angeles County Weights and Measures Department for Gasoline Vapor Recovery Inspections: Moved (Silva), seconded (Soto) and unanimously recommended for approval.

8. Transfer $1.5 Million from Air Quality Assistance Fund to General Purpose Agency Fund to be Held for Regional Transportation Agencies’ Coalition: Director of Transportation Catherine Wasikowski reported that this item had also been reviewed at the December 11, 1997 Mobile Source Committee; however a quorum had not been present, so no action was taken. Although the report indicates that only a small portion of the allocations have been expended, Ms. Wasikowski explained that the time involved in implementing the projects delayed submittal of the invoices. The report reflects invoices as of October 31, 1997; and, since then, Orange County Transportation Authority has spent over half of their allocation. Dr. Wallerstein said the sole purpose of this action was to meet the requirement to provide $1.5 million on or before January 15, 1998, to the RTAC. Councilman Alarcón added that Los Angeles is considering dialogue with Senator Lewis to determine if this program meets the goals for which it was designed. Moved (Glover), seconded (Silva) and recommended for approval, 3-0, with Ms. Soto abstaining.

9. Execute Contract for Privatization of Portions of Annual Emissions Report Program: Moved (Glover), seconded (Silva) and unanimously recommended for approval.

1. Execute Contract for Classification and Compensation Services: Director of Administrative and Human Resources Joe Contaoi advised that the selected contractor, Comp Plus, Inc., currently has a contract with AQMD. Consequently, with the execution of this contract, the amount contracted to the firm will total $90,000, thus requiring Board approval. In response to Board member questions about carryover points, Mr. Pearce explained that the Contracts Policy provides for a two-step process with a technical evaluation in step one, and costs plus preference points calculated in step two. Based on the technical evaluation, all scores above 70 (out of 100 points) proceed to the second step in the process, and 50% of the points above the minimum score of 70 are carried over to the next step. Ms. Soto noted that the composition of the evaluation panel did not include a Latino. Councilman Alarcón offered to provide the names of Latinos from Human Resources divisions in other agencies for possible inclusion on future panels. Moved (Soto), seconded (Glover) and unanimously recommended for approval.

2. Approve Consultant Classification and Salary Recommendation, and Add and Delete Positions in Information Management: Mr. Contaoi advised that classification studies are conducted approximately every four to five years; and, since Human Resources staff has been reduced by 66% since 1994, contract consultants were hired to perform the studies. Moved (Soto), seconded (Glover) and unanimously recommended for approval.

3. Issue RFP for Insurance Brokerage Services: Mr. Contaoi described outreach efforts conducted to attract minority- and women-owned businesses when issuing RFPs. To assess the effectiveness of AQMD advertising, a survey form is included with the RFPs. Instructions are being provided to Chambers of Commerce on how to complete the forms so they, in turn, can assist small businesses. In addition, AQMD has an MOU with the City of Los Angeles’ Minority and Business Opportunity Committee. Ms. Soto requested that the issue of outreach to minority businesses be further discussed at the next Ad Hoc Affirmative Action Committee. Moved (Glover), seconded (Alarcón) and unanimously recommended for approval.

4. Establish Lists of Pre-Qualified Vendors to Provide Printing and Photocopy Paper, Printing Services, Automotive Mechanical Repair and Service and Unleaded Fuel: Ms. Soto questioned the lack of minority firms listed, especially for automotive mechanical repair service, which is an area that would include many minority-owned firms. It was suggested that when issuing an RFP to the standard mailing lists, staff refer to telephone book yellow pages to identify possible minority firms to include in the mailing. Public Advisor La Ronda Bowen will follow up on the progress of the Ethnic Community Advisory Group (ECAG) committee that was formed to work on simplifying the forms. Moved (Soto), seconded (Silva), and unanimously recommended for approval.

5. Establish List of Pre-Qualified Providers of Temporary Employment Services: The Committee discussed the "Certified" and "Non-Certified" designations for minority- and women-owned businesses. Councilman Alarcón said that there are agencies that have a self-certification process and many of those certifications have been found to be inaccurate. Although the AQMD procurement policy is in the process of being amended to comply with Proposition 209 and preference points will no longer be given to minority- and women-owned business enterprises, AQMD still maintains those statistics for federal reporting purposes. Moved (Soto), seconded (Silva) and unanimously recommended for approval.

6. Report on Major Projects for Information Management Scheduled to Start During Last Six Months of FY 1997-98: Director of Information Management Vinita Mathur presented the Committee a summary of Information Management major projects/contracts or purchases that are expected to come before the Board between January 1 and June 30, 1998. In addition the Committee was advised that the practice of attaching a status report of project funding to every Board letter relating to an Information Management project will be discontinued in favor of a single periodic report. The Committee indicated concurrence with this suggestion, as well as with the Board letter, but inadvertently omitted taking a vote on this item before moving to the next item on its agenda.

7. Adopt a Revised Procurement Policy and Procedure: General Counsel Peter Greenwald introduced Contracts Manager Nancy Covey who presented the proposed new procurement policy and procedure. The proposed policy has been revised to comply with Proposition 209 requirements, consolidates two previous policies, is simplified for clarification, and includes the addition of preference points for small business enterprises. Ms. Bowen reported that the ECAG, whose membership includes small business owner/operators, expressed concern that the "small business" definition used in the draft policy is too restrictive (10 employees or less, and total gross annual receipts of $500,000 or less). Upon further discussion regarding the issue, the Committee agreed to the proposed policy with the exception of the "small business" definition which is to be further reviewed, including by the Local Government & Small Business Assistance Advisory Group. Moved (Alarcón), seconded (Glover) and recommended for approval.

8. Amend Existing Contracts for Temporary Engineering Services: Moved (Glover), seconded (Alarcón) and recommended for approval.

9. Review January 9, 1998 Governing Board Agenda: Dr. Wallerstein advised the Committee of the following changes to the agenda:

• Item 1053: Approve the Technical Enhancement Program for the Year 2000 AQMP Revision Workplan has been continued one month to February 1998.

• Item 1048: Preparation of Three-Year Budget Forecast has been continued one month to February 1998.

• Item 985: Report on Air Quality Assistance Fund has been continued one month to February 1998.

• Add: Set Hearing item on Rules 1150.1 and 1150.2.

7. Other Business - None.

8. Public Comment - None.

Ms. Glover adjourned the meeting at 10:52 a.m.

Report on Board Member Travel Authorized by the

Chairman (November 21-December 19, 1997):

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