Item 6-S

                                             Council Meeting: 9/9/97                      Santa Monica, CA

TO:       Mayor and City Council

FROM:     City Staff

          SUBJECT:  Recommendation for City Council to Authorize
          the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute a
          Contract with Pollnow and Associates to
          Provide Consulting Services to Various City
          Departments

Introduction
This report recommends that the City Council authorize
the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract
with Pollnow and Associates to provide consulting
services to the Maintenance Management Division and
Solid Waste Management Division of the Environmental
and Public Works Management Department, and the Traffic
Engineering and Traffic Operations Divisions of the
Planning and Community Development Department.
Background
During fiscal years 1995-96 and 1996-97, Maintenance
Management Division staff began evaluating division
policies and procedures to identify areas of needed
improvement and developing automated tracking systems
for its various operations.  To date, improvements have
included the implementation of a vehicle management and
replacement program and a new automated maintenance
management database for City facilities currently in
the testing phase.  Pollnow and Associates was the
consulting firm selected to assist staff on these
projects.

The scope of consulting services needed to continue the
above projects and initiate new, similar projects for
the Maintenance Management Division and Planning and
Community Development Department for this fiscal year
has significantly increased.  New projects for the
Maintenance Management Division will include evaluating
the Central Warehouse automated inventory system and
procedures, reducing the 3,500 plus item inventory by
identifying obsolete items and improving the inventory
record accuracy.  In the Fleet Management Division, 
the consultant will assist staff in the development of
a new database for tracking maintenance, parts and fuel
for over 550 vehicles and providing fund managers with
the reports and information necessary for better
management of their fleet maintenance and replacement
budgets.

For the Traffic Engineering and Traffic Operations
Divisions, the consultant will develop a maintenance
management system, similar to the system created by
Pollnow and Associates for the Maintenance Management
Division, which will track all work requests, detailed
information on work performed, labor hours, costs per
work request, and other data.  The system will also
contain a project management component to be used by
the Traffic Engineering Division for prioritizing and
reporting on activities to City Council, the City
Manager's Office and to citizen groups affected by the
work of these divisions.

Due to the similar nature of the various services
required by each division and department, staff
initiated a Request for Proposal process to select one
consulting firm to provide all of these services.

Discussion
Request for Proposals were distributed to five (5)
consulting firms and the City received two responses,
from McGladrey and Pullen, and Pollnow and Associates. 
A selection team of four City staff reviewed the
proposals and evaluated them based upon specific
criteria which included, but was not limited to: the
respondents' specialized training and experience with
the scope of services; the reasonableness of their
proposed fees; and the quality of work previously
performed for the City and other clients.  The review
team selected Pollnow and Associates based upon their
history with the City for the past two fiscal years in
providing high quality consulting services, their
excellent working relationship with City staff, and
their demonstrated record of providing the City with
accurate cost estimates.  The estimated project cost
from Pollnow and Associates was also significantly
lower than the other bidder.  Subsequent to the
proposal review and qualification process, staff
determined that the contract scope of work should
include assistance in reviewing the Solid Waste
Division's refuse rates and billing structure in the
current fiscal year.  Pollonow and Associates has a
thorough understanding of the current rate structure
and collection methods.  They advised the City in 1992
and 1994 when changes were made to the rate schedule. 
The firm recently created a computer model that
develops a rate structure based on container sizes,
waste disposed, collection time, system costs, and
overhead.   The use of this model will ensure a
thorough and cost effective analysis of the rate
structure.

Budget/Fiscal Impact
The proposed services will be provided to the City by
Pollnow and Associates for an amount not to exceed
$104,000.  All services will be provided within fiscal
year 1997-98 and will be charged against the following
accounts:
Maintenance Mgmt
               Division       01-500-481-00000-5506-00000   $30,000
Maintenance Mgmt
               Division       01-710-481-20097-8900-99086   $22,000
Fleet Mgmt
                                             Division       01-710-461-20095-8900-99493   $17,000
Planning &
Community Dev.
               Dept.          01-210-416-00000-5506-00000   $17,500
Planning &
Community Dev.
               Dept.          01-210-415-00000-5506-00000   $17,500
Solid Waste Mgmt
               Division       01-500-441-00000-5506-00000   $13,000

                                             Total                                        $117,000

Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council authorize the
City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with
Pollnow and Associates for $117,000 to provide
consulting services to various City departments.