The Power Change

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There have been many changes at City Hall over the last two months and one idea, that of the decentralization of purchasing, has been brought forth by the new city manager. I don’t know whether this is a good idea or not but it is happening as I write and it did get my attention. As there is a supposed gag order at City Hall, I doubt if I can get anyone to give me an opinion.

In order to ensure integrity in everything that we do relative to buying and contracting for services as well as the overall purchasing quality and accountability on what we spend and on what, it seems to me that a Purchasing Professional is our best bet—the structure we had in place. Without someone in charge, how are we guaranteed that there will be no superfluous buying and spending. How are we ensured that we have received the best deal?

A Purchasing Professional keeps costs down and he is the one we trust to make that happen. He is the one who is ultimately responsible that the vendor has met the qualifications under the RFP, that the job has been bid correctly and that we do not experience cost-overruns and department heads spending like drunk sailors. Having a purchasing professional in place helps to control corrupt practices.

The only reason to decentralize is to eliminate any red-tape that might be generated by the purchasing department. Is there any? Is there that much of a slow down in getting items approved for purchase if that department is within its budget? Are requests backed up so that our Purchasing Manager can not handle them efficiently?

The Mission Statement for our Purchasing Department says:

To provide a modern, centralized municipal government procurement operation which serves City Staff, suppliers and the citizens of Lake Worth, through the implementation of best-value procurement methodologies, fair and equitable supplier management techniques and the cost-effective acquisition of products and services consistent with the City’s Procurement Code and those of the State of Florida.

That sounds good to me! A Purchasing Manager has a skill set that is incomparable and he is someone who ultimately makes the decision and decides who/what is the best for our City. Normally it is someone with a college degree and who has worked for a city government for at least 5 years. Do you really think that various departments will be able to do it better and more efficiently than one expert at one centralized location?

Purchasing is a finance activity and as such I want to see who the person is who recommends the item for expenditure and if the Finance Director has approved it, He is, afterall, the one in charge of our money—the CFO of this city, if you will. Why would we want a department head to be the supreme authority say on a $565,000 purchase without the feedback and approval from the CFO?

And I want to know that the City Manager has signed off on it. I don’t get a comfortable feeling when the City Manager does not sign the request indicating approval and then throws in a caveat of “well, I would have preferred it being done some other way but because of time, etc. I will approve.” This is not acceptable. We as citizens want to know that this was a wise decision and do not want to hear any “buts.” So, to wrap that up, I want to see on that approval request who prepared it, who reviewed it and who recommended it. I want to see the city manager's signature on it.

Also, raising the threshold on smaller items from $15,000 to $25,000 for approval is not a good idea. We need a red light on spending and we need more control now than ever before, not less.

The Commission may be in charge of policy but they are our elected representatives. They do not need to be protected by a city manager. They are big kids. They do not need their control diminished further. When you have a Chief Executive Officer in a corporation, you have a Board of Directors giving oversight. You do not have a Board that allows decisions to be made without their official approval. We need to know that our elected officials are in charge and that they are not just elected puppets. They must not accept changes without asking all the right questions, in the sunshine, because if they don't, they will soon be ineffectual as a body and you will have one person in charge of the store.