TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Cristal McDonald, City Clerk
PREPARED BY: Angela Martin Van der Baan, Records Manager
SUBJECT:
title
Renewal Approval with Granicus (GovQA) - Public Record Request Software
end
RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Ratify prior renewals with GovQA that exceeded the City Manager's contract authority;
Authorize the exemption from bidding requirements;
Authorize the City Manager or her designee to approve renewals in a form acceptable to the City Attorney, with GovQA for public records request software for a total not to exceed $76,240.08 plus a 5% contingency;
Amend the Fiscal Year 2024/25 Operating Budget in the General Ledger Account by $13,800.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
None.
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Maintain a high performing organization that values fiscal sustainability, transparency, accountability and organizational efficiency.
BACKGROUND
The City Clerk acts as a compliance officer for federal, state, and local statutes, including the California Public Records Act. The California Public Records Act was enacted in 1968, requiring inspection or disclosure of governmental records to the public upon request, unless exempt by law. As a result, the City Clerk is tasked with implementing systems and procedures to efficiently and effectively respond to the public's requests for records.
GovQA is a Public Records Act Request (PRAR) exchange platform, a centralized, secure enterprise workflow software to help governments manage, process, and fulfill PRARs. GovQA allows all members of the public to submit a records request and enables City staff to assign, track, and produce records while keeping a central, secure database of requests.
Before the current City Clerk's tenure in 2021, the City of Murrieta (City) entered into an agreement with GovQA to assist with PRARs. From late 2021 into 2022, the City Clerk conducted an internal assessment of the GovQA program. The GovQA system has been used since 2015; however, the assessment covered 2018 to 2021. The findings identified some deficiencies, but not with the program itself. The challenges were process-related, including minimal use of the GovQA system.
As one of the current City Clerk's top priorities and based on the assessment, vast improvements have been made to Public Records management, such as PRAR processing, which includes using the GovQA system. The use of the GovQA system is critical to efficiency and compliance. Like other local agencies, PRARs have increased substantially for the City, averaging 750 annually. GovQA has alleviated the need to track requests manually.
In addition to the increase in the number of PRARs, the complexity of requests has also increased due to public demand and more extensive and detailed requests, often requiring extensive searches across multiple databases and departments. These factors combined have created an intricate and resource-intensive environment for managing PRARs at the local government level. To better assist, last year, City Clerk staff attended GovQA training. Staff began using the system as intended, which included updating the request form to allow public ease, enabling the Personal Storage Table (PST) files functionality, providing all departments accessibility to collaborate directly in the GovQA system versus Microsoft Outlook, use of the reporting function, and uploading and retaining responsive records in the system. Although there are still several options and areas to improve, the City is moving in the right direction.
GovQA Agreement History
On October 15, 2015, the City signed a three-year Master Services Agreement with GovQA, including a not-to-exceed 3% annual increase within the original billable term. Renewal terms are not to increase by more than 8%.
On June 27, 2019, the City approved the relocation of the GovQA portal to another server. The update met compliance with the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and increased the annual cost.
In 2022, with an annual renewal, the City Manager's signing authority was exceeded.
On June 12, 2023, the City Clerk purchased two (2) additional subscriptions from GovQA; one-time fees for setup and configuration were waived. The new subscriptions were for four (4) redaction licenses and an additional module for the Police Department to process Police PRARs.2 Additionally, on August 9, 2023, the City Clerk renewed the Agreement for another year. 3
|
Year |
Cost |
Additional Notes |
|
2015 |
$11,140 |
Original billing term |
|
2016 |
$7,320 |
Original billing term |
|
2017 |
$7,500 |
Original billing term |
|
2018 |
$7,920 |
End of the original billing term |
|
2019 |
$13,355 |
Standard annual renewal + CJIS and HIPAA compliance module |
|
2020 |
$14,090 |
Standard annual renewal |
|
2021 |
$12,005 |
Standard annual renewal (8-month pro rata due to the absorption of GovQA by Granicus) |
|
2022 |
$15,935.83 |
Standard annual renewal4 |
|
2023 |
$22,208.41 |
Standard annual renewal + PD module & Redaction Licenses |
|
2015-2023 |
$111,474.24 |
The total agreement amount to date has exceeded the City Manager's signing authority by approximately $36,500. |
*Funding has been budgeted for each year.
In addition to the excess in purchasing authority, with the current agreement expiring on June 30, 2024, the City Clerk is seeking approval to renew the agreement with GovQA for 2025 and 2026 for an amount not to exceed $76,240.08 which includes the cost for 2024.
Additionally, the City Clerk is requesting an exemption from bidding requirements due to 1) GovQA being our current service provider, which has proven to be an efficient and effective system for PRAR processing; 2) the Police Department recently received training and currently maintains a module specific to the Police Department; and 3) GovQA serves as the depository for PRARs, which the City actively accesses to process current public record requests. Transitioning to a new system would entail additional costs, time, and training for a system with similar components.
Section 3.08.280 of the Municipal Code outlines competitive bidding procedures, and requirements may be dispensed when the City Council finds that adherence to the procedures in this chapter would be inefficient, impractical, and unnecessary.
Next Steps
Approving staff's recommendations will allow the City Clerk to continue efforts on records management, such as publishing all PRARs with the City's responses and making standard requests searchable via a prompt-based inquiry.
FISCAL IMPACT
The cost for this service is not to exceed $76,240.08 over a three (3) year period. This item is partially funded from General Ledger Account 7268340-62160 within the Information Technology Division's Operating Budget. A budget appropriation is needed for the balance of the Fiscal Year 2024/25 costs. Staff requests amending the Fiscal Year 20024/25 Operating Budget in General Ledger Account 1102400-60920 by $13,800. The budget for the remaining years of the agreement will be included in the normal biennial budget process.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Proposed Budgetary Renewal