TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Cristal McDonald, City Clerk
PREPARED BY: Kimberly Ramirez, Deputy City Clerk
SUBJECT:
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Approval of an Agreement with Granicus Inc. for Agenda Management Services and Public Records Act Request Management Software
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RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Ratify the agreement with Granicus Inc. for agenda management services and the Public Records Act request module; and
Authorize the City Manager to approve future renewals for four (4) years for a not-to-exceed total of $243,078.16.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
On June 18, 2024, the City Council approved a renewal with Granicus Inc., for GOVQA public records request software (Vote: 5-0).
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Maintain a high performing organization that values fiscal sustainability, transparency, accountability and organizational efficiency.
BACKGROUND
OnBase Agenda Management
The City Clerk is the local official that serves as a neutral liaison between citizens and government by ensuring transparent processes. The City Clerk is responsible for producing, publishing, and archiving City Council meeting agendas, reports, and all associated materials and attachments for the formal public meetings. This also includes ensuring the public has access to the meetings of the advisory bodies, including Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission, Library Advisory Commission, Traffic Commission, and the Transaction and Use Tax (Measure T) Oversight Committee.
Approximately 105 city staff members from all of the various city departments participate in preparing, reviewing, and publishing the agenda reports for the City Council and the advisory bodies, which necessitates using an agenda preparation and management software to route for review and archive.
For this purpose, prior to 2023, the City of Murrieta used Hyland-Unity OnBase Agenda Management software. In 2021, the City Clerk conducted an internal assessment of the agenda management software and identified deficiencies and concerns, including internal staff dissatisfaction, cumbersome controls, and lack of accessibility. Following the assessment and feedback from internal stakeholders, the City Clerk determined that an alternate software was the solution.
Due to the specialization and key features of the software sought, which included public accessibility; streaming capacity; public/internal portals, the ability to modify features independently and live streaming and archiving Commission, Committee, and Board (CCB) meetings, in 2022, the City Clerk conducted an informal request for proposals.
After reviewing the three proposals submitted, the City Clerk held a live demonstration of each software with frequent agenda management end-users, who were able to ask questions and provide feedback. Granicus Inc., a leading company in governmental service solutions that provide government transparency and civic engagement, was determined to best meet the city’s needs, specifically its Legistar software.
In 2022, the City entered into an agreement with Granicus Inc. for agenda management software, streaming services, and CCB management.
Public Records Act Request Platform - Granicus
The California Public Records Act is California State law which establishes that public agencies must make certain city records available to the public upon request within a reasonable amount of time. Annually, the City of Murrieta averages 750 Public Records Act Requests (PRARs), spanning all city departments, requiring significant staff time to gather the necessary documents and to ensure responsiveness in a timely manner. This is a critical process, as failure to comply appropriately potentially creates significant legal exposure for the city. Considering the volume and importance of this responsibility, the city uses a software platform to manage this process.
Since 2018, GOVQA, a product of Granicus Inc., has been utilized by the City Clerk Department. GOVQA is a Public Records Act Request (PRAR) exchange platform, which is a centralized, secure enterprise workflow software to help governments manage, process, and fulfill PRARs. GovQA allows 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.
In addition to the GOVQA software, Granicus Inc. provides its agenda management system, Legistar. Legistar allows for streamlined functions (which include customizable agenda reports, workflows, out-of-office options, etc.) that enable a more efficient agenda process and management of CCB recruitment and current members. More importantly, Legistar allows for administrative control and allows the meetings for CCBs to be in a centralized area where community members can review agendas and agenda reports, as well as live stream meetings and view the archive of prior ones similar to City Council meetings.
Agreement with Granicus
As part of the City Clerk Department's goal to increase organizational accessibility and internal efficient processes, in 2022, the city entered into an agreement with Granicus Inc. for agenda management software, streaming services, and CCB management. As part of this agreement, the City Clerk added additional modules to better enhance the responsiveness and tracking of PRARs.
Specific to Legistar, the agreement included one-time fees for equipment associated with live-streaming meetings and initial configuration costs. In 2023, the aggregate of annual payments exceded City Manager signing authority and, as such, staff is requesting ratification of the agreement.
The below table lists the initial pricing outlined in the Master Subscription Agreement:
|
Year |
Cost |
Notes |
|
2022 |
$49,978 |
One-time fees and new subscription fees; City Manager authority; |
|
2023 |
$45,347.40 |
Annual subscription; Exceeds City Manager authority |
|
2024 |
$47,614.77 |
Annual subscription; Exceeds City Manager authority |
|
Total: |
$142,940.17 |
Per the master subscription agreement, the annual cost shall increase by up to 10 (ten) percent each year. The table below outlines the future totals with the maximum 10 percent increase. The prices below include the module for GOVQA. City Council approval is needed for the expenditure amount since the cost for Granicus Inc. (both as GOVQA and Legistar) exceed the City Manager's signing authority.
|
Year |
Cost |
Notes |
|
2025 |
$52,376.25 |
Annual Subscription |
|
2026 |
$57,613.87 |
Annual Subscription |
|
2027 |
$63,375.26 |
Annual Subscription |
|
2028 |
$69,712.78 |
Annual Subscription |
|
Total: |
$243,078.16 |
Staff recommends ratifying the 2022 Master Subscription Agreement for Legistar and authorizing the City Manager to approve future renewals for four years, for a total not to exceed $243,078.16. This purchase is exmpt from competitive bidding requirements pursuant to Murrieta Municipal Code (MMC) Section 3.08.280(I) for the acquisition of information technology supplies, equipment, or services including, but not limited to, the acquisition of software and related services.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding is available in the Fiscal Year 2024/25 Operating Budget in General Ledger Account 1102400-60920. The budget for the remaining years of the agreement will be included in the normal biennial budget development process.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Master Subscription Agreement