The Pima County Board of Supervisors adopted sweeping changes Tuesday in the way contracts - worth hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year - are awarded.
Among the changes spurred by a citizens panel and an outside consulting firm, after an Arizona Daily Star investigation, are:
All procurement authority will be delegated directly to the director of procurement.
The county administrator and the board will not be involved in the consultant selection process.
Projects projected to cost more than $100,000 will be issued individually in a public process. Approval by the Board of Supervisors will be required.
The board voted 4-1 with Republican Supervisor Ray Carroll opposing. Carroll said the changes shouldn't be carried out until a new procurement director is on board.
The county's process for selecting design and engineering consultants was reviewed over the summer by the National Institute of Government Purchasing and a citizens committee following an Arizona Daily Star investigation published in May.
The series raised questions about the county's heavy use of open-ended, "as-needed" contracts, a pattern of ignoring consultant ratings when awarding contracts, and a seeming link between contracts and political contributions.
County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry on Tuesday released his own report, which melds the two entities' findings.
Carroll said he favors the changes, but believes having a new director in place first would help the community feel "a sense of completion on the task that was started."
Democrat Dan Eckstrom disagreed with Carroll, saying the changes need to begin as soon as possible.
In August, the Board of Supervisors ordered the county's current procurement director to devote herself full-time to reforming the way contracts are awarded.
In her regular duties, Martha Durkin also acts as the county's director of revenue and oversees its elections division.
Huckelberry agreed a search needs to begin for a new director, but said that shouldn't mean waiting to adopt changes. "My own opinion is that it's time to move forward, time to take a step toward reform, time to do something,'' he said.
Huckelberry's report also includes the following changes:
The board will delegate contracting authority to the procurement director in the amount of $100,000.
As-needed projects predicted to cost more than $100,000 will not be awarded. No consultant can be awarded more than $250,000 for as-needed projects a year.
Instead of awarding consultants open-ended contracts for $150,000 and later assigning them work under those contracts, the county will assess whether contractors are certified and then award them contracts for specific projects.
The system of rotating work between consultants who had a contract will be scrapped. The procurement director will now identify the most qualified contractor based on their experience and work load.
Contractors will be evaluated on their performance and those evaluations will be used to determine whether they get future contracts.
A formalized system will be established to evaluate contractor performance.
In other action:
The board voted 4-1 in favor of allowing developer Joseph Cesare to build an upscale shopping and business center on six acres on the southeast corner of River and Craycroft roads. Eckstrom voted against the rezoning.
The vote, which approved the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendations, allows for development of six acres for commercial development in the west portion of the 10-acre parcel.
The remaining four acres at River Road and Calle Rosario will be developed as low intensity urban, which allows for 1.2 homes per acre.
A lengthy public hearing preceded the board's decision, with 19 citizens speaking in favor of the development and 13 speaking against it.
