San Clemente : Policy Would Govern Hiring of Consultants

Adoption of a policy governing selection of professional consultants will come before the City Council for a public hearing and a vote Wednesday.

The city staff was directed to draw up a policy last April after the council inquired about one following a disclosure by City Engineer Ed Putz that the inspector hired by the city for a pier-repair project was not required to determine whether the pier was level.

Guidelines for selecting consultants would include education, experience, knowledge of local conditions and a track record in keeping projects within budgets.

Under the proposed policy, the City Council would approve all consulting contracts exceeding $10,000, while the city manager would authorize contracts costing between $5,000 and $10,000. Consulting jobs costing less than $5,000 would be approved by the heads of departments using the outside services.

The city also would be required to solicit at least five bids and interview at least three candidates for consulting contracts costing more than $10,000. For projects costing less than $10,000, city staffers would be required to interview only two candidates.

The guidelines to be presented to the council do not specify duties of individual consultants, because such items are usually spelled out in the contracts between San Clemente and the private firms, Putz said.

Many routine tasks, such as preparing environmental impact reports, are performed by outside consultants, who save the city money because they aren’t kept on the payroll when they’re not needed, Putz said. The alternative, he said, would be to “hire and fire indiscriminately.”