San Clemente : Council Passes Policy for Hiring Consultants

A divided City Council has approved a policy governing selection of professional consultants after a brief public hearing in which a half-dozen residents criticized the practice.

In a 3-1 vote, the council adopted the policy that was drafted at the council’s request after council members learned in April that the inspector contracted by the city for a pier rebuilding project was not required to determine whether the structure was level.

Council member Karoline Koester voted against the policy, while council member Ken Carr, who arrived late, abstained.

Many routine tasks, such as preparing environmental impact reports, are performed by outside consultants, a cost-saving measure for the city, said City Engineer Ed Putz.

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

Moreover, the city will be required to solicit at least five bids and interview at least three candidates for consulting jobs that will cost more than $10,000. For contracts costing less than $10,000, city management will interview two candidates.

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

Koester, who believes the council should approve all contracts costing more than $2,000, said she voted against the policy because it vests too much power with city management.

“I feel there is too much power being exercised between the city manager and the city staff with regard to the spending of taxpayers’ money,” Koester said. “There aren’t enough checks and balances.”

Mayor Robert Limberg, who voted in favor of the policy, said that as laymen, council members are better off leaving decisions on hiring consultants to the city management.

“We have a professional staff and we need to regard them as such,” Limberg said. “If we find that the staff is not performing adequately, we can adjust that.”