BUENA PARK : City OKs Funding for Computer Programs

The city’s new computer system is getting closer to being “on-line” because the City Council last week approved spending about $78,000 for new software programs.

Council members approved bypassing the city’s competitive bidding process and will buy the software products through a purchasing cooperative to save money.

Finance director Greg Beaubien said plans call for buying a software package through a state bidding process for $46,912 and a second software program for $31,000 using the League of California Cities cooperative contract with the vendor.

Beaubien said prices are lower when items are bought through cooperative purchasing.

For example, he said, because the state orders large volumes for cities, school districts or counties, “the vendors know they’re going to get the business so they give a better price because they want the business.”

“We have found that in comparing prices, the state bid, in every instance, is lower than going out to a competitive bid.”

Approval for the software purchases was added to the council agenda at the last minute because Beaubien said the state bid contract expired Saturday.

The software programs will be used for the new $1.3-million citywide computer system, which includes equipping the Police Department with modernized technology.

The Police Department’s computer system is planned to be on-line by the end of the year. Other city departments will be phased in in December and January, Beaubien said.

“The benefits are that we will have a user-based system that will allow us more flexibility to grow,” Beaubien said. “In the long term, it should be lower in operating costs than if we maintained our current system, which has outdated technology.”