Supervisors Will Leave Staff’s Power Unchanged

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected several proposals that would have given county staff members more power to award contracts and approve change orders without board approval.

The proposals were aimed at streamlining the county’s procurement process by increasing the size of contracts that staffers alone could sign. But most supervisors said they wanted to keep the final decisions for themselves.

“There needs to be board scrutiny,” said Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who led the attack on the proposals. “We have to be the ones who are accountable. . . . The buck has to stop with us.”

One proposal would have given staff authority to approve certain engineering contracts in excess of $100,000 without board approval. The limit will remain $25,000.