February 26, 2020
San Mateo County Community College District Trustees
President Karen Schwarz and Vice President Thomas A. Nuris
Trustees Maurice Goodman, Richard Holober, Dave Mandelkern, and Student Trustee Jordan Chavez 3401 CSM Drive
San Mateo, CA 94402
RE: BOARD REPORT NO. 20-2-3C, REVIEW OF OPTIONS TO BROADCAST BOARD MEETINGS
Trustees,
I am a resident of, and a taxpayer in, San Mateo County. I am also a graduate of the California community college system and an advocate for transparency in government processes.
I am unable to be physically present at this evening’s meeting. This letter is presented to express my support for an immediate decision by the Board to record, live stream, store and readily make available to the public all meetings of the San Mateo County Community College District’s Board of Trustees.
It is unconscionable that any public agency responsible for spending over $200 million annually would not consider it fundamental to their mission to provide complete disclosure of all public meetings, transparent and timely reporting of decisions, and thorough details supporting Board actions.
There is no rational constraint to providing video recordings to increase openness at SMCCCD. This form of transparency is common practice in even small, budget constrained towns and is facilitated by relatively inexpensive technology and ubiquitous bandwidth and storage capacity.
To that end, I find it hard to believe that costs would approach those estimated by District IT staff. I request staff to inquire with several towns in our county on their systems and budget used to provide this service. Given the SMCCCD’s mission, I hope you will consider incorporating this scope into an opportunity for student learning and job training.
An administration that avoids disclosure and poor access to Board proceedings is indicative of the lethargic governance exhibited by the Board in the past. I urge you to take this opportunity to expose the Board’s deliberations to the public whose resources we entrust you to manage.
Regards,
John Pimentel
March 11, 2020
San Mateo County Community College District Trustees
President Karen Schwarz and Vice President Thomas A. Nuris
Trustees Maurice Goodman, Richard Holober, Dave Mandelkern, and Student Trustee Interim Chancellor Michael Claire
3401 CSM Drive
San Mateo, CA 94402
Dear Trustees and Interim Chancellor,
I am a resident of, and a taxpayer in, San Mateo County. I am also a graduate of the California community college system and an advocate for transparency in government processes.
In my professional life, I have founded and built companies that have managed hundreds of millions of dollars construction in sustainable infrastructure such a wind farms, solar farms, water recycling systems, and solid waste recycling systems. I also served in our California state government overseeing billions of dollars of infrastructure construction in our state transportation system.
Recording and Distributing Video of Public Meetings
I attended the March 11, 2020 Board of Trustees meeting and was disappointed to see that another “public” meeting occurred without a simple video camera to record the proceedings. President Schwarz explained to the public that video coverage was “coming soon.” Thank you for this modicum of progress. I encourage the District to move with haste to provide this service at the next and all subsequent Board of Trustees meetings.
If for any reason having video recording and public dissemination of Board of Trustees proceedings is not possible for the March 25, 2020 public meeting, then I volunteer, at my own personal expense, to make arrangements to record the meeting and make it available on YouTube or a similar public platform.
Sole Source Contracts
Thank you for the robust discussion of the proposed 5-year extension of the contract with MediFit Community Services LLC (now known as EXOS) for operation of the San Mateo Athletic Club (SMAC) and future operation of a similar athletic club at Cañada College.
I respectfully request the District take the time to competitively bid this contract. And, as part of that competitive process, or in addition to it, I also request that the District evaluate the option of operating the facility with some amount of District staff who may be able to offer coursework and workforce training with the facility funded by the taxpayers of San Mateo County.
In my experience, generally, sole source contracts by public agencies are bad policy. At best, sole source arrangements are prone to inefficient pricing in which the public agency may not receive the best products or services at the fairest value. At worst, sole source contracts by public agencies are the provenance of corrupt practices.
There are times when sole source contracts by public agencies are appropriate. Unique cases such as: a newly developing technology, or a specialized service where few qualified vendors exist, or an emergency situation all might be appropriate for a quick sole source contracting process.
In this case executing a 5-year extension to a 10-year old contract to operate an existing gym facility is not a unique situation where sole source contracting is warranted.
Completing a properly executed competitive process to select a qualified vendor enables the free market to ensure the taxpayers are being well-served at a fair and appropriate price.
Finally, as part of this competitive process, or in addition to it, I also recommend the District thoroughly consider the feasibility of using District staff for some or all of the SMAC operations. This could enable efficient use of existing personnel and equipment, might increase funds generated for the District, and may allow the SMAC and the new gym at Cañada to use this taxpayer funded facility for educational programs and workforce training.
Regards,
John Pimentel