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Sarasota News Leader February 1, 2013 Page 28 "The code is crucial to the success of the pro- staff morale in the Procurement Department. However, he did note that the consulting curement program," he pointed out. team's November visit found employees in Additionally, Moore encouraged the County that office still "are afraid of taking risks" and Commission to oversee a shift of focus in the are fearful of criticism from the commissionProcurement Department work from a trans- ers and auditors. actional nature to a strategic one. That situation, Moore pointed out, "is inhibitMoore also suggested the county raise its ing their ability to do their jobs well." threshold for use of competitive bids for purDuring the original NIGP visit in June 2011, chases from $50,000 to $100,000. Moore said, the department had a backlog of That would free staff to deal more efficiently 263 objectives. In November, he added, that with the 80 percent of purchases that are be- had dropped to 125. For January, he noted, the number was 53. "They're working very hard to low the $100,000 level, he pointed out. mitigate that backlog," he pointed out. Yet another recommendation was for the county to shift to more efficient technolo- The new focus on ethics and compliance "is gy in the Procurement Department. In June an area in which the county has done extreme2011, the employees were using six different ly well," he added. systems to handle transactions, Moore said. SINGLE BIDS "They still have that today," Moore noted, adding that one system should be used for all the Robinson also took the opportunity to ask Moore's views on recent instances when the work. county received just one bid for a project. Moreover, he pointed out, "This is one of the few organizations around the state that still "Some of them just defy logic to me," she said, issues purchase orders through the U.S. Mail." citing tree-trimming bids and roof repair projects as examples. POSITIVE SIGNS While lots of firms' names may be visible in Moore told the County Commission that the the Yellow Pages, Moore said, that does not consulting team had seen improvement in mean all of them are qualified to undertake The National Institute of Government Purchasing report to the County Commission shows the use of county purchase cards from 2010 to 2012. Image courtesy Sarasota County