September 6, 2009
By John Woolfolk
SAN JOSE — Hoping to cut red tape for routine purchases,
San Jose leaders two years ago increased the amount the city's
administrative staff could spend on goods and services without
advance City Council approval.
But with City Hall drowning in eight straight years of budgetary
red ink, some council members say the city should reverse
that move and increase scrutiny over expenditures.
"Our recommendation in no way suggests fault with the
city manager's past expenditure of funds," council members
Nora Campos, Kansen Chu and Ash Kalra said in a joint proposal
Friday. "Rather, we recognize the increased scrutiny
the city is facing in light of several consecutive years of
service cuts."
The proposal would reduce from $1 million to $500,000 the
amount city staffers could spend without prior council approval
on contracts for supplies, materials and equipment. It would
shrink the limit on contracts for many services from $250,000
to $125,000.
It's unclear when the council would consider the proposal.
The Rules and Open Government Committee, which sets agendas
for the full council, will not be able to consider it until
a week from Wednesday.
City administrators report to the council each quarter how
much they spend on supply and service contracts. The last
quarterly report at the end of June totaled $4.8 million,
including $150,000 for the Hanson Bridgett law firm to help
develop city-owned property; $310,000 to buy hydrogen peroxide
from U.S. Peroxide for odor control; and $258,718 to buy 10
Chevrolet Impala police cars.
Councilman Pete Constant, known to be among the more conservative
council members when it comes to spending, said he initially
considered joining the proposal. But after reviewing the 2007
decision to expand the administration's purchasing authority,
he reconsidered.
"When I did the research and refocused on why we did
what we did, it was clear the number one reason was to reduce
time and administrative cost," Constant said. "When
I think about how much time and effort we put into getting
things to the council for action, we'd end up costing more
money than we'd save."
He added, "I couldn't find anything where anybody felt
there was a mistake made, where we could have done something
cheaper."
But Campos said in a statement that with money tight, "I
would like the opportunity to ensure that we are spending
the taxpayers' dollars as efficiently as possible."
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Contact John Woolfolk at 408-975-9346.
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