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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem No. 11 - First Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement Between the City of San Bernardino and Barboza & Associates for Investigation Services Consent Calendar City of San Bernardino Request for Council Action Date: June 17, 2020 To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members From: Teri Ledoux, City Manager By:Rebekah Kramer, Assistant City Manager Subject: First Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Barboza & Associates Recommendation Adopt Resolution 2020-126 of the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, approving the First Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement between the City of San Bernardino and Barboza & Associates for workplace investigation services. Background On February 20, 2020, the City entered into a Professional Services Agreement with Barboza & Associates (B&A) in the amount of $50,000 pursuant to Section 3.04.085(A) of the Municipal Code. B&A is investigating allegations made by former employees against Mayor John Valdivia for harassment and other misconduct. Since the investigation began, additional complainants have come forward, requiring the City to expand the original scope of work. Discussion Allegations of harassment and other misconduct against Mayor John Valdivia and the City of San Bernardino were brought forward in January 2020. When allegations are made, conducting a thorough investigation is critical. The California Fair Employment all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring in the workplace. Satisfying this obligation requires employers to investigate complaints of discrimination or harassment. Additionally, the Equal Employment Opportunity -Discrimination, Retaliation, Workplace Harassment, and Sexual Harassment also requires an investigation to be conducted. Given that the allegations that have been made involve an elected official, this case was assigned to Liebert, Cassidy and Whitmore (LCW), one specialized legal services pertaining to employment relations and personnel matters. The determination was made to retain an outside independent investigator and five potential investigators with experience handling these types of investigations were contacted. Upon review of qualifications and availability of the responsive investigators, Page 1 6754 Carla Barboza of B&A was selected to conduct the investigation. She is based in Southern California and brings with her thirty (30) years of experience handling employment matters. When B&A was retained, only two former employees had come forward with allegations. It was estimated at the time, $50,000 would be sufficient to complete a thorough and impartial investigation. During a press conference held on February 27, 2020, three additional individuals came forward with allegations against the Mayor. The proposed amendment is required to ensure all complaints are investigated thoroughly as required by the law and City policy. Fiscal Impact Approval of the first amendment to the agreement with Barboza & Associates in the amount of $18,000 for a total contractual allowance not to exceed $68,000 will have no impact to the General Fund as professional contractual services for investigations were included in the adopted FY 2019/20 operating budget split between Administration (account number 001-110-0001-5502) and the Liability Fund (account number 629-110- 0056-5502). Conclusion It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, adopt Resolution 2020-95, approving the First Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement between the City of San Bernardino and Barboza & Associates for workplace investigation services. Attachments Attachment 1 Resolution 2020-- First Amendment Attachment 2 Original Agreement dated February 20, 2020 Ward: All Synopsis of Previous Council Actions: N/A Page 2 RESOLUTION NO. 2020-126 RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CIY OF SAN BERNARDINO AND BARBOZA AND ASSOCIATES FOR WORKPLACE INVESTIGATION SERVICES WHEREAS, on February 20, 2020, the City entered into a Professional Services Agreement with Barboza and Associates in the amount of $50,000; and WHEREAS, Barboza & Associates is investigating allegations made against Mayor John Valdivia of harassment and other misconduct; and WHEREAS, when allegations are made, conducting a thorough investigation is critical and the City must take all reasonable necessary steps to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring in the workplace; and WHEREAS, when Barboza & Associates was retained, it was estimated that $50,000 would be sufficient to complete a thorough and impartial investigation; and WHEREAS, three additional individuals have come forward with allegations against the Mayor; and WHEREAS, this amendment is required to ensure all complaints are investigated thoroughly as required by law and City policy; and WHEREAS, the Human Resources Department budget includes funds for investigative services; BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The above recitals are true and correct and are incorporated herein by this reference. SECTION 2. The City Manager is hereby authorized and directed to execute the First Amendment to the agreement for workplace investigative services between Barboza & Associates and the City of San Bernardino, a copy of which is attached hereto marked Exhibit A and incorporated herein. SECTION 3. The Director of Finance or designee is hereby authorized to amend the Purchase Order to Barboza and Associates for a total amount not to exceed $68,000 for FY 2019/20. Resolution No. 2020-126 SECTION 4. That the City Council finds this Resolution is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in that the activity is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty, as in this case, that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. SECTION 5. Severability. If any provision of this Resolution or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this Resolution are declared to be severable. SECTION 6. Effective Date. This Resolution shall become effective immediately. APPROVED and ADOPTED by the City Council and signed by the Mayor and attested by the Acting City Clerk this ___ day of __________ 2020. John Valdivia, Mayor City of San Bernardino Attest: Genoveva Rocha, CMC, Acting City Clerk Approved as to form: Sonia Carvalho, City Attorney Resolution No. 2020-126 CERTIFICATION STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO) ss CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO ) I, Genoveva Rocha, CMC, Acting City Clerk, hereby certify that the attached is a true copy of Resolution No. 2020-___, adopted at a regular meeting held on the ___ day of _______ 2020 by the following vote: Council Members: AYES NAYS ABSTAIN ABSENT SANCHEZ _____ _____ _______ _______ IBARRA _____ _____ _______ _______ FIGUEROA _____ _____ _______ _______ SHORETT _____ _____ _______ _______ NICKEL _____ _____ _______ _______ RICHARD _____ _____ _______ _______ MULVIHILL _____ _____ _______ _______ WITNESS my hand and official seal of the City of San Bernardino this ___ day of ____________ 2020. Genoveva Rocha, CMC, Acting City Clerk EXHIBIT A FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH BARBOZA & ASSOCIATES This First First to the Professional Services Agreement dated February 20, 2020 is made and entered into by and between the CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO and Barboza & Associates Consultantas of the last date set forth below. 1. Consultant is performing workplace investigation services under the Agreement. Now, the CITY and Consultant wish to amend the Agreement to increase the purchase order by $18,000. 2. Section 4(b) of the Agreement is hereby amended in its entirety to read as follows: In no event shall the total amount paid for services rendered by Consultant under this First Amendment exceed the sum of $68,000. This amount is to cover all related costs, and the City will not pay any additional fees for printing expenses. Consultant may submit invoices to City for approval. Said invoice shall be based satisfaction. City shall pay within (45) days from the date the City receives said invoice. The invoice shall describe in detail the services performed and the associated time for completion. Any additional services approved and performed pursuant to this Agreement shall be designated as authorized change order, where applicable, on all invoices. 3. Except as modified by this First Amendment, all provisions of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect for the term thereof. 4. This First Amendment may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. \[SIGANTURES ON FOLLOWING PAGE\] EXHIBIT A SIGNATURE PAGE FOR FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH BARBOZA & ASSOCIATES Dated: _____, 2020 BARBOZA & ASSOCIATE By: Carla D. Barboza Its: President Dated: _____, 2020 CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO By: Teri Ledoux Its: City Manager