The District strives for transparency in its dealings. By maintaining a well-organized contract management system, we are able to exhibit that transparency as well as provide clear accountability. An efficient contract management system ensures compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and rules governing contracting and further helps to safeguard District resources. This would be the first known approved contract policy for the District (Exhibit A).
Committees have received briefings on the draft policy over the past two years. Discussions have been focused on ensuring that the needed structure and clarity was in place for contracting, and that the “scoring” method for assessing contact risk balanced risk and the number of contracts requiring legal review. The risk assessment has been reviewed and received positive feedback from legal counsel.
Since 2020 staff have conducted usability testing of the draft policy and risk assessment tool (Exhibit B).
As part of this testing, the following revisions are recommended for the draft policy:
- Establish definitions in alignment with POL 103.002 concerning purchasing
- Establish a contract risk assessment methodology
- Add language regarding federal requirements
- Revise language regarding contract duration - Contracts will be reviewed every three years and can extend beyond a three-year duration
- Add language to the signature section to cross reference POL 100.002 relating to electronic signatures
- All contracts are signed by the Administrative Officer or designee