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Procurement office outlines pilot central platform, warns consolidation could reduce staff from 19 to 3
Summary
City procurement staff described a central procurement platform intended to increase access to contracting opportunities but said a proposed consolidation would shrink the procurement office from 19 staff to three and risk delays in support to small businesses.
The Los Angeles City procurement office presented a pilot central contracting platform to the Government Operations Committee and warned that a proposal to consolidate procurement functions under a single office would reduce its staff and could slow outreach and support services to small and disadvantaged vendors.
A procurement presenter said the office has "transformed this website into a platform" intended to centralize procurement opportunities and described the platform as listing what the presenter described in the transcript as "10000000000 de dF3lares" in contracting opportunities. The presenter said the platform is meant to make it easier for small vendors to see and apply for city contracts and that the office provides "office hours" and hands-on assistance to help applicants avoid small but critical application errors.
The presenter said the current procurement team has 19 people and the proposal would reduce that number to three, prompting concerns that the office could not maintain the same level of outreach and technical assistance. "Tengo inquietudes. ...
PodrEDa ser difEDcil mantener el trabajo que estE1n haciendo con solamente 3 personas? SerEDa difEDcil ver mantener nuestro progreso. Hay va a haber retrasos," the presenter said (Spanish original in transcript).
Committee members asked clarifying questions about which procurement activities would move into the consolidated department and whether commodities would be included. The presenter said the proposed consolidation would place procurement monitoring under one office and clarified that certain commodity functions would not be included under the consolidation as described in the packet.
The procurement staffer urged the committee to consider ongoing partnership with the office'including continued use of the pilot platform and the office's hands-on assistance--as work moves into a citywide procurement bureau. No formal action was taken during the presentation; committee members thanked the presenter and requested follow-up information on staffing and operational continuity.
