Budget committee recommends $150,000, three-year website maintenance contract with Crusade

The Budget and Fiscal Advisory Committee on Sept. 18 moved to recommend that the full Commission for Behavioral Health approve up to $150,000 to fund a three-year contract with Crusade for website maintenance, hosting and hourly web work.

Brenda Gralich, the commission's executive director, presented the contract request and said staff solicited bids from 12 vendors listed on the Department of General Services roster, with a focus on disabled veteran business enterprises (DVBEs) experienced in web development. Ryan Kopchik, assistant deputy director of legislative and external affairs, said bids had similar qualifications but varied markedly in price; staff selected the most fiscally responsible proposal. The previous arrangement with Crusade had ranged from about $50,000 to $100,000 annually; the three-year request consolidates the work into a single contract to reduce annual procurement cycles.

Under the proposed agreement, staff told the committee the contract will include a baseline monthly rate to cover licensing, security and routine updates plus an hourly rate for additional projects. Kopchik said staff estimated average monthly supplemental work at about 25 hours when calculating the $150,000 total; any unused funds would revert at contract end.

Commissioners asked about procurement details, prior contractor history and the basis for the cost estimate. Commissioner Carnivale moved the recommendation and Commissioner Palmano seconded it. The committee voted to recommend the contract to the full commission. The committee recorded unanimous aye votes from the commissioners present.

Public commenters raised broader transparency and procurement concerns during the meeting. Larissa Owen urged the commission to disclose whether subcontracting directs funds to out-of-state firms or incumbents and to report contracting dollars that go to small, women-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses. Tiffany Murphy, representing Mental Health America of California, asked staff to correct a contract label in the packet (the LGBTQIA+ contract had been mislabeled) and requested ongoing revision dates on the public contracts spreadsheet. Stacy Hiramoto of the Racial and Ethnic Mental Health Disparities Coalition praised steps toward transparency but flagged past sole-source awards.

Staff said they will publish more contract details online over time and that commissioners will see contract announcements and executive-director delegated awards in committee and full-commission meeting materials.