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Clerk's office to replace sunsetting agenda software; board approves eScribe purchase with implementation caveats
Summary
Madera County will transition away from a vendor product that is being sunsetted and adopt eScribe for agenda and legislative management; the clerk and several supervisors discussed vendor references, security concerns and implementation risk.
The Madera County Clerk to the Board presented a plan to replace the county's current agenda-management software — which staff said will be unsupported after a vendor sunset next year — and the board authorized an agreement with eScribe Software Ltd.
Clerk Karen Scribner explained the current vendor is ending support for the product the county uses and that the clerk's office evaluated alternatives. eScribe's contract presented to the board called for an annual service fee of $37,400 (with an annual 5% escalation) and a $2,000 one-time implementation fee; staff proposed a phased migration with a March target for initial go-live and additional modules scheduled afterward. eScribe representatives described a phased implementation, a dedicated account team, training, migration of public agendas and minutes and ongoing support.
Several supervisors raised concerns. One supervisor asked why Madera County would be an early county customer in California and whether other counties had moved to the vendor; staff said cities and counties have used eScribe and that the county of Fresno had looked at eScribe but paused. County IT and the clerk's office said their main driver for moving was the pending end of support and security risks if the unsupported product remained in use. Board members sought stronger vendor references and emphasized the need for a careful, well-staffed implementation; the clerk's office committed to a cross-department rollout and frequent updates by staff during implementation.
The board approved the purchase and implementation plan in a roll-call vote and asked for a focused timeline and regular status reporting from the clerk and IT during the migration.
