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Controlling Board approves Secretary of State waivers amid questions on out‑of‑state vendor and parking costs
Summary
The State Controlling Board approved two waivers from the Ohio Secretary of State to modernize the Safe at Home system and to fund validated/badged parking at a Columbus service center after members pressed the agency on vendor location, data hosting and cost breakdowns. The board recorded one formal objection but approved both items.
The State Controlling Board on Thursday approved two waiver requests from the Ohio Secretary of State for a non‑Salesforce vendor to modernize the Safe at Home program and for validated and badge parking at a Columbus service center.
Lehi Pyatt of the Office of the Ohio Secretary of State told the board the office issued a request for proposals but received one response that did not use Salesforce; after internal review the office determined that product was "a really great and favorable product" and requested a waiver of competitive selection. When Representative Stewart asked whether any Ohio companies bid, Pyatt said the office did send the RFP broadly but "we only did actually receive 1 response."
Members pressed the office about data hosting and program scope. Representative Stewart asked whether the out‑of‑state company would permanently hold confidential addresses and whether the office was expanding Safe at Home beyond its original client group. Pyatt replied he did not know the answer about hosting immediately and said he would follow up: "I honestly don't know the answer to that question, but I will get work to get that information for you." He added the office serves "right around 3,000" clients under the program.
On the parking lease, Pyatt said most of the cost will cover badge parking for full‑time employees, with validated parking available to hybrid employees and out‑of‑town customers. He said the agency would provide a breakout of how much of the $140,000 estimate is for badge parking versus validated parking. Representative Stewart registered an objection to the item; the board recorded the objection and approved the item.
The approvals move the Secretary of State's modernization and parking items forward; staff committed to provide follow‑up details to board members on vendor data practices and a cost breakout for the parking arrangement.
