Contract Management : Sanitation in the City of North Miami - Case Study Example

Contract Management Case: Sanitation in the of North Miami, Florida Number June 24, Faculty Contract Management Case: Sanitation in the City of North Miami, Florida Introduction North Miami as a suburban city lies to the Northeast of Miami-Dade County in Florida. The city is approximately 16 Kilometers North of Miami. Before its renaming to become the ‘town of North Miami in 1931, the city formerly was referred to as the ‘town of Arch Creek. Following its exponential growth in both population and infrastructure, the city of North Miami was incorporated into the ‘City of North Miami’ in 1953 (Bramson, 2014). According to the statistics provided by the US Census Bureau, the City of North Miami has a population of 58,786 people and about 22,110 households going by the census conducted in 2010. With nearly 60,000 residents, the city of North Miami is the six largest in Miami-Dade County. The city has an area of about 26 square Kilometers. About 4 square kilometers of the city is covered by water while 22 square kilometers is covered by dry land (Connolly, Johnson & Williams, 2013). The city borders North Miami Beach to the north, the Sunny Isles Beach to the East, and Biscayne Park to the south. The City of North Miami is governed under the Council-Manager System. Under this system of governance, the City Clerk and the Mayor are elected at large (Franks, Bartels & Patel, 2015). Out of the four districts in the City of North Miami, each district elects one member to the city council. The actions and jurisdictions of the city manager are controlled and regulated by the council that has the superior authority and is the policy-making organ of the city. The city manager implements the directives, policies and resolutions of the council and oversees the daily operations of the city. There are only seven municipal employees in the North Miami city with the majority of services being contracted to private persons under the city manager’s docket (Gennard, 2012). The nature of private contracting for sanitation services in the City of North Miami forms the backbone of this essay. To acquire reliable information on the subject matter, the researcher conducted an interview with the city manager using open-ended questions that were structured to solicit adequate information. Interview with the City Manager The following questions were used during the information soliciting dialog with the city manager to understand how sanitation services are contracted to private contractors. Each question is matched with the answers that were provided by the city manager. Q1. What sanitation services are provided by the City of North Miami? To respond to this question, the manager indicated that sanitation services comprised the collection of garbage (solid waste), recycling, and bulk waste collection. Q2. Does the city council provide sanitation services or have you contracted with a private service provider? The manager explained that sanitation services were contracted with the Waste Pro of Florida that offered the full range of sanitation services in the City of North Miami. According to him, the private contractor started providing these services to the residential city of North Miami back in March 2012. Q3. Why did the Council opt to contract sanitation services as opposed to providing them itself? When responding to this question, the managers argument was pegged on cutting down on the cost and maximize on the economies of scale through reduced rates. He indicated that the privatization of sanitation services in the City of North Miami helped to cut down on the cost of such services. To further elaborate on the matter, the manager demonstrated that the quarterly utility bill had reduced by about 10% in the second quarter of 2012 following such privatization. He explained that the essence of striving to lower the cost of sanitation services was to lessen the burden that lay on the residents who contribute towards such services. The monthly residential rates were expected to decrease from the $51.50 charged in 2012 to about $26.00 for fewer than three years when such programs would fully take root. However, the manager expressed the uncertainty concerning the multi-family and commercial rates whose decrease or increase was still unpredictable. He indicated that such rates depended on factors like the size of containers used by different families and the number of pickups made in a month that would vary. Q4. Are waste collection services governed by any statute that allows privatization? The managers response indicated that there existed a law that governed the contracting of sanitation services with the Waste Pro of Florida. He explained that his duty was to implement the policies and ordinances that were adopted by the council under the leadership of the mayor. The manager said that the City Council of the City of North Miami passed a Sanitation Resolution No. R-2012-18 on February 14th, 2012. It was this resolution that authorized the manager to enter into an agreement with the Waste Pro of Florida for the provision of waste management services. Following that directive, the manager explained that he entered into a five-year contract with the Waste Pro of Florida on behalf of the City Council on March 1, 2012. The contract commenced on the same date and was to run up to March 1, 2017. Q5. What was the Public’s reaction to such Private Contracting? The manager indicated that there were overwhelming reactions from the public following the implementation of sanitation services by the contractor company. According to him, the majority of the questions received from the public were based on the provision of collection services and the specific collector. Some people expressed their mixed feelings that privatization would increase the monthly utility rates with a few clearly demonstrating their opposition to the program. From the manager, the three years of effecting the contract have not been without challenges, as the public has not universally subscribed to the policy. To ensure that all reactions were responded to, the manager explained that the City Council erased a public complaints office that received and responded to questions from the public. Q6. How were garbage collection services provided by the City of North Miami prior to the Private Contracting? From the managers explanations, the garbage collection and disposal services were supplied by the City Council to the majority of the citys residents while some residents had their private garbage collectors. The manager explained that all the residents that were being served by the city council instantaneously implemented the change and received such services from the Waste Pro of Florida Company. In its intend to have its waste collection services monopolized under the Waste Pro of Florida, the City Council notified all the private collector companies of the change. However, the manager pointed out that in accordance to the Laws of Florida, the City wrote notifications that it would displace the private collectors in a period of three years beginning May 2012. To be more precise, the manager said that the privatization was done pursuant to Section 403.70605 of the Florida Statutes that provided for the exclusive Franchise. The manager explained that all private service collectors were displaced in May 2015 to give the contractor company full discretion of waste collection services in the City of North Miami. Under the private service provision, the manager told that service provision would shift from the initial four operation days to six activity days in a week running Monday through Saturday. The recycling and bulk collection services that were initially provided on a bi-weekly basis are provided on a weekly basis under the terms of the contract. According to the manager, not every member of the public adhered to the citys directive without coercion. He pointed out that as at May 2015, about one-quarter of the residents were compelled to receive services from the Waste Pro of Florida as they still insisted on using their private collectors. He clearly said that the Florida Laws were strictly followed to displace the private collectors. According to the Florida Laws, the City Council is empowered to commit a Franchise Agreement with a single service provider as was done with the Waste Pro of Florida. Q7. How does the City Council monitor the contract performance? The manager pointed out that Waste Pro of Florida was obliged under the terms of the agreement to liaise with the Public Works Department of the City of North Miami in the performance of the contract. The manager reported that the Citys Public Works Department exclusively held the mandated to monitor the contract performance and make periodic recommendations to the council for improvement. To ensure that proper monitoring was done, the department established a complaint and feedback program where the residents can submit their complaints and recommendations for improvement. According to the manager, several complaints ad expressions of dissatisfaction had been received and handled by the department. The council periodically reminds the contractor of the terms of the contract and the stresses on the need to abide by the contract agreement to ensure quality service delivery. He explained that the council highly valued the feedback from the public as the key way to establish how effectively the Waste Pro of Florida was carrying out the waste collection services. Q8. How is the Utility billing done and who does it? The manager explained that the Finance Department of the City of North Miami conducted all the utility billing exercise. The manager pointed out that the utility bill issued collectively as a ‘Water Bill’ constituting the charges for sewer, water, sanitation, storm water and recycling services along the service fees for the Miami-Dade County. A consumption-based rate is used to effect utility charges subject to the Resolution Number R-2012-52 that authorized new charges for these services as told by the manager. According to the manager, it is the responsibility of the City Council to pay the contractor as agreed under the terms of the contract. He further explained that Waste Pro Florida had employed about 450 employees that worked within the city and worked on a renewable contract of two and half years. It was thus the responsibility of the Waste Pro of Florida to pay and manage its workers independently. Q9. Is the Five-Year contract with Waste Pro of Florida Renewable and what is the general nature of the contracting? Concerning the general nature of contracting, the manager indicated that the City of North Miami was free to choose to adhere to the Florida Statutes of Contracting or to follow their Municipal Contracting Policy. As explained by the manager, the Florida Statutes require that contracts should be awarded on a competitive basis to guarantee transparency and effective monitoring. He pointed out that the agreement was effected contrary to the requirements of Section 287. 001 of the Florida Statutes and in line with the City policy on contracting. The City policy on contracting empowers the City Manager to select a contractor they deem fit for the job and one who is approved under the State and County Laws. In his view, the manager disclosed that the policies adopted by the City of North Miami were exactly under the County of Miami-Dade requirements. The city manager then makes an offer to the contractor upon whose acceptance results into a contract. The city policy requires the manager to effect a five-year contract that is renewable with private contractors depending on how efficiently they perform their duties in the initial contract periods. In the managers view, the selection system as adopted by the City of North Miami was aimed at reducing the costs and time spent in advertising and longer processes are unnecessary. It was clear from the interview with the manager that the contract terms with Waste Pro of Florida contained a Renewable Contract clause. The manager told the interviewer that it was preferable to renew the contracts as opposed to soliciting new contractors unless in the case where circumstances deemed otherwise. He said it was the intention if the City of North Miami to retain Waste Pro of Florida upon the end of the first contract in 2017. The essence of the renewable contract terms, as explained by the manager, was to ensure a mutual relationship that would help develop a unique focus on the long-term goals and objectives of the municipality. Such would also significantly save on the cost and management time. However, the manager pointed that it was not mandatory that the contract should be renewed, and superior service providers could be recruited. The manager disclosed the contract requirement that at least 75% of the workers employed by the contractor should be residents of the city. Such a requirement was meant to ensure that contracting did not create unemployment for the city residents. However, the absolute authority over the employees only lies with the contractor and not the city government. He explained that the city government did not maintain any direct relations with the sanitation workers and could not recruit or discharge them. Q10. What services are provided by the Miami-Dade County? In his response to the question, the manager explained that a vast realm of services was supplied by the County Government. Such services included the education, police and security services, construction and maintenance of infrastructure, traffic management, and land development. Contracting for some of these services was exclusively done by the County Government while some services were provided by both the government and the private entities. Discussion It is plainly evident that the contracting process for the sanitation services in the City of North Miami is not all inclusive. Whether or not the contracting of sanitation services is a cost-reducing approach is not precisely known. Having attempted to provide sanitation services through the City Council until the change in 2012 March, the City of North Miami government maintains the view that contracting could be cheaper. The Charter provides room for both contracting and self-provision depending on the alternative that turns out efficient (Hatem, 2014). It is apparent that the contracting process as adopted by the City of North Miami lacks transparency and constitutes a nature that can promote corrupt acts among public officials. Failure to abide and subscribe to the Florida Laws of Contracting that require a competitive approach through bidding is questionable and cannot be trusted (Lane, 2013). From a logical point of view, the selection of a private contractor by the City Manager is an act that can jeopardize both quality, transparency and promote the abuse of public offices. Extensive Contracting practices are recommended. It is important to admit that although the contracting has myriad flaws in it, its capacity to confer several benefits to the residents remains real. The ability to create job opportunities as guaranteed in the agreement is a unique benefit of the citizens (Mehta & Mehta, 2013). Private contractors are known to perform their duties more efficiently than the government and hence people can take advantage of the quality services. If well managed, contracting of the sanitation services can significantly reduce the utility bills to individual residents and, as a result, cut down on the cost of living for the majority middle-income earners. Contracting helps reduce on various management costs and hence savings that can be used for development (Mickley, 2012). The involvement of the residents in the contracting process can help ensure that the city council gives priority to issues that are pertinent to the people they serve. Lessons Based on the experiences of the City of North Miami, several other cities have something to learn. Firstly, there is a lesson that consideration of contracting services that can best be provided by private contractors than by the government may prudently help reduce the costs and engagement. However, such contracting should be done wisely subject to the relevant statutes. Contracting should be done for activities whose measurement can be assessed reliably such as the sanitation services. Equally important, monitoring the performance of contracted activities should be pursued with absolute vigor by the local authorities. Finally, unlike the standard practice in many local authorities where contract agreements lack clauses on recruitment, the contracting terms in North Miami city preserve 75% of the contract workforce to locals. Similarly, such terms should be considered by other local authorities when contracting to ensure that private contractors engage the locals and create job opportunities for them. References Bramson, D. (2014). Insiders Guide to Miami. Guilford, CT: Insiders Guide. Connolly, K., Johnson, S., & Williams, D. (2013). Wetlands law and policy. Chicago, Ill.: Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, American Bar Association. Franks, R., Bartels, C., & Patel, M. (2015). Improving Performance and Reducing Costs in Reclaiming Secondary Municipal Waste. IDA Journal of Desalination and Water Reuse, 3(3), 52-56. Gennard, J. (2012). Employee relations public policy developments. Employee Relations, 24(6), 581-594. Hatem, D. (2014). Subsurface conditions. New York: Wiley. Lane, F. (2013). The naked employee. New York: AMACOM. Mehta, M., & Mehta, D. (2013). City sanitation ladder: moving from household to citywide sanitation assessment. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 3(4), 481. Mickley, M. (2012). US Municipal Desalination Plants: Number, Types, Locations, Sizes, and Concentrate Management Practices. IDA Journal of Desalination and Water Reuse, 4(1), 44-51. Read More