Explanation
BACKGROUND: This ordinance authorizes a total appropriation of $755,000.00 within the Public Safety Initiative Fund, part of which will be used to authorize the Director of the Department of Public Safety to enter into a contract with Paul Werth and Associates in the amount of $80,000 to partner with the Civil Service Commission to launch a diversity recruitment initiative to attract female and minority applicants for sworn positions. The City of Columbus seeks to recruit the most qualified applicants for Divisions of Police and Fire. Paul Werth and Associates is already under contract with the Civil Service Commission and Public Safety to help the Division of Fire develop a recruitment plan, perform an audit of previously collected data, and offer recommendations to recruit women and minorities as firefighters. Under this contract, Werth will develop a community plan mainly for Police to recruit and hire the most qualified applicants for the City's Safety Forces.
The Public Safety Department requests the waiver of the competitive bidding provisions of the Columbus City Code since a contract is already underway with the Civil Service Commission and the Public Safety Department for recruitment efforts with the Division of Fire. With a Police Officer application and examination process to begin this August, there is not time to seek formal proposals and enter into contract before the launching of a Police Exposition in May 2014. Therefore, Public Safety requests to continue the recruitment momentum and use Paul Werth and Associates for the upcoming Police officer recruit process. The Public Safety Department will initiate a Request for Proposal (RFP) process near the end of 2014 in order to continue recruit efforts using the help of a professional consultant firm in 2015 and beyond.
This ordinance also appropriates funds included in the Public Safety Initiative Fund as part of Columbus City Council's amendment to the 2014 operating budget. ...
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