SR-06-11-2013-3BY
ID
of City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: June 11, 2013
Agenda Item: 3_b
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Kathryn Vernez, Deputy City Manager - Special Projects
Subject: Amendment to Agreement 9526 with Santa Monica Community College
District
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a second modification to Professional Services Agreement No. 9526 in the
amount of $167,772 with Santa Monica Community College District ( SMCCD), a
California based junior college, to continue to broadcast regular City Council meetings.
This will result in a four -year amended agreement with a new total amount not to
exceed $320,292, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Executive Summary
The City of Santa Monica contracts with the SMCCD to provide live broadcasts of
regular Santa Monica City Council meetings from 8 p.m. to midnight on public radio
station 89.9 FM KCRW. Staff recommends extending the existing two -year contract an
additional two years at the rate of $6,990.50 /month, $83,886 /year, increasing the total
contract to $320,292. The scope of services provides for some flexibility when meetings
are added or changed. Staff anticipates that the contract will be renegotiated for FY
2015 -16.
Background
For more than 20 years, the City has contracted with the SMCCD to provide live
broadcasts of regular Santa Monica City Council meetings from 8 p.m. to midnight on
public radio station 89.9 FM KCRW. KCRW broadcasts from the Santa Monica College
campus at 1900 Pico Boulevard. The signal covers Santa Monica and reaches an
approximate 150 -mile radius throughout Southern California via repeater stations KCRI
89.3 Indio /Palm Springs, KCRU 89.1 Oxnard/Ventura, KCRY 89.1 Mohave /Antelope
Valley and nine other low -power translators. KCRW claims a weekly listenership of
550,000.
1
Discussion
SMCCD is the incumbent provider of radio broadcast services for the City Council
meetings and KCRW is the only public radio station of general interest currently located
in the City limits. The current contract includes the broadcast of two regular City Council
meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month from 8 p.m. to midnight. The
scope of services provides for some flexibility when meeting dates are added or
changed, based on KCRW's availability. The current contract with SMCCD,
Professional Services Agreement #9526, expires on June 30, 2011
As part of a service package to the City, the SMCCD and KCRW have provided the live
broadcasts at the same rate of $6,355 /month ($76,260 /year) for over a decade, as
approved in annual budgets. SMCCD has requested a ten percent increase, to
$6,990.50 /month ($83,886 /year) for the next two years. Staff believes the ten percent
increase is justified given that the contract rate has been unchanged for over 10 years
and during the period 2002 -2012 the consumer price index, as maintained by the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, has increased by more than twenty percent.
Contractor /Consultant Selection
As KCRW is the only major public radio station based in Santa Monica, they are the
sole provider of services that perform the intended function and meet the specialized
needs of the City. KCRW has agreed to a two -year contract extension at a ten percent
increase to the current rate. KCRW has been a reliable source for the radio broadcasts
of the City Council meetings, and therefore staff recommends modifying the agreement
to extend the contract term two additional years. The City and KCRW will renegotiate
the cost and scope of this agreement prior to the start of FY 2015 -16.
The City maintains a radio station at KSRM AM 1680 that broadcasts within the Santa
Monica city limits. However, FCC regulations require that this station be used solely for
traffic and transit - related updates. Therefore, it is not possible to offer broadcasts of the
City Council meetings on this radio station.
FA
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The Professional Services Agreement modification to be awarded to Santa Monica
Community College District is $167,772, for an amended contract total not to exceed
$320,292. Funds have been included in the proposed FY 2013 -15 budget in division
01207; the agreement will be charged to account 012071.578670. Future funding is
contingent upon Council approval and budget adoption.
Prepared by: Melissa Lindley, Community Relations Coordinator
Approved: Forwarded to Council:
athryn Vernez Rod Gould
Deputy City Manager - Special Projects City Manager
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Reference Contract No.
9526 (CCS)