SR 04-11-2023 5I
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: April 11, 2023
Agenda Item: 5.I
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Lori Gentles, Chief People Officer, Human Resources Department
Subject: Award Request for Proposal and enter into Agreement with Norman A. Traub
& Associates and HRemedy, Inc. for Mediation and Investigation Services
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section
15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Award RFP #298B to Norman A. Traub & Associates, a California based
company, for investigation services needs of the Human Resources Department.
3. Award RFP #298B to HRemedy, Inc., a California based company, for mediation
services needs of the Human Resources Department.
4. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional services
agreement with HRemedy, Inc. for a two-year pilot program in an amount not to
exceed $75,000 for two years; and
5. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional services
agreement with Norman A. Traub & Associates for a two-year pilot program in an
amount not to exceed $150,000 for two years.
Summary
The Human Resources Department (HR) is responsible for conducting impartial
investigations into employee and citizen complaints regarding employee misconduct,
including complaints of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. Periodically, there is
a need to retain an outside investigator to conduct these impartial personnel
investigations for various reasons, including the nature and complexity of the alleged
conduct, the position of the accused, or the volume of HR’s existing workload. HR is
also responsible for assisting City Departments with workplace morale and employee
relations matters. Professional mediation provides an avenue to de-escalate disputes
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or complaints by providing employees with a confidential and non-adversarial forum to
voice their concerns with the assistance of an external, professional facilitator to help
reach voluntary resolutions. Staff recommends that Council authorize the City Manager
to negotiate and execute separate two-year contracts for investigation services with
Norman A. Traub & Associates and mediation services with HRemedy, Inc.,
respectively. As is current practice, the cost will continue to be covered by the
departments utilizing the services with their existing budgets.
Discussion
The Human Resources Department provides investigation services for all City
departments for allegations of employee misconduct, workplace violence, harassment,
discrimination, and retaliation. The complexity and scope of each investigation depends
upon the number of persons involved, the position or supervisory/managerial level of
the person accused, and the severity of the allegations. Depending on staffing levels,
workload, and the subject matter expertise required to adequately conduct the
investigation, the Human Resources department may augment its capacity to deliver the
service with an outside investigator.
In 2020 Moss Adams, the City’s Internal Auditor, conducted an HR organizational
assessment. One of the recommendations was to address delays in completing
investigations in a timely fashion. The request to engage Norman A. Traub &
Associates is responsive to the Moss Adams findings and would allow Human
Resources to readily augment its capacity to conduct workplace investigations by
engaging non-attorney professional investigators and overseeing their work to ensure
timely progress occurs.
On those occasions when an outside attorney-investigator is needed to conduct the
investigation, HR coordinates with the City Attorney’s Office. Because the City
Attorney’s Office is responsible for all legal work in the City, and consistent with past
practice, the City Attorney’s Office supervises the work of such attorneys and all
assignments and legal questions for outside counsel go through them. Human
Resources will continue to utilize the City Attorney’s Office to retain an outside
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investigator when the investigator is an attorney and for more complex investigations
including when the investigation involves higher level employees or officials, a conflict
with HR staff conducting or overseeing the investigation, required subject matter
expertise, anticipated litigation, or other significant exposure factors. Human Resources
will coordinate and inform the City Attorney’s Office when they retain a non-attorney
outside investigator to perform routine HR investigations. Over the last 2 years that we
have been working on investigation service enhancements, we have had to involve
CAO in retaining outside attorney investigators on approximately 6-8 occasions. Most
investigations are routine HR investigations and should not require an attorney-level
investigator. A professionally trained HR/employment investigator is sufficient and
usually can be retained at a lower hourly rate and will streamline the process. The cost
will continue to be covered by the departments utilizing the services with their existing
budgets as is current practice.
Additionally, Human Resources, through organizational culture enhancements, seeks to
promote non-adversarial remedies for complaints or disagreements. Human Resources
staff are not trained in mediation services yet recognize the benefits of such services to
our staff. Therefore, the Human Resources Department seeks to retain HRemedy, Inc.,
to provide this new service to employees. Mediation services as a tool can help
alleviate tensions between co-workers or supervisors, which ultimately has the potential
to minimize formal complaints, formal investigations, avoid litigation, and provide for a
more civil workplace. Mediation, while potentially resolving issues at the lowest level,
also reinforces civility, communication, and consensus-building, which in turn enhances
the City’s organizational culture. The cost will be covered by the departments utilizing
the services with their existing budgets.
HRemedy, Inc., and Norman A. Traub & Associates can service the wide array of needs
of the City’s diverse workforce. Not only do they have the expertise sought, but also,
they have a proven track record of providing timely services, which is critical in providing
prompt and thorough resolutions to employee or citizen complaints. Each firm will
provide a non-attorney solution to investigation and mediation matters which will enable
HR staff to increase its capacity to deliver services and reduce cost. The City Attorney’s
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Office will still be utilized to engage an outside investigator for the more complex cases
that either require an attorney-level investigator, or when there is a conflict with HR staff
conducting or overseeing the investigation, or as otherwise explained above. HR
continues to find alternative, lower cost, and healthier solutions to productively address
the organization’s people problems. The recommended actions align with our mission
to attract and retain the next generation of leaders, reinforce a civil and equitable
workforce, and cultivate a culture of accountability, empowerment, and leadership.
The two-year contracts with both Hremedy, Inc., and Norman A. Traub & Associates will
be treated as a pilot program. As HR nears the end of the two-year contracts, they will
evaluate the usage of these contracts to determine if there is a continued need for these
types of services. Should it be determined that a need exists for either service, HR will
return to City Council at that time for authorization to enter into additional three-year
contracts with these firms.
Vendor Selection
Bidder Recommendation
Best Qualified Person/Firm Norman A. Traub & Associates (Investigation Services)
HRemedy, Inc. (Mediation Services)
Evaluation Criteria The level of the firm’s previous projects of comparable
complexity, scale and nature; proven expertise in the area
of work required; evaluation of proposer’s work for previous
clients receiving similar services; project work plan and
timeliness; qualifications of the project team; cost control,
cost effective work and services; quality of work based on
samples; value add/breadth of service, industry best
practices; quality of work and technical capabilities;
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion experience.
Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.190
RFPs Received
Atkinson, Adelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo HRemedy, Inc.
Norman A. Traub & Associates Reilly Workplace Investigations
Renne Public Law Group Oppenheimer Investigations Group LLC
RFP Data
Date Posted Posted On Advertise In (City
Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Date Publicly
Opened
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03/23/2022 City's Online
Bidding Site
Santa Monica Daily
Press
12 03/23/2022
Justification to Award
Based on the evaluation criteria above and criteria in SMMC 2.24.190, staff
recommends HRemedy, Inc. and Norman A. Traub & Associates as the best qualified
firms for mediation and investigation services based on their extensive experience
(the City has worked with Norman A. Traub previously) and work with public sector
clients as well as a demonstrated breadth of service based on industry best practice.
Norman A. Traub & Associates and HRemedy, Inc. received the highest rating from
the City’s evaluators in the following categories: evaluation of proposer’s work for
previous clients receiving similar services; project work plan and timeliness;
qualifications of the project team; cost control, cost effective work and services; quality
of work based on samples; value add/breadth of service, industry best practices;
quality of work and technical capabilities; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion experience.
Environmental Review
The contracts for investigation and mediation services are exempt from the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense
Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that CEQA does not apply, where it
can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may
have a significant effect on the environment.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve funding from the General Fund to award a contract with
Norman A. Traub & Associates and HRemedy Inc., for investigation and mediation
services.
Contract Request
FY 2023-24 Budget
Request Amount Department/CIP Account # Total Contract
Amount
$150,000 Various Department Accounts $150,000
Contract Request
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FY 2023-24 Budget
Request Amount Department/CIP Account # Total Contract
Amount
$75,000 Various Department Accounts $75,000
Prepared By: Christopher Smith, Assistant to the City Manager
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. 22-23 OAKS- HRemedy
B. 22-23 OAKS- NATA
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5.I.a
Packet Pg. 604 Attachment: 22-23 OAKS- HRemedy (5699 : Mediation and Investigation Services)
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Packet Pg. 605 Attachment: 22-23 OAKS- HRemedy (5699 : Mediation and Investigation Services)
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
OAKS INITIATIVE NOTICE
NOTICE TO APPLICANTS, BIDDERS, PROPOSERS
AND OTHERS SEEKING DISCRETIONARY PERMITS, CONTRACTS,
OR OTHER BENEFITS FROM THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
Santa Monica’s voters adopted a City Charter amendment commonly known
as the Oaks Initiative. The Oaks Initiative requires the City to provide this notice and
information about the Initiative’s requirements. You may obtain a full copy of the
Initiative’s text from the City Clerk.
This information is required by City Charter Article XXII—Taxpayer Protection.
It prohibits a public official from receiving, and a person or entity from conferring,
specified personal benefits or campaign advantages from a person or entity after
the official votes, or otherwise takes official action, to award a “public benefit” to that
person or entity. The prohibition applies within and outside of the geographical
boundaries of Santa Monica.
All persons or entities applying or receiving public benefits from the City of
Santa Monica shall provide the names of trustees, directors, partners, and officers,
and names of persons with more than a 10% equity, participation or revenue
interest. An exception exists for persons serving in those capacities as volunteers,
without compensation, for organizations exempt from income taxes under Section
501(c)(3), (4), or (6), of the Internal Revenue Code. However, this exception does not
apply if the organization is a political committee or controls political committees.
Examples of a “public benefit” include public contracts to provide goods or services
worth more than $25,000 or a land use approval worth more than $25,000 over a 12-
month period.
In order to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the Oaks Initiative,
the City compiles and maintains certain information. That information includes the
name of any person or persons who is seeking a “public benefit.” If the “public benefit”
is sought by an entity, rather than an individual person, the information includes the
name of every person who is: (a) trustee, (b) director, (c) partner, (d) officer, or has
(e) more than a ten percent interest in the entity. Therefore, if you are seeking a
“public benefit” covered by the Oaks Initiative, you must supply that information on
the Oaks Initiative Disclosure Form. This information must be updated and supplied
every 12 months.
5.I.b
Packet Pg. 606 Attachment: 22-23 OAKS- NATA (5699 : Mediation and Investigation Services)
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
OAKS INITIATIVE DISCLOSURE FORM
In order to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the Oaks Initiative, the
City compiles and maintains certain information. That information includes the
name of any person or persons who is seeking a “public benefit.” If the “public
benefit” is sought by an entity, rather than an individual person, the information
includes the name of every person who is: (a) trustee, (b) director, (c) partner, (d)
officer, or has (e) more than a ten percent interest in the entity.
Public benefits include:
1. Personal services contracts in excess of $25,000 over any 12-month period;
2. Sale of material, equipment or supplies to the City in excess of $25,000 over a
12- month period;
3. Purchase, sale or lease of real property to or from the City in excess of
$25,000 over a 12- month period;
4. Non-competitive franchise awards with gross revenue of $50,000 or more
in any 12-month period;
5. Land use variance, special use permit, or other exception to an established
land use plan, where the decision has a value in excess of $25,000;
6. Tax “abatement, exception, or benefit” of a value in excess of $5,000 in any
12- month period; or
7. Payment of “cash or specie” of a net value to the recipient of $10,000 in any
12- month period.
Name(s) of persons or entities receiving public benefit:
Name(s) of trustees, directors, partners, and officers:
Name(s) of persons with more than a 10% equity, participation, or revenue interest:
Prepared by: Title:
Signature: Date:
Email: Phone:
Permit #
FOR CITY USE ONLY:
Bid/PO/Contract #
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Packet Pg. 607 Attachment: 22-23 OAKS- NATA (5699 : Mediation and Investigation Services)