REPORT TO SHASTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

BOARD MEETING DATE:  May  16, 2017
CATEGORY:  Consent - General Government-3.

SUBJECT:

Approve an agreement with Southtech Systems, Inc. to continue to provide an automated campaign document filing and tracking system.

Supervisorial District No. :  All

DEPARTMENT CONTACT:  Cathy Darling Allen, County Clerk, Registrar of Voters, 225-5611

STAFF REPORT APPROVED BY:  Cathy Darling Allen, County Clerk, Registrar of Voters

RECOMMENDATION

Approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a renewal agreement with SouthTech Systems, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $33,075 (with annual advance payments) to provide an automated campaign filing and tracking system for the period July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2021.

SUMMARY

The proposed agreement would allow the County Clerk/Elections Department to continue to pay for and utilize their current automated system for campaign filing and tracking.  The total cost of the agreement includes license fees, maintenance, and support.

DISCUSSION

The County Clerk/Elections Department is responsible for the tracking and filing of Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) mandated campaign and disclosure documents in Shasta County.  The County has approximately 300 campaign and disclosure filers a year, with many of those filers filing multiple documents.  Since 2008, the County has contracted with Southtech Systems, Inc. to provide, maintain, and support CampaignDocs and WebPublisher software which automates the processing and tracking of FPPC document filings. 

CampaignDocs is a management tool that tracks filing requirements, monitors compliance and generates reports, sends notifications, and produces mailing labels and letters.  WebPublisher works hand-in-hand with CampaignDocs to store documents electronically on a County server, which allows the Department to store the documents for the required seven years of filings using an image repository.  It also allows for the redacting of information and publishes filer information and filed statements to the County’s web site.   

Utilization of the CampaignDocs and WebPublisher software has increased the productivity of staff as they no longer are required to complete a time-consuming manual process for FPPC campaign and disclosure documents.  Use of the software has also increased the availability and ease of which the public can access campaign and disclosure documents.

ALTERNATIVES

The alternative is to not approve this agreement.  This is not recommended as the automated system saves hundreds of hours of staff time, increases efficiency, and provides better customer service to the public. 

OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT

County Counsel has reviewed the agreement and has approved it as to form.  Risk Management and Information Technology have also approved the agreement. The County Administrative Office has reviewed the recommendation.

FINANCING

Costs associated with the proposed agreement are accounted for in the Fiscal Year 2017/2018 Requested Budget as submitted. There is no additional County General Fund impact.