Features

In a revival of the sharp fiscal debate that often took place two years ago when newly elected board members sought to establish stricter fiscal controls on the district, Peralta trustees rejected a staff recommendation last week for a one-year renewal of a contract with ePaperless consultants for computer hardware work, agreeing instead to a month-to-month renewal until the scope of the contract work can be evaluated. 

The vote on the month-to-month contract renewal was 4-2-1, with trustees Bill Riley and Cy Gulassa voting nay, and Nicky Gonzalez Yuen abstaining. 

Staff is expected to report back at the next trustee meeting with a full evaluation of past work with the district by ePaperless, along with details on what will be expected from a full year's contract. 

ePaperless, a one-consultant company with a website at http://epaperless.com/ that provides little information on the company background and no contact number, was originally signed to a one-year contract to provide technical advice to Peralta's Information Technology Department in 2003. That contract has expanded into a four year deal as the district grappled with its transfer over to the PeopleSoft computer system to run its operations. 

But last Wednesday, Peralta trustees balked when district Chief Information Officer Gary Perkins requested a one year contract extension for ePaperless to work on the district's transfer over to PeopleSoft's Student Administration system later this year. The SA system, which will allow students to register online, is scheduled to be in place in November, with hardware ready for testing in July. 

Perkins said the goal of the ePaperless contract "is to turn some of the issues in the IT Department around and get them in a more positive direction." He described ePaperless's work as the hardware architect setting up the system, and said the consultant's work would not be needed once the PeopleSoft conversion is completed. 

But after newly elected trustee Abel Guillen asked if there had been an evaluation of ePaperless' work on the original contract and Perkins answered "I can't answer that from a year ago prior to my hiring; I've asked [the contractor] to submit monthly reports since then," veteran trustee Linda Handy, chair of the board's IT committee, introduced a motion to set the contract on a month-to-month basis "so that evaluation questions can be answered." 

Handy said that the original ePaperless contract “was rolled over from a one-year to a two-year deal, without evaluation, after the consultant was in place for only one or two months.” The trustee added that “we need to determine what our needs are before putting out another contract.” Describing ePaperless as “essentially an employee acting as a consultant,” she added that “he didn't have PeopleSoft skills when he was originally retained, so that if he does now, then we've paid $230,000 for someone on a learning curve.” Handy added that “being rushed into this right now. I feel we are being locked into something which may not fit our needs six months from now.” 

Handy and Peralta Chancellor Elihu Harris differed over whether or not it would be difficult to find another consultant to do the work if ePaperless decided not to accept a month-to-month contract. Harris said that “there aren’t that many competent consultants out there. We’re having a hard time securing consultants for our contracts.” But Handy countered that there were plenty of competent technology people available, noting that when Peralta searched for its Chief Information Officer prior to hiring Perkins, the district received 110 applications. 

Even trustees who did not support changing the contract from one year to month-to-month criticized the deal. Yuen, who abstained, complained that last week was the last board meeting before the original contract is due to run out. “I’m uncomfortable with being presented with a contract at the last minute,” he said. “On principle, that’s not the way we should be doing business.” 

And Gulassa, who voted against the change, said that “we’ve had a sad history, a rather chaotic history in our IT Department. There has been a lot of concern, anger, and resentment over how PeopleSoft was brought in.” But while Gulassa said he was respectful of Handy’s concerns, he said that he had confidence in Perkins’ ability to make the right choice in selecting a consultant. 

In other action at last week’s board meeting, trustees approved League of Women Voters Berkeley Albany Emeryville member Polly Amrein to represent senior citizens on the Bond Measure A Oversight Committee. Amrein is the sixth member to be chosen for the seven-member committee, which according to the bond measure language was supposed to be formed last summer, but has yet to meet. Peralta staff members said early in February that former Assemblymember Wilma Chan had tentatively agreed to serve on the committee, but Peralta Chief Financial Officer Tom Smith said last week that Chan had not yet confirmed that appointment.