Shasta County supervisors are set to consider whether to direct staff to issue a request for proposals for up to $1.5 million in opioid settlement funds, according to a Sept. 29 staff report.
The report recommends soliciting applications for the funds and forming a three-member county staff evaluation committee. The proposed committee members are Deputy County Executive Officer Erin Bertain, Chief Probation Officer Tracie Neal and Health and Human Services Agency Branch Director Cindy Lane.
The recommendation follows an Aug. 11 Board of Supervisors direction to agendize discussion of an RFP and an application-review committee. County Purchasing Department staff, with input from the National Institute of Government Procurements and the California Association of Public Procurement, provided information on competitive-procurement practices, the report says.
Those practices recommend separating the people who evaluate RFP responses from the people who approve contracts resulting from the process, according to the report. Staff said the separation would help avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest. Supervisor Matt Plummer, who sponsored the report, concurred with the proposed staff committee.
The report says the potential RFP would have no additional General Fund impact; any resulting contracts would be funded through opioid settlement dollars.
The staff report is a recommendation for Board consideration. It does not establish that the Board approved the RFP or committee, and it does not provide a release date, eligibility rules, scoring criteria or award timeline.
