01/13/2006: "BOCC Action May Cost Council $50K"

A request for a bid from another consultant to implement the new EDEN software program is expected to be nearly $50,000.00. A consultant from the mainland is expected to submit a proposal that will include the County paying a set amount, and airfare, to-and-from Friday Harbor. This proposal will be in addition to one other proposed contract the County has received for $50,000.00

Prior to becoming a County Council, the BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) refused a request by Auditor Si Stephens to be compensated for the extra time that would be involved if he, and his department, converted the county accounting software to a new system (named EDEN) that the County has purchased.

Not unlike purchasing a new software for a personal computer, having the program is only the first step in using it. The program has to be installed, and any data from the old program has to be converted to the new program; and of course one has to learn how to use it. To accomplish that part of the process, the BOCC had authorized the County Auditor to sign a $50,000.00 contract with an outside consultant to convert the county accounting system to the new EDEN system.

Stephens reviewed the project with his staff, and determined that the work could be done in-house, but there would be extra time required to do so. His request to the BOCC was for that extra compensation, which he has estimated to be, not $50,000, but between $5,000 to $6,000.00 for himself, and extra overtime for the staff; which will have to be paid in any case, even if the consultant is hired.

Citing the inappropriateness of increasing the staff pay, when others in the county have taken on some extra time without compensation, the BOCC decided to authorized the increases. As a result the county was without a manager for the project, and instructed the Human Resources Director to obtain additional bids to complete the project. Previous Story

This action did not go down well with everyone, and the there has been pressure put on the County Council to reverse the decision they made when they sat as the BOCC. Councilman Bob Myhr has suggested that the Council should be able to find "mutually agreeable ground for moving ahead in a cost effective way".