Town re-ups with TruePoint on Community Development software subscriptions

The Town Council on May 17 unanimously voted to approve a sole-sourced $104,605 contract with software company TruePoint Solutions DigEplan (LCT Software) to provide services to the Community Development Department over the next five years.

According to staff the funds are already available in its Information Technology Budget.

“TruePoint has a history of prompt and knowledgeable responses to inquiries from Town staff and their level of customer service has always met or exceeded staff expectations,” Town Administrative Analyst Tania Maheu said in a report to Council, presented May 17.

Under the prior deal, Los Gatos had 16 subscription licenses. This agreement bumps that up to 20 subscriptions.

Staff defended the lack of competition for taxpayer dollars by explaining that TruePoint is the only game in town for this sort of software.

“TruePoint is the only company in the US that is certified by LCT Software and the only supplier of the software DigEplan who is authorized to implement, quote, and sell for them,” the report states.

The new deal was part of the council’s consent agenda.

Under the contract the company agrees to provide tech support within 24 hours. And if the problem is more serious it pledges to respond more quickly. For example, if the Community Development Department were to experience a “critical” issue with the app, the firm says it would reach out within an hour and implement a solution within 72 hours.

The changes will take effect May 17, 2022.

Los Gatos finds more cash for recruitment contractor

With the recent resignations of Los Gatos’ Parks and Public Works Director and its Town Clerk, the Town is once again turning to its recruiter to help fill in the gaps.

Fresh off being recruited by Teri Black & Co., LLC, a company based south of Los Angeles, new HR Director Salina Flores told Council it was a good idea to pay them an extra $56,000 to take this on.

“The candidate pool for executive level positions is typically smaller, so it is not unusual for public sector agencies to outsource these recruitment processes to executive recruitment search firms,” Flores wrote in a report. “They have a vast number of contacts. They also have the resources and relationships to proactively contact candidates directly that may not be actively searching for a new opportunity.”

Council approved the terms unanimously via its consent agenda.

The additional cost brings the total contract to $139,500.

Staff said HR can cover $16,000 based on what’s left in the Town’s 2021-22 fiscal plan, but required another $40,000—to come from Los Gatos’ Capital/Special Projects Reserve fund.

In September, President Teri Black told local officials her eponymous company would give the Northern Californian municipality top-notch service.

“You will have my personal commitment that the Los Gatos recruitments will receive the highest level of attention and will not be delegated to a junior level staff,” she said, noting almost two-thirds of placements in 2020 were female. “Please do not hesitate to call if you have any questions.”

The company has previously performed searches for Santa Clara, Redwood City, Mountain View and San Mateo.

Third-quarter investment report worse than last year

Thanks, in part, to staff working with an advisor to replace maturing investments with shorter-term ones, Los Gatos was able to do slightly better than average in the third quarter, which ran from January to March.

But at less than 1% ahead of the Local Agency Investment Fund, it wasn’t much to brag about.

Nevertheless, this allowed the Town to take advantage of the first Federal Reserve rate hike since 2018.

Afterall, the LAIF typically lags the market when market swings happen.

Los Gatos has invested in a variety of companies, like IMB Corp., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Toyota Motor Credit Corp., and Honeywell International.

Despite being out front of some peers, the Town’s third-quarter return of 1.16% was still down 27 points compared with the same period last year, according to the report prepared by Finance Director Stephen Conway.