Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Andrew J. Meyers
Department: County Attorney
Information
Requested Action
title
A. MOTION TO DISCUSS proposed process developed by the Office of the County Attorney to select and retain an appropriate academic institution to design the new County Commission districts in connection with the 2021 redistricting process, and to provide direction with respect to that process.
ACTION: (T-12:40 PM) Approved. (Refer to minutes for full discussion.)
VOTE: 8-0. Commissioner Rich voted in the affirmative telephonically. Commissioner Bogen was inaudible during the vote.
B. MOTION TO DELEGATE to the County Administrator and the County Attorney all authority necessary to complete assigned tasks pursuant to the selection process approved by the Board.
ACTION: (T-12:40 PM) Approved. (Refer to minutes for full discussion.)
VOTE: 8-0. Commissioner Rich voted in the affirmative telephonically. Commissioner Bogen was inaudible during the vote.
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Why Action is Necessary
Necessary to permit Board discussion of the issue and to delegate authority to the County Administrator and the County Attorney.
What Action Accomplishes
Enables discussion required to provide direction and delegate authority in connection with the 2021 redistricting process.
Is this Action Goal Related
No
Previous Action Taken
Summary Explanation/Background
The Broward County Board of County Commissioners (“Board”) is required to approve new County Commission districts by the end of 2021. Due to a 2018 amendment to Section 2.01(A) of the Broward County Charter (“Charter”), the County must retain a Florida four-year public college or university to design new districts. Upon completion of the proposed redistricting designs by the retained academic institution, the Board must approve one of the proposed designs. A memorandum by the Office of the County Attorney containing more details regarding the redistricting process is attached as Exhibit 1.
On December 1, 2020, the Board directed the Office of the County Attorney to develop a process to select and retain an appropriate academic institution to design the new districts. The Office of the County Attorney has prepared a proposed scope of services for the required retention, including a list of questions for interested vendors, which is attached as Exhibit 2.
The following proposed selection process is presented for the Board’s consideration:
1. The Office of the County Attorney will locate eligible colleges or universities with faculty who have either self-identified as having redistricting experience or who appear to the Office of the County Attorney to have redistricting experience (“Academic Consultant”).
2. The Office of the County Attorney will, by February 5, 2021, send to the identified Academic Consultants a request for proposals (“RFP”), with a deadline to respond by March 5, 2021. The RFP will contain the scope of services and questions in substantially the form attached as Exhibit 2.
3. Upon receipt of the responses to the RFP, the County Attorney will promptly develop his recommended ranking of the responding Academic Consultants and provide a memorandum to the Board explaining the recommended ranking.
4. The Board may, in its discretion, choose to interview some or all of the responding Academic Consultants or may direct the County Attorney to request additional information. The Board will then rank the Academic Consultants and direct the Office of the County Administrator to negotiate, and the Office of the County Attorney to draft, a contract with the top ranked consultant, with further direction to move to the next highest ranked consultant if the contract negotiations reach impasse.
Source of Additional Information
Joseph K. Jarone, Assistant County Attorney, 954-357-7600
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
None.