10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, February 16, 2010

By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

By the end of April, San Bernardino County government expects to have recommendations on how it can operate more efficiently.

The county will pay $87,500 to a Los Angeles firm to look at how San Bernardino County government is organized and compare it to eight other counties around the state and nation. It will recommend possible changes in the government structure such as the relationship between county supervisors and management and how decisions are made.

With the recent hiring of County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux, who started Tuesday, county officials believed it was a good time to take a fresh look at the organization and give him a tool to consider possible changes, county spokesman David Wert said.

After rejecting a bid by another firm to do the job for $50,000 the contract was awarded to Performance Works last week. Bidding was open for one day.

“The idea here is this is something the county wanted to get done quickly,” Wert said. “We wanted it in place when Mr. Devereaux started with the county.”

Ten companies already on file with the county were offered the chance to bid, four did. Renta-CEO Inc. of Glendale, bid $50,000. However, that company was determined not to have the necessary experience for the job, Wert said.

According to a staff report, Performance Works has 15 years of consulting experience and has conducted similar audits for public and private entities.

The company has ties to a firm that recently received a $150,000 contract with the county without going through a competitive bidding process. In September, the board hired La Jolla Institute to prepare a report on the quality of life in San Bernardino County.

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