Week Eight

This week I was assigned the task of going through the list of services from the list I composed on planet bids and picking out the reoccurring contact information from the different services. By doing so, I was able to create a contact list of department officials that the Office of Sustainability should meet with to discuss the sustainability of our professional services throughout the different departments. Aside from this, I was then directed to see if there was best management practices within the various fields of sustainability. Some of the major services provided by the city in the past several years revolved around the services related to architecture, construction, engineering, and landscaping. Because the city has placed a high emphasis on making their supply chain more sustainable, it was important to research these services to ensure there was a best practice in these fields.

Upon research, I found some brief descriptions of the best management practices. While there was less information for some, there was enough information to start a conversation between the contacts and my supervisor about where we can require certain sustainable elements. The City of Santa Monica procures goods and services based on, "best values," as opposed to the lowest bidder. This allows these discussions to take place without the fear of immediate rejection from the purchasing and public works department.