RDOS boss in hot water over daughter’s contract
Questions are swirling around a decision to hire the daughter of the top bureaucrat at the Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen to evaluate public sentiment towards the emergency management program that he leads.
Amanda Newell of Sundog Solutions was awarded the $60,000 contract by RDOS staff in late 2022. She’s the daughter of Bill Newell, who serves as RDOS chief administrative officer and director of its emergency operations centre.
Newell never mentioned that familial link when he informed the RDOS board at its Dec. 15, 2022, meeting about the award of the contract and spoke for 13 minutes about the project rationale and its emphasis on public consultation.
He did, however, refer to the matter obliquely in his CAO’s report at the last RDOS meeting on Feb. 15, 2023, and noted a timeline of the contract award process had been sent to some, but not all, directors as a result of a “glitch” in an internal email system.
RDOS chair Mark Pendergraft then suggested the issue be revisited at the next board meeting, March 2, once everyone has had a chance to read the report.
Tim Roberts, the RDOS director for Area G (rural Keremeos/Hedley), said he appreciated the information coming to light – even belatedly – because he was initially caught flatfooted when confronted about the issue.
“I understand the processes that need to take place, and as a CAO, being the only real employee of the board, I think it’s important to have that kind of information up front when these things happen,” said Roberts at last week’s meeting.
“Even when we trust that the individual or the contracts that come up are appropriate and well thought-up, it’s just good because, for instance, I was waylaid by an agency and by some other people and it was news to me at the time it came.”
According to a copy of the timeline handout supplied on request Tuesday by the RDOS, the terms of reference for the project were approved by the board in December 2021 and the project expense of $60,000 was approved through the budget process in March 2022.
The contract was put out to tender and just two bids were received by the Oct. 21, 2022, deadline, both from out-of-town companies: Calian Ltd. at $35,000 and Knudsen Taylor Ltd. at $156,000.
“The two initial proposals were qualified, but were remote and would rely mostly on electronic engagement, with occasional visits to the area. Both were off on price and schedule,” states the handout, which was prepared by Newell himself and is styled as an administrative report to the RDOS chair.
The four-person evaluation committee, of which Newell was a member, then invited bids from two local companies, Red Dragon Consulting and Sundog Solutions, and the second tender closed Nov. 21, 2022.
The contract was awarded Nov. 28, 2022, by Mark Woods, RDOS manager of community services, who also served on the evaluation committee, along with two staffers from the emergency management department.
The proposals from Red Dragon and Sundog Solutions “were assessed independently on scope, personnel and methodology to ensure the focus was on the specific details provided in the proposals,” according to the handout.
“Both proposals addressed the core requirements with knowledgeable and experienced team members, both in alignment with the (terms of reference). A contract was awarded to the highest rated firm.”
Sundog Solutions’ bid, which was priced at exactly $60,000, received a score of 94 points from the evaluation committee, making it the highest-ranked proposal. Red Dragon’s bid, which was priced at $63,000, received 89 points.
The handout suggests Newell is not in a conflict of interest because Newell didn’t receive a direct financial benefit from the contract; there were “three levels of separation” between Newell and the department manager who approved the contract; and other members of the evaluation team were aware of the Newells’ familial connection.
The handout also goes on to note, however, that “a question has been raised as to whether the CAO should have withdrawn from the final proposal evaluation,” and that, “in hindsight, one could see there might be a perception of bias to those not having full information on the process and the evaluation factors in the selection process.”
Newell said in an email Tuesday his role on the bid evaluation committee was limited to providing comments on the proposals submitted.
“Sundog Solutions has three qualified professionals on this contract, one of which is my daughter. Based on the terms of reference, this was not an evaluation of the program,” wrote Newell.
“The study was designed to benchmark against other regional districts to see what they were doing, gather information from the public to identify their expectations for the emergency program; and, if they were willing to pay for enhancements. This contract is simply payment to qualified professionals for four months of work.”
According to the RDOS purchasing policy, department managers can approve contracts valued at up to $75,000, the CAO can approve contracts valued between $75,000 and $150,000, while anything more than that requires board sign-off.
The policy contains a section on conflict of interest that states purchases of goods and services from family members of RDOS staff and board members “would result in a conflict of interest unless the purchase is disclosed and participation discontinued in accordance with the Local Government Act.”
It also states RDOS employees “shall exercise caution” when there is even a possibility of a perception of conflict of interest and advises those same employees to report their concerns to their direct supervisor.
Newell, whose direct supervisor is the board, said in the email he followed the rules accordingly and doesn’t believe he’s in a conflict of interest.
“There’s a conflict of interest when there is a pecuniary benefit to an individual. That’s not the case in this situation,” wrote Newell.
“Disclosure was made to the deciding authority on the contract. As soon as the board reassembled following the election, a report was brought forward for information to advise on progress. The contract had already been awarded and the project underway.”
Asked why he didn’t mention the familial link directly in December 2022, Newell said, “In this contract, the job is data collection and analysis. The board will make any decision on what they want to do with the program in the future.”
Finally, asked if he will resign over the issue, Newell replied: “That would be for discussion with the board of directors.”
Amanda Newell declined comment Tuesday.
According to the Sundog Solutions website, she’s the company’s founder and primary consultant, and holds a master’s degree in disaster and emergency management.
She worked as a paramedic for the B.C. Ambulance Service from 2006 through 2018, then started Sundog Solutions that same year and went on to a handful of different jobs in the emergency management sector, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“With over 20 years of emergency response and emergency management experience, she brings both an operational and academic lens, allowing her to provide clients with well-rounded, operationally ready emergency management solutions. Having experience working in all levels of government, non-profit and private contexts, Amanda has the ability to deliver quality, custom services specific to the needs of each client,” states the profile.
“She specializes in planning, preparedness, response and recovery of small to large scale disasters at the local level and leverages her extensive experience in field operations, EOC operations and response planning, grant writing, complex project management and participatory stakeholder engagement to facilitate an inclusive, collaborative approach to emergency management.”
The RDOS timeline handout is attached to the electronic version of this story at www.pentictonherald.ca.