GOVERNMENT- CONTRACTOR RELATIONSHIP

The Harbor Bay CDD is a Government Agency in the State of Florida.

Chapter 190.003 Definitions.  (4).“Board” or “board of supervisors” means the governing board of the district or, if such board has been abolished, the board, body, or commission succeeding to the principal functions thereof or to whom the powers given to the board by this act have been given by law.

It is important to understand the nature of the relationship between the government and the contractor and the contractor’s employees.  The desire to treat the contractor as part of the team is understandable, but Contractor personnel are employees of a contractor – they are subject to the laws that apply to all individuals, the terms and conditions of their individual contracts with their employer and the applicable terms and conditions of their employer’s contract with the government.

Personal versus non-personal services contracts is a confusing issue.

A personal services contract is characterized by an employer-employee relationship where employees are directly hired under competitive appointment or other standard civil service procedures.

A non-personal services contract; is a contract under which the personnel providing the services are not subject to the supervision and control usually prevailing in relationships between the government and its employees.  Under a non-personal services contract, a contractor dictates its employees’ compensation, benefits and rewards.  The government contracts for a required service, specifies the details in a statement of work or task order, and reviews and approves and pays for work products, not individual performance.

The contractual relationship that exists with the Harbor Bay CDD and our contractors is clearly defined as a non-personal services contract.

Our job as CDD Supervisors (IE the Government), is to set Policy, approve Contracts and oversee the well-being of the district.

We definitely should not be involved in the day to day activities of these contractors. There are times recommendations are in order, but any direct actions demanded by a Supervisor on their own is technically unilateral and potentially counter to the board quorum and in direct conflict of any official vote for that matter.

 Chapter 190 is not the only Florida Statute that governs our actions, as a CDD board we must comply with all the statutes.  Today, the Sunshine Law regarding open government can be found in Chapter 286 of the Florida Statutes. These statutes establish a basic right of access to most meetings of boards, commissions and other governing bodies of state and local governmental agencies or authorities.

Thus, if a Supervisor is unilaterally acting on their own, this can technically be classified as operating in the shade and may be against the direction or voting outcome of the board as a whole.  Furthermore, the unilateral actions can create confusion for the district’s contractors, it can and has led to unnecessary billable work by our contractors including the burdensome legal fees that develop from such obviously misguided actions.

It is my goal to have the Harbor Bay CDD board operate by the rules of the designated: GOVERNMENT- CONTRACTOR RELATIONSHIP,

The Harbor Bay Supervisors should prohibit “out of scope” work, personal services, or performance of “inherently governmental functions.”  The services the contractor is required to provide through its personnel are already set forth in the contract direction and as voted in the official meeting.

There are no “and other duties as assigned.”  When board members are directing staff with a myriad of extra daily tasking; staff are hampered or halted from doing their daily jobs as contracted. This misguided direction has led to numerous unnecessary costs, I.E. squandering “your tax dollars” to the district.

These Do’s and Don’t’s are taken Directly from DOD Training Handbooks:

DO:

• Remember that contractor personnel are not government employees.
• Clearly identify the contractor’s work area. This will help preclude any appearance of a personal service relationship between government employees and contractor personnel.
• Respect the employer-employee relationship between contractor and their employees.
• Clearly describe all contract tasking.
• Ensure only the contractor’s task leader assigns tasking to contractor personnel.
• Set the example—as leaders, establish and maintain high ethical standards.  Emphasize the “Core Values” in upholding these standards.  Consult local legal counsel for specific legal/ethics issues.

Don’t:

• Don’t become so involved as a government official in the operations and policies of the contractor such that your judgment alone forms the basis for contractor actions such as:

(a)  Selecting or recruiting contractor personnel

(b)  Directing, scheduling, or critiquing individual contractor tasks on a continuous basis

(c)  Supervising contractor personnel

(d)  Rating individual contractor personnel performance

(e)  Hiring or firing individual contractor personnel

(f)  Determining who should perform contract tasks or how they should be done

(g)  Pressuring the contractor to use “favorite” personnel, or insisting on particular personnel actions

• Don’t use contractor personnel interchangeably.
• Don’t intervene in the contractor’s chain of command.
• Don’t assign so many tasking that the contractor cannot do their regular job effectively
• Do not interfere with contractor personnel time management.
• Don’t require “out of scope” work, personal services, or performance of “inherently governmental functions.” The services the contractor is required to provide through its personnel are set forth in the contract — there are no “and other duties as assigned.”