Help Maricopa County Do the Right Thing

[George Toft]

I just spent some time reading Maricopa County policies.  Interesting
references:

MC1-101 DEFINITIONS 
25."CONTRACTOR" means any Person who has a Contract with a County
Governmental unit. For purposes of Article 5, Contractor may also mean
Respondent as defined in this Article. 
36."DEBARMENT" means an action taken by the County Administrative
Officer under MC1-902 to prohibit a Person from Participating in
Maricopa County Procurements. 
80."PERSON" means any corporation, Business, individual, union,
committee, club, other organization or group of individuals. 
113."SUSPENSION" means an action taken by the County Administrative
Officer under MC1-902 temporarily disqualifying a Person from
participating in Maricopa County Procurements. 
http://maricopa.gov/materials/p-code/HTML_code/Code-01.htm

[Microsoft is considered a Contractor and a Person.  This is important
below.]


MC1-407 MAXIMUM PRACTICABLE COMPETITION 
All Specifications shall seek to promote overall economy for the purpose
intended and encourage competition in satisfying Maricopa County's needs
and shall not be unduly restrictive. 
http://maricopa.gov/materials/p-code/HTML_code/Code-04.htm#MC1-401

[Is there any technology that is Microsoft exclusive?  I believe there
are sites that explain how to replace Exchange Server completely using
Linux/OSS; and SQL Server is replaceable with mySQL; IIS & ASP is
replaceable with Apache & PHP, right?]


MC1-902 DEBARMENT AND SUSPENSION OF CONTRACTORS 
B. The causes for Debarment or Suspension shall include, but are not
limited to, the following: 
2. Conviction of any Person or any subsidiary or affiliate of any Person
under any statute of the Federal government, this State or its political
subdivision or any other State for: 
k. Any other offense indicating a lack of business integrity or business
honesty which affects responsibility as a Contractor.
3. Conviction or civil judgment finding a violation by any Person or any
subsidiary or affiliate of any Person under State or Federal Antitrust
Statutes. 
http://maricopa.gov/materials/p-code/HTML_code/Code-09.htm#MC1-901

[As I read MC1-902.B.3, Microsoft (a Person), having been convicted of a
violation of Federal Antitrust Statues, cannot be a County Contractor.]


I love policies :)

George



Jim wrote:
> 
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> I have heard from a "reliable source" that the Maricopa County Council has
> decided not to automatically sign off on having the county sign an Enterprise
> Agreement with Microsoft.  The source said that people within the county IT
> organizations made their opinion known that the Enterprise Agreement might
> not be the best path for the county to blindly follow.
> 
> Since no decision has yet been made, I urge you to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
> contact your Maricopa County district council person and your city council
> people with some simple questions.
> 
> a. Ask them if they plan to approve funding for the Enterprise Agreement with
> the Microsoft Corporation?
> 
> b. If they do plan to do so, ask them to provide you with a copy of the
> agreement and the dollar amount to be expended.
> 
> c. Ask them when they will be hearing from the public on the budget, so if
> they are adopting an Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft, you can have your
> voice heard publicly.
> 
> d. Ask they why do they do business with a vendor that has been convicted of
> felony wrongdoings.
> .
> e. Ask them if they have they considered alternatives to Microsoft products.
> 
> I dont have city contact information but county contact information is as
> follows:
> 
> Map To Find Your Council Person
> http://www.maricopa.gov/county_glance/maps.asp?link=districtMap
> 
> Council Contact Email
> Dist 1 Fulton Brock      FBrock@mail.maricopa.gov
> Dist 2 Don Stapley       DStapley@mail.maricopa.gov
> Dist 3 Andrew Kunasek    AKunasek@mail.maricopa.gov
> Dist 4 Max Wilson        mwwilson@mail.maricopa.gov
> Dist 5 Mary Rose Wilcox  MrWilcox@mail.maricopa.gov
> 
> Also I would cc: the County Administrator and Deputy County
> Administrator
> 
> CAO: David Smith         DSmith@mail.maricopa.gov
> DCA: Sandi Wilson        Swilson@mail.maricopa.gov
> - --
> Jim
> 
> Freedom is worth protecting
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