The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) is pleased to announce two workshops being held October 14 and 15 at the CCAP North Office in Harrisburg, PA and open to all county elected officials and staff.

On Thursday, October 14, join us for the "Legal Issues - Bargaining in a Down Economy" session with speakers Vicki Beatty, attorney at law, and Michael Palombo, attorney at law, of Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller, P.C.. Topics of discussion include evaluating your approach to bargaining, dealing with non-bargaining employees, the impact of 1620, negotiating give-backs, anticipating interest arbitration, trends in county bargaining and arbitration and more. This course is scheduled from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. with lunch included. Participants in the CCAP Academy For Excellence In County Government and Advanced Certification programs may earn credit to fulfill the Legal Issues required course upon their participation at the event.

Friday, October 15 features a "Risk Management" session with speaker John Sallade, CRM, CCAP Insurance Programs. Topics of discussion include accident reporting, claims, governmental immunity, safety, bonding, workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, controlling employee lawsuits, among others. The course will run from 9 a.m. to noon and participants in the CCAP Academy For Excellence In County Government and Advanced Certification programs may earn credit to fulfill the Risk Management required course upon their participation at the event.

The workshops are open to all county officials and staff. Associate members and other CCAP vendors are also invited to attend. Registered Academy and Academy Advanced Certification participants may attend at no cost. The costs for non-Academy participants (CCAP members) vary. Other fees may apply for Academy graduates, associate members and other vendors. There is a multi-day discount available. The workshop fee includes refreshment breaks and session materials on both days and lunch for the Thursday session.

Seating is limited - for registration information, please visit the CCAP website or contact Jennifer James, meetings coordinator, by phone (717) 526-1010 or e-mail jjames@pacounties.org.

In the last few days there have been significant developments in the U.S. Communities program that are important to CCAP and to our members. Many of you may have received a letter from Office Depot regarding their decision not to compete for the U.S. Communities program's office supplies contract with Los Angeles County. That letter contained some inaccurate and misleading statements that need to be corrected.

Earlier this year, Los Angeles County refused to extend the office supplies contract to Office Depot for another year. Instead, the county issued an RFP and a number of suppliers, including Office Depot, expressed interest in becoming the supplier through the U.S. Communities program. Last week, however, Office Depot made a very surprising and public withdrawal from the competition.

In letters to suppliers and statements to the media, Office Depot called the U.S. Communities supplier commitments "onerous" and "different" and offered those as the chief reason for their decision not to compete. But in communication to their shareholders the company cited profitability as the core issue in their decision. They wanted a higher profit margin than they believed the contract would afford them. They said that continued participation in the program was "inconsistent with [their] long-term strategies."

We are founding sponsors of the U.S. Communities program because of the value that it provides our members. The cornerstone of that value proposition is the set of supplier commitments that every supplier must agree to honor. These commitments include a guarantee that the supplier is offering the very best government pricing to the program, a commitment to quality products and services and a commitment to participation in audits and benchmarking. The supplier commitments are not new, but if any supplier considers them to be onerous or inconsistent with their long term strategies then we will look forward to working with suppliers who feel differently.

In the last couple of years Office Depot has struggled with allegations and scrutiny from critics, auditors and attorneys general. They have been dogged by some very public criticism of their business practices. And they have struggled to manage their business. We understand that our members, and indeed all public agencies, need to know that they can look forward to supplier partners who are participating in this program willingly and for all the right reasons.

Our members need to know that U.S. Communities program suppliers share the commitment to provide exceptional value and the best government pricing as well as outstanding customer service. We want suppliers who understand the important service that you provide the taxpayers and communities you serve.

The review process to select a new office supplies supplier is well underway in Los Angeles County. And the county has the support of a team of nationally recognized public procurement professionals. As that process continues, we will keep you informed of the progress so that you can make fully informed purchasing decisions consistent with the best interest of your agency.

Based on the schedule right now, we anticipate a new supplier contract will be announced in the next month. In the meantime, if you have any questions about U.S. Communities or the office supplies program, please contact Julia Jackson at CCAP.