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| After a year of pondering the 2020 election anomalies, I wanted to know
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| where were the documented lessons learned or corrective action
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| processes? This is what I came to expect from any healthy organization.
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| Unfortunately, I heard of none and could find any documentation to
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| suggest any effort was taken to learn from these anomalies and take
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| corrective actions.
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| I began asking questions. I reached out to the Secretary of State, the
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| Governor, and the Maricopa County Recorder. The Secretary of State
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| responded that they couldn’t provide legal advice and referred me to the
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| Governor. The Governor never responded. Although I spoke with the
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| Recorder, I still never received an answer explaining what process
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| existed to objectively evaluate a citizen’s governance concern.
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| November 2024: Midterm Election
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| I have never interfaced with Katie Hobbs, but her actions left me
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| pondering her influence over the November 2024 midterm elections. Katie
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| Hobbs ran for and was elected governor in 2024. She ran for Arizona
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| Governor while she was Arizona Secretary of State. This would appear to
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| exclude Governor Hobbs as have any influence over Maricopa County
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| governance. However, there is some overlap in the election process
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| between her role as the Arizona Secretary of State and Maricopa County’s
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| implementation of the elections process. According to the Arizona
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| Secretary of State’s website:
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| “The highest profile duty of the office is oversight and
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| administration of secure and accurate elections. The Secretary of
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| State serves as Chief Election Officer for the State. One of the goals
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| of the office is to register more voters and encourage their active
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| participation in elections. As part of elections administration, the
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| office certifies: voting devices, election results, candidates and
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| measures to the ballot, as well as the results of statewide elections.
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| While there may have been no statute or policy to prevent Katie Hobbs
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| from managing the election process for her own election, the situation
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| suggests an ethical question. You might be surprised to learn how this
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| issue isn’t about Katie; it’s about how her behaviors may have
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| influenced other government employees.
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| * Principle 1 – Demonstrate Commitment to Integrity and Ethical Values
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| (1.02)
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| December 2024: Gaining Support
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| In December 2024, the Executive Guidance Committee for the Maricopa
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| County Republican Committee approved a resolution I submitted for their
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| review. The resolution, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Contracts Must
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| Be Open and as Transparent, Subject to Public Oversight, Audits, and
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| Corrective Action Plans, identified performance gaps in Maricopa County
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| governance and called upon the Arizona State Legislature to establish
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| laws mandating that all Public -Private Partnership contracts institute
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| Contract Compliance Oversight and Corrective Action Plans.
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| April 15, 2025: Public Records Request
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| I was getting nowhere with my efforts to engage with elected officials
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| so I decided to investigate using my experience, which was in the
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| finance area, specifically with contracts. I submitted Public Records
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| Request (PRR) to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS)
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| Procurement Department on April 15, 2025. In turn, Maricopa County
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| assigned tracking number PRR 2025-719 and forwarded my request to the
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| Procurement Department.
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| I sought copies of signed contracts maintained by Maricopa County
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| relating to the Service Level Agreements (SLA) during the 2018, 2020,
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| 2022, and 2024 election cycles, including:
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| * Amendments
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| * Revisions
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| * Renewals
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| * Addenda
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| * Exhibits
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| * Post-election contract administration records
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| I specifically requested the contracts or Memorandums of Understanding
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| (MOUs) from the following entities:
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| 1. Dominion Voting Systems contracts and related amendments
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| 2. Runbeck Election Services contracts and related amendments
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| 3. Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) election-related agreements maintained
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| by the County
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| 4. County-maintained USPS-related election agreements
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| 5. Temporary staffing contracts used for first-level signature
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| verification
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| 6. Written records reflecting post-election contract changes for the
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| 2018–2024 cycles
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| The request did not seek ballots, voter data, tabulation data, or
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| confidential voter information. Again, my interest was in the resolution
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| of anomalies, not the election outcome.
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| >>>> Note for following delivered some Runbeck and Dominion contracts
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| [use the legal name of the companies here, but put the short name in | |
| parenthesis, such as (a.k.a., Runbeck)]
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| I received a 116-page Runbeck Election Services contract, followed later
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| by a second 58-page version, with no explanation of what I was looking
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| at or how the documents related to one another. I also receive[Explain
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| the scope] from Dominion Voting Systems. None of the other contracts or
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| MOUs requested were delivered.
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| As I reviewed these Runbeck contracts, I found multiple dates,
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| strikethroughs, and what I later told were amendments. However, these
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| amendments were not self-explanatory. No documentation was provided to
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| justify or show the person or people responsible for approving the
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| amendments; just the strike throughs and actual changes were shown.
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| * Principle 3 – Establish Structure, Responsibility, and Authority
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| (3.09, 3.10, 3.11)
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| * Principle 17 – Evaluate Issues and Remediate Deficiencies (17.05,
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| 17.06,
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| May 15, 2025: Let’s Play Hot Potato
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| On May 15, 2025, MCBOS Procurement Department reassigned my PRR my
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| original request (PRR 2025-719) to Information Governance Department as
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| PRR 2025-1123. This department then reassigned PRR 2025-1123 to the
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| Elections Department as PRR 2025-139. The Elections Department then
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| transferred PRR 2025-139 to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office as PRR
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| 2025-64.
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| I tried to resolve my concerns with email and phone conversations from
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| representatives in each of these departments. Unfortunately, no
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| additional records were provided beyond what was delivered shortly after
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| the initial records request of April 2025.
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| On June 11, 2025, the Elections Department stated it had no responsive
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| records. On June 27, 2025, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office closed
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| its request by stating records had been released and asserting no
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| statutory obligation to respond. No single department was responsible
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| for my PRR. Instead, each department determined if there was anything
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| they could do to respond to my PRR, which resulted in no action from
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| three of the assigned departments.
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| Neil Thibodaux reached out to me in November of 2025 for the purpose of
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| gaining additional insights into the resolution that I had authored in
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| 2024 and was resubmitting for 2026 approval. Neil had retired from the
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| Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station and was familiar with their
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| Corrective Action Program, which was required by 10 CFR 50, Appendix B,
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| Criterion XVI, Corrective Actions. He could see how a CAP program could
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| improve County performance. From that point forward, we have been
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| collaborating to bring attention to Maricopa County performance gaps
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| that could be resolved through CAP.
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| Maricopa County was unable to provide the following records, which I had
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| requested:
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| * Amendments, addenda, renewals, exhibits, or revisions for 2018–2024
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| * Post-election contract administration records
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| * MVD election-related contracts
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| * USPS-related agreements
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| * Temporary staffing contracts for signature verification
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| I eventually sought judicial relief. On December 1, 2025, I filed
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| special complaint CV2025 – 063720, which was processed by the Superior
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| Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. This complaint was submitted
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| pursuant to A.R.S. § 39-121 et seq. Five defendants were named in this
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| complaint, which included the following:
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| * Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS)
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| * MCBOS Procurement Department
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| * MCBOS Information Governance Department
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| * MCBOS Elections Department
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| * Maricopa County Recorder’s Office (MCRO)
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| The defendants were named in accordance with the agencies the County
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| determined needed to address my PRR. My PRR was routed to all of these
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| agencies and they were unable to resolve my request for additional
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| records or provide a complete explanation of the documents provided.
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| I referenced applicable Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.), which stated
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| the records Arizona counties were required to preserve for public
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| inspection in my plaintiff’s brief. Five defendants (government entities
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| or agencies) were named, which reflected the multiple handoffs of my
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| PRR. No one government entity took responsibility for resolving my
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| concern.
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| In January 2026, the Executive Guidance Committee for the Maricopa
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| County Republican Committee re-approved the same resolution that had
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| been submitted in December 2024, Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
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| Contracts Must Be Open and as Transparent, Subject to Public Oversight,
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| Audits, and Corrective Action Plans,
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| The judge ruled in favor of Maricopa County, the defendant. He ruled
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| that the County had delivered all the relevant records based on
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| affidavits and testimony provided by the Maricopa County Staff. The
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| issue of whether other documents and records should have been available
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| and provided in accordance with Arizona statutes was not addressed in
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| the ruling.
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| [include the discussion with Jen, direction to file a complaint,
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| frustration finding the complaint, Jen sent a link to file a complaint,
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| research of complaints, end with why we selected James Taylor as the
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| ideal representative to hear our proposal]
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| August 3, 2026: Submitted Complaint
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| On August, 3, 2026, I submitted my complaint in accordance with the
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| guidance of [abc-Jen] and the special link that was sent to me, which
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| wasn’t accessible on the public webpage. The complaint summarizes my
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| objectives, which are cross-referenced to Part B, Governance Gaps.
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| Generally speaking, the complaint consisted of the following topics;
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| * Complaint #1 requests the Contract Compliance Review that I was
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| directed to submit through the Office of Procurement Services. It
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| seeks written determinations regarding unresolved contract
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| compliance questions arising from my Public Records Request and
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| related correspondence.
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| * Complaint #2 raises a separate governance question. Throughout this
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| case study, my concerns involved multiple County functions,
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| including Procurement, Elections, the Recorder's Office, Information
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| Governance, County Management, and the Board of Supervisors. While I
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| was directed to the Procurement complaint process for
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| contract-related concerns, I have been unable to identify a publicly
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| documented process informing citizens where to submit a governance
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| complaint concerning the County's compliance review process itself
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| or other cross-department compliance concerns.
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| Notes:
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| i. Cross-references to a Green Book attribute in Bold font denotes an
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| attribute with Green Book documentation requirements.
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| ii. Cross-references to a Green Book attribute with underlined font
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| denotes an attribute with specific public accountability.
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| For Contract Compliance Review
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| Note:
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| 1. Please identify the complete sequence of Runbeck contracts and
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| amendments governing the November 3, 2020 General Election,
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| including the effective dates of each contract and amendment. [Part
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| B; 5.02, 5.05, 6.03, 7.04, 7.05, 7.06, 8.09, 9.01, 9.02, 9.03, 9.04,
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| 9.05, 9.06, 9.07, 9.08, 9.09, 9.10, 9.11, 9.12, 9.13, 10.04, 10.21,
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| 10.22, 10.23, 15.01, 15.02, 15.04, 15.09, 16.06, 16.07, 16.08,
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| 16.09, 16.10, 17.01, 17.02, 17.03, 17.04, 17.05, and 17.06]
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| 2. Which Disaster Recovery Plan was contractually in effect for the
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| November 3, 2020 General Election? [9.05]
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| 3. Please identify the agreements, contracts, memoranda of
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| understanding, the applicable Election Procedures Manual (EPM), or
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| other governing documents relating to:
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| * Motor Vehicle Division terms and conditions with Elections; [see
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| listed attributes in #1, above]
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| * United States Postal Service election mail processing; [see listed
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| attributes in #1, above]
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| * First-level signature verification for the November 3, 2020 General
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| Election; and
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| * Any applicable Election Procedures Manual provisions governing these
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| activities.
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| 4. If any of the documents identified in Question 3 do not exist, were
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| not maintained, or cannot be produced, please state that directly.
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| 5. Who is responsible for performing the initial evaluation of a
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| citizen-reported concern that may involve laws, regulations,
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| contracts, policies, procedures, or internal controls?
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| 6. Who determines whether such a concern is a routine administrative
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| matter or a potential compliance issue requiring formal review?
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| 7. Is there an identified process requiring that determination before a
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| concern is routed to one or more County departments?
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| 8. If such a process exists, please identify the policy, procedure,
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| administrative directive, ordinance, or other governing authority
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| establishing that process.
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| 9. When a citizen reports concerns involving governing contracts, the
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| Election Procedures Manual, discrepancies in contract documentation,
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| Disaster Recovery documentation, the inability to locate agreements
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| or memoranda of understanding, or other apparent gaps involving
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| contracts, policies, procedures, regulations, or internal controls,
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| who determines whether those issues warrant formal compliance
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| review?
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| 10. If requested contracts, amendments, agreements, memoranda of
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| understanding, the applicable Election Procedures Manual, or other
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| governing documents cannot be produced, who determines whether that
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| itself constitutes a compliance issue requiring further
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| investigation or corrective action?
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| 11. If a concern is determined to warrant formal compliance review, who
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| is responsible for assigning ownership of the matter?
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| 12. Who is responsible for coordinating any cross-department
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| investigation?
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| 13. Who determines whether corrective action is required?
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| 14. Who verifies that corrective actions have been effectively
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| implemented?
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| 15. Who is responsible for monitoring for recurrence?
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| 16. Who is responsible for formally closing the matter?
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| 17. How is the reporting citizen informed of the outcome of the review?
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| == Related Governance Principles ==
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| * [[Principle 13 - Use Quality Information|📋 Principle 13 - Quality Information]]
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| * [[Principle 14 - Communicate Internally|💬 Principle 14 - Internal Communication]]
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| * [[Principle 15 - Communicate Externally|📢 Principle 15 - External Communication]]
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| * [[Principle 17 - Evaluate Issues and Remediate Deficiencies|🔧 Principle 17 - Remediation]]
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| == Navigation ==
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| {| class="wikitable" style="width: 100%;"
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| ! colspan="3" | Quick Navigation
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| |-
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| | style="width: 33%; text-align: center;" | [[Main Page|🏠 Main Page]]
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| | style="width: 33%; text-align: center;" | [[The Story|📖 The Story]]
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| | style="width: 33%; text-align: center;" | [[Governance Analysis|📊 Governance Analysis]]
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| |}
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