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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, December 2, 2013 Page 26 Councilmember McGehee offered her favorable impression with the best value presentation and potential for soliciting information from vendors familiar with the product or service versus departments with limited knowledge doing the pur- chasing and potentially missing opportunities. Even with a centralized purchasing person, Mr. Trudgeon opined that there would be limited cost savings, with staff already taking advantage of state contracts, consortium purchasing, and other cost factors in competitive pricing. Mr. Trudg- eon noted that the bottom line was the budget, and if was beneficial for staff to obtain the lowest prices possible. Councilmember Etten questioned any benefit and spoke in support of the current process without adding a middle person to the purchasing process, slowing down business and removing Department Heads from the decision-making process. Councilmember Laliberte expressed appreciation for the current process; but questioned if there were citywide policies regarding purchases from one depart- ment to another, and all operating consistently beyond CIP purchases. Mr. Trudgeon responded that large purchase decisions are made in advance, and an informal and internal policy was used providing consistency and forethought. Mr. Miller advised that, while there were no centralized purchasing policies, many were addressed statutorily throughout city. Mr. Miller concurred with Mr. Trudgeon on general purchases, that the total cost of ownership included not just what you buy, but its optimal replacement time, annual maintenance costs; and other considerations. Mr. Miller noted that best practices were already involved in the purchasing function,just not through a centralized approach. By consensus, the City Council indicated that no further consideration of unified purchasing was desired at this time. 15. City Manager Future Agenda Review Interim City Manager Trudgeon provided a brief review of upcoming agendas. 16. Councilmember Initiated Items for Future Meetings Discussion was held at the prompting of Councilmember Laliberte on responses to-date from 25 of the 40 commissioners surveyed by the Commission Subcommittee; and it was the consensus that an initial review of those responses be held at the January 6, 2014 or- ganizational meeting. Recognizing that there may be points of agreement or disagree- ment among individual Councilmembers, Mayor Roe suggested this opportunity be used as a starting point in discussions, and Councilmember Etten asked that the Subcommittee provide feedback from commissions by category as well as by commission.