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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Resolution 11094 (Workers Comp. Eval.; Wright & Associates)RESOLUTION NO. 11094 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SIGNING OF AN AGREEMENT WITH SUSAN M. WRIGHT & ASSOCIATES FOR EVALUATION OF THE CITY'S WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAM THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL RESOLVES as follows: The CITY MANAGER is authorized to execute, on behalf of the City of San Rafael, an Agreement with Susan M. Wright & Associates for Evaluation of the City's Workers' Compensation program. I, JEANNE M. LEONCINI, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of said City on Monday, the 20th day of May, 2002, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Cohen, Heller, Miller, Phillips & Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None A5tl a.g C - EQj jc&6 1P FoQ JEANNE M. LEONCINI, City Clerk AGREEMENT FOR EVALUATION OF THE CITY'S WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAM This Agreement is made and entered into this 20th day of May, 2002, by and between the CITY OF SAN RAFAEL (hereinafter "CITY"), and Susan M. Wright & Associates (hereinafter "CONSULTANT"). AGREEMENT The parties hereby agree as follows: 1. DUTIES OF CONSULTANT. CONSULTANT shall perform the duties and provide services as provided in Exhibit "A", attached and incorporated herein. 2. DUTIES OF CITY. CITY shall provide all requested information to CONSULTANT in a timely manner. For the duties performed and the services provided by CONSULTANT, CITY shall pay CONSULTANT an amount not to exceed $6,600. Should the CITY desire more analysis or a presentation before the City Council, CONSULTANT shall be compensated for the additional work at the hourly rate of $140. 3. TERM OF AGREEMENT. The performance of this Agreement shall be from the date of execution until the project is complete. 4. INDEMNIFICATION. CONSULTANT shall indemnify, release, defend and hold harmless CITY, its officers, agents, employees, and volunteers, against any claim, demand, suit, judgment, loss, liability or expense of any kind, including attorney's fees and administrative costs, arising out of or resulting in any way, in whole or in part, from any acts or omissions, intentional or negligent, of CONSULTANT or CONSULTANT'S officers, agents and employees in the performance of their duties and obligations under this Agreement. 5. NONDISCRIMINATION. CONSULTANT shall not discriminate, in any way, against any person on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin or disability in connection with or related to the performance of its duties and obligations under this Agreement. 6. COMPLIANCE WITH ALL LAWS,. CONSULTANT shall observe and comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, ordinances, codes and regulations, in the performance of its duties and obligations under this Agreement. CONSULTANT shall perform all services under this Agreement in accordance with these laws, ordinances, codes and regulations. CONSULTANT shall release, defend, indemnify and hold harmless CITY, its officers, agents and employees from any and all damages, liabilities, penalties, fines and all other consequences from any noncompliance or violation of any laws, ordinances, codes or regulations. 7. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR. For the purposes, and for the duration, of this Agreement, CONSULTANT, its officers, agents and employees shall act in the capacity of an Independent Contractor, and not as employees of the CITY. CONSULTANT and CITY expressly intend and agree that the status of CONSULTANT, its officers, agents and employees be that of an Independent Contractor and not that of an employee of CITY. 8. ENTIRE AGREEMENT -- AMENDMENTS. The terms and conditions of this Agreement, all exhibits attached, and all documents expressly incorporated by reference, represent the entire Agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement. The terms and conditions of this Agreement shall not be altered or modified except by a written amendment to this Agreement signed by the parties. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the day, month and year first above written. CITY OF SAN RAFAEL ROD GOULD City l; Mana er ATTEST: J*A.4-.-� —MM. LEOI�CINI, City Clerk APPROVED f GARY T. RJ *'-6�Z City Attorney 2 CONSULTANT ',1 0 SUSAN M. WRIG Owner, Consultant SUAN WR16HT 8 1. May.zoos ASSOCIATES Specializing in Mr. Daryl Chandler Assistant Director of Management Services Workers' Compensation CITY OF SAN RAFAEL 1400 Fifth Avenue, Room 210 San Rafael, California 94915-1560 Subject: Workers' Compensation -Program Review & Evaluation Dear Mr. Chandler: Claims Auditing 8 (onsulting please forgive the delay in forwarding this letter and information to you. Unfortunately this is a very busy time, given the end of the fiscal Program Design 8 Development year, and I appreciate your understanding and patience. Performance 8 Nality (ontrol MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE CITY'S NEEDS: In our telephone Development call, we discussed a consulting project that would evaluate the efficiency of the City's workers' compensation program.. The City Training Programs 8 Seminars wants to be certain it is doing all it can to be both cost effective and to meet the needs of its employees. Expert Witness Analysis Testimony Specifically, the City has focused on workers' compensation during the past several years, including safety, education and the selection of a new third party claims administrator (CMI). Unfortunately, despite this increased focus, costs continue to increase, as has litigation. To be certain that all is being done that should be done, the City would like to review and assess its internal practices. Mail: P.O. BOX 7.290 SCOPE: I perform these assessments on a regular basis, and refer to Sammento,(alif 15872 this type of consulting project as a "Best Practices Evaluation and Comparison". If your City wanted to hire me to complete such a Dellvery: project, I propose the following approach: 736o Flowerwood Way Sacramento, (alit gS831 Voice: (916) 4u-S43z fa(simile: (916) 472-aS33 EXHIBIT "A" Mr. Daryl Chandler CITY OF SAN RAFAEL May 15, 2002 Page 2 obtain your historical data and claims information; evaluate the City's cost drivers; - examine any City -related issues that could impact the workers' compensation program; examine the impact of recent legislative changes / benefit increases; and review the internal adjustments that have taken place within the City. In addition to the above, I would also meet with personnel in your City that are most familiar with the program and its operation. Once this data is gathered and analyzed, I would prepare a report summarizing my findings. Your City would have a complete picture of where it has been, what has worked, and whether changes should be made in the future. If there were opportunities for improvement, they would be pointed out. FEE: The cost for this project is based on the time it will take to (1) gather the information, (2) talk to City personnel, (3) analyze the data, and (4) prepare a written report. I expect that it would take 2 - 3 days to gather information and meet with City personnel. It would take a day to document and analyze this information and 1 - 2 days to write a report. The project would be billed at a rate of $1,100 a day, and would be in the range of $5,500 - $6,600 to complete the work suggested above. This cost includes all time and expense related to travel and report production. During our discussion you felt that a written report would probably suffice. Should the City find that more analysis is needed, or should a presentation before your City Council be desired, the additional cost would be based on an hourly rate of $140. This work would be done in late July or early August, based on other work commitments that I have, and the availability of City personnel. I include information about my background and my firm. I have extensive experience working with the public sector, particularly cities, counties and joint power agencies. If I can answer any additional questions, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you. Very sincerely yours, SUSAN M. WRIGHT Enclosure PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS: SUSAN M. WRIGHT Ms. Wright has been involved with the workers' compensation field for the past 32 years. She has worked for third party administrators, insurance companies and self- administered employers. From a technical perspective, she has monitored and directed litigation, managed complex medical problems for injured workers, developed successful rehabilitation programs and handled all other administrative aspects of claim adjusting. Ms. Wright is familiar with the needs of public and private employers. She has represented management in retirement hearings involving the Public Employees Retirement System. She has extensive experience preparing written documents for presentation at School Board, City Council, Executive Conunittee and Board of Director meetings. In 1991 - 92, Ms. Wright was one of four consultants selected to provide professional services to the Workers' Compensation Rate Study Commission, a Commission established by the California Legislature to evaluate the Minimum Rate Law and the rate -making mechanisms associated with the workers' compensation insurance field. As the owner of Wright & Associates, she provides auditing and consulting services to employers throughout the State. Ms. Wright's experience enables her to develop performance standards for third party administrators, and to identify "best practices" within the industry. Ms. Wright is considered an expert in courts of law within this State. Ms. Wright also teaches a course in Workers' Compensation Program Administration and Management for the University of California Extension, Davis. Ms. Wright started her consulting company in January 1991. Since that time she has conducted more than 120 audits and consulting projects for the public and private sector. She is an approved auditor recognized by the State's Office of Self Insurance Plans. She currently oversees the claims of the Self Insurers Security Fund, the State Agency charged with managing the claims of bankrupt self-insured employers. She is also the Executive Director for the California Self -Insurers Association. Ms. Wright obtained a Bachelors Degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1983 (Magna Cum Laud) and then subsequently obtained a Juris Doctor degree from McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific in 1989. She is a member in good standing of the California State Bar. LE EMPLOYMENT HISTORY Owner, Consultant Claims Examiner SUSAN M. WRIGHT & ASSOCIATES UNDERWRITERS ADJUSTING CO. Sacramento, California San Francisco, California 1991 to present 1978-1979 Claims Manager LAW OFFICE OF LLOYD STALEY SCHOOLS INSURANCE AUTHORITY San Francisco, California Sacramento, California 1976 to 1978 1984 to 1991 Claims Administrator State of California CITY OF TORRANCE WORKERS' COMP. APPEALS BOARD Torrance, California San Francisco, California 1979 to 1984 1970 to 1976 EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS Juris Doctor McGeorge School of Law May 1989 Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Science (Magna Cum Laud) California State University, Dominguez Hills June 1983 Certificate to Administer Self -Insured Plans State of California, Department of Industrial Relations July 1979 7T t ru PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Member California Chamber Of Commerce (Steering Committee) Workers' Compensation Legislation 1989 to 1990 Board of Directors Council Of Self -Insured Public Agencies 1983 to 1984 Founding Director, Southern California Chapter Public Agency Risk Management Association (PARMA) 1983 to 1984 Associate Member California Self Insured's Assn. 1991 to 1992 Member Woman Lawyers Of Sacramento 1991 to present State Bar Of California 1993 to present PRESENTATIONS "THE NEW AGE OF CLAIMS PROFESSIONALISM" C.A.J.P.A. Special Training Seminar South Lake Tahoe, California September 1990 "EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAM" C.O.S.I.P.A. Workers' Comp. Program, Fall Oakland and Los Angeles, California September 1992 "WORKERS' COMPENSATION COST CONTAINMENT" C.A.J.P.A. Fall Conference South Lake Tahoe, California September 1993 "BUILDING A BETTER HOUSE - THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CLAIMS AUDIT, ACTUARY STUDY AND FINANCIAL AUDIT" C.A.J.P.A. Fall Workshop - Accounting Section Sacramento, California January 1998