PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 

COMMISSION AGENDA  STAFF BRIEFING 
Item No.        7e 
Date of Meeting     April 21, 2009 
DATE:    April 15, 2009 
TO:      Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:    Ralph Graves, Managing Director of Capital Development 
Nora Huey, Director, Central Procurement Office 
SUBJECT:  Briefing on Procedures for the Procurement of Personal and Professional
Consulting Services (CPO-1) 

BACKGROUND 
On January 29, 2009, the Port issued a new procedure (CPO-1) for the procurement of personal
and professional consulting services. CPO-1 replaces PUR-2 Procedure and is effective on new
procurement initiated after January 31, 2009.  The Port is implementing the contract
administration provisions of CPO-1 on existing contracts to the extent practicable. 

CPO-1 is a comprehensive document establishing the ground rules for both contract formation
and contract administration. It establishes baseline processes to provide consistent, fair, and
transparent procurement and contract administration practices. To kick off the new procedure,
all Port personnel who participate in the procurement process or are involved in contract
administration are required to attend a day-long interactive class. With the final class scheduled
for May 14, we will conduct 13 training sessions with approximately 350 attendees. The training
focused on the following subject areas: 
Rational and Purpose for Competitive Process and CPO-1 
Acquisition Planning 
Resolution 3605 and EX-2  Commission Approval and Delegation of Authority 
Roles and Responsibilities for CPO and the Requesting Department (RD) 
Differences between Project Specific and Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) 
Procurement Category Requirements: Category I (less than $50,000); Category II
($50,000 to $200,000) and Category III (over $200,000) 
Contract Administration and RD Representative Accountability 
Highlighting Requirements for Service Directives and Amendments


COMMISSION AGENDA  POLICY & STAFF BRIEFING 
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
April 16, 2009 
Page 2 of 2 

Each attendee receives a Training Guide and Reference Material. All documents contained in
the manual, with the exception of the break-out session tests, are available on CPO's new
Service Agreement intranet page (http://compass.portseattle.org/cdd/cpo/sa/index.html). As
additional guidelines and checklists are developed, the documents are posted on the intranet. 
Significant changes in CPO-1 include: 
Acquisition planning for all projects and contracts over $200,000 
Establishment of a communication protocol 
Defining RD Representative's responsibility and accountability 
Implementing a process that involves OSR and the evaluation of small business
participation incentives in consultant procurements over $50,000 
Discouraging the use of Category I procurements for recurring needs and awarding
Category I contracts to the same consultant on a repetitive basis 
Requirement that certain actions be approved by Legal, CPO, and Executive Staff 
Improving document management accountability and establishing separate files for
procurement and contract administration 
Improving transparency of scope of services in the solicitation documents 
o  Project Specific: Identify estimated value of service and contract duration 
o  ID/IQ: Identify contract value and duration that cannot be exceeded, except in
exceptional circumstances 
A key function to successful and timely procurements is acquisition planning. In recent months,
the Port has initiated numerous acquisition planning meetings to understand procurement needs
of the Port. We are looking at cross-division utilization of contracts and strategizing on how to
best meet the needs of the Port while promoting competition, expanding opportunities, advancing
social responsibility, and complying with the law.
NEXT STEPS 
There are still many challenges ahead as we begin to change our contracting practices. CPO and
the Legal Department, in a joint effort, are undertaking a review of state laws. As part of this
review, we are determining if any changes or new procedures are appropriate and/or if we need
to revise current procedures.  CPO is also developing additional training courses on subject
matters such as: source selection evaluation, responsibility determinations for construction
procurements, negotiations, and a more in-depth review of contract administration.  In
conjunction with OSR and Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), CPO is very
interested in implementing within the next year a new software application developed by ICT
that will be easier for businesses to use, improve our roster process, and promote upcoming
procurement.