He
began by talking about 'Virgin Paper' and 'Recycled
Paper' and the production mills located domestically
and internationally. Paper is made from three
ingredients:
Wood
Water
Energy
The pulped wood is bleached and pressed through
giant rollers and produced in huge paper rolls.
The bleaching helps to achieve varying degrees
of brightness (i.e., 92, etc.)
·
Most recycled papers on the market offer a 30%
(PCW) - post consumer waste. This is the most
common and serves as an industry standard.
·
They provided members with ream samples of both
virgin paper (produced in Indonesia) and recycled
paper (40% PCW - produced in Washington - Gray's
Harbor).
Marc Monforte is
evaluating the use of a 3rd party facilitator
(getting a % fee) to assist with conducting a
Reverse Auction Process for paper procurement.
They may run the Reverse Auction simultaneously
while obtaining sealed bids for their annual requirement
of approximately 150,000 - 200,000 cases per year.
Their hope is to evaluate IF the use of a Reverse
Auction enables them to benefit from any cost
savings from the more traditional sealed bid process.
Kathleen
Hodge noted that her agency is involved
in a review of EWaste Recycling. They are concerned
about the possibility of electronic e-waste finding
its way to China for sorting, dismantling, etc.
They are reviewing a proposal from Greenview Resource
Management Inc., in Whittier, who's recycling
practices help keep California landfills free
from large appliance, etc., hazardous waste.
Cynthia
Duprey told us that she has arranged to
have Michelle Tobin, of the US General Services
Administration, speak to us at our November 4
meeting. The topic will be reviewing the latest
Government Cooperative Contracts and how they
can be beneficial to us.
Additionally,
she and Kathleen Hodge have secured the speaking
services of an excellent motivational speaker,
Mr. Steve Kaye, to talk to us at our December
2 meeting/luncheon - which starts at 1:00 PM.
Pati
Romo, who inquired on the website prior
to our meeting, was given a bid package from Marc
at LAUSD for their recent fertilizer/sod contract,
that may be of use by Pati.
Jan
Steese had nothing to report
Tracy
Hamilton spoke briefly about the Great
Park audit and a design team utilized for this
project. She asked if any member had any personal
knowledge/experience working with a company called
'PICS'. They assist governments with on-line prequalification
for construction (public works) projects. She
also asked if any member had any experience in
working with 'Bid Bridge' for Reverse Auctions.
She has been contacted several times by this company
expressing a strong desire to do business.
Bill
Gellman inquired if any member has been
proactive in purchasing an inventory of:
Hand
(germ) Sanitizer
Masks
Gloves
Disposable
thermometer
Wipes
(antibacterial)
Germicidal
Solution Cleaners
These
and other safety supplies are typically being
stocked by agencies to help keep their employees
healthy in the H1N1 virus pandemic prevention.
Medical experts are predicting a possible 35%
workplace illness if inoculations aren't taken
by employees.
Virginia
Hyatt noted that her contact at the American
Red Cross cautioned her not to panic in setting
up large inventories of such supplies, though.
Most
agencies who attended indicated they have already
made purchases of several of the safety materials
noted above and are using them outside of restrooms,
public contact countertops, and employee kitchen/break
rooms.
Bill
also asked if any agency had recent experience
in purchasing laboratory countertops for use in
a Police evidence/crime lab. The countertops are
going to be subjected to strong acids, epoxies
and other compounds. The City wants a durable
product that will not stain or discolor over time.
They have looked at:
Stainless
Steel
Resins
- Polyester
DuPont
Corian
Avonite
Cambria
Laminate
plastic
Marc highly recommended
the use of the resin product manufactured by Virco
on their school (laboratory) countertops for longevity.
Marc also noted that the Virco products are available
through the U.S. Communities contract.
Wilfred
Cochico asked if we needed a larger room
to accommodate our larger member attendance for
the December 2009 lunch/meeting. The members felt
that the existing room we use is sufficient; however,
did request that he provide an additional 15 chairs
along the conference room walls.
Russ
Caballero indicated he has been working
for over 25 years to obtain an assistant. He proudly
introduced JoAnn Danosian, who works in their
Finance Department as a Finance Technician in
A/P. JoAnn will also serve as an Assistant/back-up
to Russ in the future.
Christine
Roberto informed us of rather recent Cal-Card
problems that have occurred, resulting in 'Declines'
in cardholder purchase transaction requests. Though
no fraud exists, the problem appears to be related
to a 'Customer Control Code' that Cal-Card put
in effect in September 2009.
Virginia
Hyatt indicated that her agency is exploring
'Sustainability Issues', relating to their use
of cleaning supplies.
Marc
Monforte noted that his agency is looking
into 'Sustainability to Green' issues for janitorial
chemicals, and they are in a transitional period
shifting to microfiber products from string mops,
etc. Marc also spoke about the differences in
the Cal-Card (U.S. Bank) and Bank of America Visa
card programs. Their 'E Payables' process allows
vendors to be paid quicker than the traditional
U.S. Bank payment process. This voluntary process
to vendors has a 2% cost, through a 'card shuffler'
process, also preventing fraudulent use. The LAUSD
also provided vendors with a bidded option of
being paid by credit card (within 72 hours) or
to be paid by agency check within 30-45 days.
Most vendors preferred to be paid by agency check
within 30-45 days, rather than to pay the 2% -
3% vendor cost of being paid through the credit
card.
Cynthia
Duprey had nothing to discuss.
Wilfred
Cochico was thanked by members for his
impressive efforts in working with our Webmaster
to obtain a noticeable improvement in our website.
Reporting:
