Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Subject: Amendment to the Agreement with Precise Mailing and Printing
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing an amendment to the agreement with Precise Mailing and Printing for the printing and mailing of certain materials relating to the conduct of elections, increasing the amount by $100,000, for a new total amount not to exceed $299,000, with all other terms of the Agreement remaining unchanged, and granting a waiver of the competitive bidding requirement for acquisition of these services pursuant to Section 2.83.050(e) of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code.
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BACKGROUND:
The Registration and Elections Division (“Division”) of the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections is responsible for printing and mailing of material relating to voter registration and elections. On or about February 15, 2024, the Division entered into an agreement with Precise Mailing and Printing (“Precise”) for printing and mailing services related to the conduct of elections, for the term of January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2025, in an amount not-to-exceed $199,000.00 (“Agreement”).
California law recognizes that the procurement of elections-related materials is time-sensitive and requires flexibility. For example, Elections Code section 14100 provides that “[t]he county elections official, in providing the materials required by this division, shall not be required to utilize the services of the county purchasing agent.”
Thus, the Board has historically approved a master services agreement process for the Division under which the Division is authorized to contract with an eligible pool of vendors for elections-related materials and competitive bidding requirements are waived pursuant to Section 2.83.050(e) of the County’s Ordinance Code, subject to an aggregate not-to-exceed amount and review by the County Attorney of each agreement to ensure appropriate procurement and contracting practices are followed. The Board most recently approved such a process on January 14, 2025 (in Resolution No. 80857) for the March 4, 2025 Special Election on Measure A, and Precise was included in the list of vendors approved by the Board.
Precise prints and mails a large quantity of the public-facing materials that the Division sends to voters in San Mateo County, including voter notification cards, postcards required by the Voter’s Choice Act, materials informing voters of changes to their district boundaries, voter address confirmation postcards, and outreach materials.
DISCUSSION:
The current Agreement with Precise funded election outreach to voters as well as printing of Voter Notification Cards and other election material. However, due to increased voter registration, which required higher than expected printing needs, as well as the unplanned Special Election in March 2025, funding for the Agreement has been exhausted before the end of the term, which runs for another six months through December 31, 2025.
To ensure that Precise is able to continue printing and mailing essential elections-related materials to San Mateo County voters, staff recommends that the Board increase the Agreement’s maximum fiscal obligation by $100,000.00 to a new total not-to-exceed amount of $299,000.00, with all other terms of the Agreement unchanged.
Staff further recommends that the Board waive the requirement of competitive bidding for acquisition of these essential elections materials and services pursuant to Section 2.83.050(e) of the Ordinance Code, as it has done in the past, most recently in January 2025. As a local vendor based in South San Francisco, Precise has been able to respond in near real-time to issues that may arise in the printing and mailing of such materials and to offer the County efficient and cost-effective mailing solutions.
The County Attorney has reviewed and approved as to form the resolution.
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
Amending the Agreement will help to ensure that all registered voters in San Mateo County are mailed election and voter registration materials.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Appropriations to cover the costs of the amended agreement are included in the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department FY 2024-25 Recommended Budget. Future service costs will be included in future fiscal year budgets. There is no Net County Cost associated with the amendment.