Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority board questions purchasing power

When she started her job as the Lakewood Ranch Town Hall purchasing manager in October, Ana Owen was ready to perform the tasks associated with her position.

Those tasks, such as making purchases of equipment and services, might be subject to change.

The Inter-District Authority is not sure how much authority to grant to the purchasing manager.

Owen was hired to streamline  the process of making purchases for departments in Town Hall. She said that a government or private business benefits from a purchasing manager who has a full understanding of the rules.

Then things can get done quickly and efficiently.

But during the IDA’s agenda review meeting Nov. 17, the question arose of how much she could spend without seeking the approval of the board.

Operations had requested approval for the purchase of a $30,000 truck.

The board began to discuss whether Owen could have made such a purchase without requesting approval.

“Thirty thousand is quite a bit of money for us,” said IDA Vice-chair Nancy Johnson. “You’re giving her personal signature authority. There ought to be steps that she needs to go through before she puts on that signature.”

The IDA originally had talked about allowing Paul Chetlain, director of operations, to make routine purchases in a timely manner without having to wait until the board’s monthly meeting for approval. The board had not settled on what a routine purchase amount should be.

“On the other side, it’s operational efficiency,” said Alan Silverglat, board secretary. “We spent a lot of money to hire a management team, so we have to let them manage.”

Executive Director Anne Ross suggested that Owen should work with the departments to create a purchasing manual. The board could also set a cap so larger purchases had to pass through the board.

The members also discussed pinning down some kind of policy for emergency expenses, so departments could address immediate needs.

“I don’t think the board is trying to be micromanaging, just operating as efficiently as possible,” Ross said.

The board decided to table any decisions until the next meeting, during which time it asked departments to review monthly needs.

Owen will work with the departments on the manual. She has set up additional goals for her new role at Town Hall. She’s developing a database for all the contracts she handles.