Q&A
Concerns raised over Passport system implementation and funding
7:20:21
·
151 sec
Council Member Julie Won expresses concerns about the implementation and funding of the Passport system for contract processing and questions the administration's commitment to it.
- Won emphasizes the importance of continuing to fund and improve the Passport system
- She notes that 80% of contract registrations were late in the first half of FY24
- Won inquires about an RFI for similar software systems, questioning the commitment to Passport
- OMB Director Jiha suggests discussing Passport's future with the MOC director
Julie Won
7:20:21
Paper based systems are not okay, and we're in modern day era, and we're finally moving towards passport.
7:20:26
And the the because there were the broad cuts for 5% across the board, MOX had no other choice but to cut from that contract.
7:20:35
So if at the March hearing, I was told that they were going to move things in house since the contract was being cut with the center, that they were gonna do the technology migrations in house.
7:20:46
Yet now with these additional headcount cuts, who is going to be working on it?
Jacques Jiha
7:20:51
There's not there's not gonna be any headcount cut.
7:20:53
As I said to you, we're telling them to use their existing vacancies to backfill.
7:20:59
Okay.
7:20:59
The head counts we're about to lose from DOE.
7:21:02
And as they have needs going forward, okay, to hire, okay, to put in a request, okay, for headcounts.
Julie Won
7:21:10
Okay.
7:21:10
Because 80% of late contract registrations in the first half of twenty twenty four is really unacceptable, and we continue to hear testimonies from nonprofits who are struggling because they're not getting paid.
7:21:22
So I really want to emphasize how important it is that we continue to fund Passport because Passport itself, even as an out of the box solution, is still out of date because of the ways that we're catching up to make sure that we are meeting all the requirements that we have set for ourselves in the task force.
7:21:39
So I really implore you to make sure that Mox is funded and that their employees are actually baselined to have an end to end process because we just won the cola.
7:21:48
We want to make sure that people are being paid on time.
7:21:52
For Passport itself, are you in support of Passport continuing to be a system for our city's processing for all of our contracts?
Jacques Jiha
7:22:02
We'll have a long discussion about this.
7:22:04
I don't think we have enough time.
Julie Won
7:22:05
Okay.
7:22:06
Because I did notice that there was an RFI, released for a request for information on similar software systems doing this work for the city to evaluate.
7:22:16
Does that mean that you are not committed to continue to work on Passport?
Jacques Jiha
7:22:20
I I can't talk for, Marx, but, you should definitely talk with the the, the director and to get a sense of where she's heading.
Julie Won
7:22:31
Okay.
7:22:32
Because I really want to emphasize how important Passport has been as a transition for our nonprofit providers and our vendors that we want to continue to have continuity.
7:22:41
As much as it has flaws, we need to continue to invest in the existence existing system as well as the staff members of the mayor's office of contracts to make sure that we are paying our nonprofits on time and that we have the services.
