<Recently, the California State University system placed a purchase
<order (PO) for a book published by a small New Canaan, Conn., <company, The
Information Economics Press. The following is a <copy of the letter the
press sent back to the California procurement <officer. It illustrates some
of the joys of doing business with <government organizations.
When I worked for the California Department of Corrections, we were unable to
order the Spanish language newspaper "La Opinion" because the owners wouldn't
sign the "drug release" form (the form mentioned below):
< - As a condition for our filling out the order you are asking us to
<post statements notifying all employees of compliance with Code <Section
8355 and certifying as to our adopting a four point <Drug-Free Awareness
program that complies with California law. <Deviations are punishable as
perjury under the laws of the State of <California.
Finally a librarian in another prison was able to order the newspaper through
a subscription service, which *did* complete the paperwork. I've encountered
similar problems with getting competitive price quotes, with using the
required percentage of Minority/Women/Veteran-owned business, etc.
Acquisitions from a state agency is not an easy task. (Not to mention the
procurement officers who feel their job is to check every title for possibly
problematic material, but that's another story).
Thanks for sharing that!
Alison
Alison Hendon
alisonmh@aol.com
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