Tell Us Your VGP Story!!

Do you have a cool story about how the Values & Guiding Principles are being used in your agency?  Do you have a great picture of the Values posters hanging in your office?  If so, we want to know!  Forward your stories and pictures to Candace Riddle, Standards Manager (criddle@nigp.org)!  Outstanding stories will be posted here over the next few weeks!

 

This is the story of Marcheta Gillespie, Deputy Director of Procurement, for the City of Tucson, AZ!

 

The City of Tucson, as the first agency to officially adopt and support the VGPs, proudly displays the VGP posters in our conference room for all of our visiting clients and contractors to see.  The posters were a featured item at our recent Procurement Open House as well!  In addition, the City of Tucson identifies our commitment to the VGPs on our website (www.tucsonprocurement.com)  I proudly display the VGPs in my office and share with everyone the honor I had of being part of the team that developed the VGPs.

 

So, how have I used the VGPs in my day-to-day procurement activities?  Answer?  All the time!  It's amazing.  There really isn't a day that goes by without me thinking of the justification and validation of the VGPs in various situations that I encounter in my role as Deputy Director.  Whether I'm dealing with a challenging situation, whether I'm responding to a list serve question, whether I'm discussing a project with staff...you name it, there is a place for the VGPs in the dialogue.

 

One fairly recent example involves an extremely challenging situation with our streetcar project in Tucson.  We encountered a problem with one of our solicitations for a very large, highly visible and much anticipated construction project.  The issue raised points of transparency, ethics, impartiality, accountability, service and professionalism...yep!  All 6 values came into play with this situation.  The challenge we faced impacted all our stakeholders in different ways.  Everyone wanted a different solution focused on their primary interest and concern.  Procurement had to find a solution that addressed the stakeholder concerns, but more importantly for us, a solution that would be consistent with the VGPs.  Let's face it, if we are going to "talk the talk", we've got to "walk the walk".  I'm pleased to say that, although the solution didn't thrill everyone, our department felt confident that we could stand behind the solution and that it was justifiable based upon those VGPs and our professional integrity.  (For more information on the details of THIS story, be sure to attend the NIGP Forum session:  Ripped from the Headlines!)

 

As a public procurement professional, I am so pleased that we have collectively been able to identify those values that represent our profession as we meet the diverse needs of our many stakeholders.  I share the VGPs whenever I have the chance.  It is my signature line on my emails, I mention it in meetings and I look to those VGPs for guidance in my daily activities.  I truly believe this set of VGPs will stand the test of time in our profession and look forward to the exciting Standards that we are developing to provide that next level of support to our profession.