(April 7) Without carrying out a competitive bid, the county board of supervisors this week accepted the recommendation of county real estate services director Terry Thompson to extend, at a cost of more than $3 million, for five more years the lease the county had in place for a 25,000 square foot building that houses the transitional assistance department and the department of aging and adult services.
More than 21 years ago, on November 23, 1993, the board of supervisors, which was then composed of Marcia Turoci, Jon Mikels, Larry Walker, Jerry Eaves and Barbara Cram Riordan, approved a ten-year lease with Pioneer Partners, Inc.  for 15,000 square feet of office space at 56357 Pima Trail in Yucca Valley to house the county’s East Mojave transitional assistance and department of aging and adult services offices, with two five-year options to extend.  The original term of the lease was from February 1, 1995 through January 31, 2005. In the twenty years since the lease was originally approved, subsequent boards approved four amendments, in July 1996, November 1996, August 2002 and April 2010 to extend the term through January 1, 2015, increase the size of the lease area to 25,000 square feet, and amend certain other provisions of the lease.
More recently, the county department of human services requested, according to Thompson, that “the real estate services department obtain authority to negotiate further extensions of the lease as an alternative procedure to a formal request for proposals as provided in County Policy 12-02 as there are no further options to extend the term of the lease, and the location continues to meet the requirements of the departments.”
This week, Thompson joined with Nancy Swanson, the director of the county’s transitional services department, and Ron Buttram, the director of the department of aging and adult services, in drafting a recommendation calling for the extension of the leasing arrangement with Pioneer Partners
On March 26, 2015, the county administrative office approved a capital improvement
program request  to add two five-year options and extend the term of the lease
for five-years by exercising one of the options. The board’s action in approving the five-year extension extends the county’s occupancy to twenty-five years. County Policy 12-02 requires a thorough and detailed review by the county administrative officer or his designee to validate the need for and provide an analysis of any lease with a term of more than twenty years.