(A) Competitive sealed proposals may be used for the purchase of goods, services or construction, or to obtain concession contracts, particularly where specifications cannot be adequately prepared that permit the award on the basis of the lowest evaluated bid price; the use of proposals would promote innovation, state of the art technology and overall efficiencies to the benefit of the city; or the evaluation of responsive offers depends on levels of performance, expertise, financial capability or other criteria and not price alone.
(B) Purchases by competitive sealed proposals shall be made by a request for proposals (RFP). The following provisions shall apply:
(1) The RFP shall include a weighted scale to indicate the relative importance of evaluation factors to be used in the scoring of proposals.
(2) Pricing, revenues or other cost-related items will be a weighted factor in scoring the proposals, unless the Chief Procurement Officer makes a written determination that a cost factor is inappropriate.
(3) Evaluation factors shall be developed by the user departments according to their needs in conjunction with the Central Purchasing Office or CIP.
(4) The Mayor shall name an ad hoc advisory committee to evaluate proposals. The committee shall include as one of its members a representative from the department requesting the purchase.
(5) The contents of proposals may not be disclosed to any persons other than the members of the ad hoc advisory committee or its advisors until approval of the recommendation of award. If a request for proposals is canceled and a similar RFP will be issued within six months, the contents of proposals received in response to the first RFP may not be disclosed until after approval of the recommendation of award for the second RFP, cancellation of the second RFP, expiration of the six month period, or a written determination of the Chief Procurement Officer that disclosure will not be detrimental to the interests of the city and offerors.
(6) Additional information may be requested from and interviews may be conducted with all offerors determined in writing by the ad hoc advisory committee to be among the finalists considered for award. Revisions to proposals may be permitted after the submission of proposals and prior to approval of the ROA for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. Any discussions with finalists may not disclose any information derived from proposals submitted by competing offerors.
(7) The committee shall submit to the Mayor the ROA containing a list of the top three or more proposals in the order in which they are recommended by the committee. The Central Purchasing Office shall retain as a public record any committee notes which contain an explanation of the reasons for selection.
(8) The committee's list of recommended proposals shall be approved or disapproved or revised by the Mayor. If the Mayor has disapproved the list, he or she shall provide the committee with his or her reasons for revision or disapproval of the list, in writing.
(9) If City Council approval is required, the Mayor shall submit the ROA and an executive communication containing the term and dollar amount of the contract, and a copy of the RFP to the City Council for approval. The executive communication shall be approved or disapproved by Council. In the event of disapproval, the City Council shall give its reasons therefor. The Mayor may submit a revised ROA to the City Council if an ROA is not approved.
(10) If the ROA for an RFP has been approved by the City Council, the contract resulting from that RFP and any supplements to that contract will not require an additional approval by the City Council on the condition that the amounts of the contract and contract scope were identified in the executive communication or any related documents presented to City Council for approval. Any supplement to a contract resulting from an RFP previously approved by the City Council shall require additional approval by the City Council if the contract is increased by over 20% of the amount previously identified, or the supplement changes the scope of services related to the management or operations of a city facility.
(11) Prior to City Council approval, but after the ROA has been initially approved, negotiations may be conducted with the recommended offeror, or offerors if multiple contracts will be awarded. If negotiations are unsuccessful, as determined by the Chief Procurement Officer, negotiations may be conducted with the next offeror or offerors identified in the ROA.
(12) An RFP for the City Council shall be subject to the provisions of this article, with the exception that proposals submitted shall be evaluated and recommended for award by an ad hoc advisory committee appointed by the Director of Council Services, and the ROA shall be approved by the City Council without the Mayor's approval.
(Ord. 26-2011; Am. Ord. 2019-005)