§ 2-1189. Competitive sealed proposals.

(a)

Conditions for use. Under this article, when the chief procurement officer determines that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the city, a contract may be procured by the use of the competitive sealed proposals method.

(b)

Request for proposals. Proposals shall be solicited through a request for proposals. Notice of all such requests for proposals shall be forwarded to all members of the finance/executive committee.

(c)

Public notice. When requested by the using agency, the chief procurement officer shall issue public notice for request for proposals from offerors as provided in subsection 2-1188(c).

(d)

Selection. The chief procurement officer, in consultation with and upon recommendation of the head of the using agency, shall select from among the offerors no less than three offerors deemed to be the most responsible and responsive; provided, however, that if three or less offerors respond to the solicitation, this requirement will not apply. The selection shall be made in order of preference. From the date proposals are received by the chief procurement officer through the date the contract is awarded, no offeror may make substitutions, deletions, additions or other changes in the configuration or structure of the offeror's teams or members of offerors' teams. The selection criteria shall include, but not be limited to, those contained in subsection 2-1188(k) and the following:

(1)

Previous experience demonstrating competence to perform the services involved in the solicitation;

(2)

Past performance of previous contracts with respect to time of completion and quality of services;

(3)

The fee or compensation demanded for the services;

(4)

The ability to comply with applicable laws;

(5)

The ability to comply with the schedule for the performance of the services, as required by the city;

(6)

The financial ability to furnish the necessary bonds;

(7)

The financial condition of the offeror;

(8)

The ability to provide staffing of management personnel, satisfactory to the city; and

(9)

The offeror's compliance with the requirements of equal employment opportunity (EEO) and, where applicable, equal business opportunity (EBO) programs, as may be required by ordinance.

The office of contract compliance shall evaluate each proposal as to the offeror's compliance with the requirements of equal employment opportunity (EEO) and, where applicable, equal business opportunity (EBO) programs, as may be required by ordinance. The office of contract compliance shall evaluate each proponent's conformance to the city's EEO-ordinance and the city's EBO ordinance according to relative weights assigned by the chief procurement officer. The combined weights may not exceed 15 percent of the total evaluation points.

When applicable, each request for proposal shall state with specificity the method by which EEO and EBO compliance is weighted to arrive at numerical evaluation points. Proposals that are noncompliant with the city's EEO or EBO requirements shall be deemed nonresponsive without further evaluation of any other solicitation evaluation factors.

(e)

Evaluation factors. The request for proposals shall state the relative importance of evaluation factors.

(f)

Discussion with responsible offerors and revisions to proposals. Discussions may be conducted with responsible and responsive offerors who submit proposals determined to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for award for any purpose in the best interests of the city, including the purpose of clarification to ensure full understanding of and responsiveness to the solicitation requirements. Offerors shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals, and such revisions may be permitted after submissions and prior to award for the purpose of obtaining the best and final offers. In conducting discussions, there shall be no disclosure of information derived from proposals submitted by competing offerors.

(g)

Award. Award shall be made to the most responsible and responsive offeror whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the city, taking into consideration the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals, this section and in section 2-1188(k).

(Ord. No. 2009-78(09-O-1876), § 4, 12-15-09)