Charter

Section 300. Public Works Contracts.

The City shall have the power to establish standards, procedures, rules or regulations to regulate all aspects of the bidding, award and performance of any public works contract, including, but not limited to, the compensation rates to be paid for the performance of such work.

Municipal Code

3.44.100 Formal contract procedures.

Purchases of supplies and equipment of an estimated value in the amount of $30,000 set by resolution of the City Council, or less, shall be by written contract with the lowest responsible bidder pursuant to the procedures hereinafter described. The bidding procedures set forth herein shall not apply to situations wherein the subject supplies and/or equipment can only be obtained from a single source. Under such conditions, the contract must still be approved by the City Council and approval of the contract may be conditioned upon the execution of a performance bond as set forth in subsection G of this section.

1. Notice Inviting Bids. Notices inviting bids shall include a general description of the articles to be purchased, shall state where bid blanks and specifications may be secured, and the time and place for opening of bids.
   1. Published Notice. Notices inviting bids shall be published at least ten days before the date of opening of the bids. Notices shall be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation, printed and published in the City, or if there is none, it shall be posted in at least three public places in the City that have been designated by ordinances as the places for posting public notices.
   2. Bidder’s List. The Purchasing Agent shall also solicit sealed bids from all responsible prospective suppliers whose names are on the bidder’s list or who have made written request that their names be added thereto.
   3. Bulletin Board. The Purchasing Agent shall also advertise pending purchase by notice posted on a public bulletin board in the City Hall.
2. Bidder’s Security. All bids shall be ac-companied by one of the following forms of bidder’s security in an amount equal to at least ten percent of the amount of the bid: Cash, cashier’s check made payable to the City, a certified check made payable to the City, or a bidder’s bond executed by an admitted surety insurer made payable to the City. Bidders shall be entitled to return of bid security; provided, that a successful bidder shall forfeit the bid security upon his or her refusal or failure to execute the contract within ten days after the notice of award of contract has been mailed, unless in the latter event, the City is solely responsible for the delay in executing the contract. The City Council may, on refusal or failure of the successful bidder to execute the contract, award it to the next lowest responsible bidder. If the City Council awards the contract to the next lowest bidder, the amount of the lowest bidder’s security shall be applied by the City to the contract price differential between the lowest bid and the second lowest bid and the second lowest bid and the surplus, if any, shall be returned to the lowest bidder. If the City Council rejects all bids presented and readvertises, the amount of the lowest bidder’s security may be used to offset the cost of receiving new bids, and the surplus, if any, shall be returned to the lowest bidder.
3. Bid Opening Procedure. Sealed bids shall be submitted to the Purchasing Agent and shall be identified as bids on the envelope. Bids shall be open in public at the time and place stated in the public notices. A tabulation of all bids received shall be open for public inspection during regular business hours for a period of not less than 30 days after the bid opening.
4. Rejection of Bids. In its discretion, the City Council may reject any and all bids presented and readvertise for bids pursuant to the procedure prescribed in this section.
5. Award of Contracts. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, contracts shall be awarded by the City Council to the lowest responsible bidder.
6. Tie Bids. If two or more bids received are for the same total amount or unit price, quality and service being equal, and if the public interest will not permit the delay of readvertising for bids, the City Council may in its discretion accept the one it chooses or accept the lowest bid made by and after negotiation with the tie bidders at the time of the bid opening.
7. Performance Bonds. The City Council shall have authority to require a performance bond before entering a contract in such amount as it shall find reasonably necessary to protect the best interests of the City. If the City Council requires a performance bond, the form and amount of the bond shall be described in the notice inviting bids. (Prior code § 34.19)