§ 4-605. REGULATION OF COMMUNICATIONS DURING COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT; NOTICE OF REGULATED COMMUNICATION RULE.

(a)

No Proposer shall initiate, engage in, or continue any communication to or with any elected official, and no elected official shall initiate, engage in, or continue any communication to or with any Proposer, concerning or touching upon any matter which is the subject of a competitive procurement within the scope of this article except as permitted in this Section 4-605.

(b)

Only communications meeting the following requirements are allowed under this ordinance: a communication that is

(1)

Made on the record in a regular or special meeting of the Council; or

(2)

Between or among elected officials outside of a regular or special Council meeting, provided that none of the communicants is an agent or representative of a Proposer, or acting in concert with or at the behest of a Proposer, and provided further the communication is not prohibited under the Ralph M. Brown Act (Government Code §§ 54950, et seq.); or

(3)

Part of the record presented to the Council as a result of being communicated to City staff involved in, and in the ordinary course of, the competitive procurement; or

(4)

An identical writing that is delivered simultaneously and by identical means to all elected officials, the City's Purchasing Manager, and the City Manager, at their respective official City offices. Except to the City's Purchasing Manager, hand deliveries must be made by someone other than a Proposer; or

(5)

Made as a result of participation in a formal selection committee that may be established by the City Manager, or designee, to evaluate a proposal(s). Elected officials participating in a selection committee may receive documents that are not provided to all elected officials.

(c)

An elected official's staff is not prohibited from communicating with Proposer(s), however staff is prohibited from sharing with the elected official information received as a result of such communication unless that communication is permissible under subsection (b).

(d)

The regulated communication rule established by this section and a reference to this article shall be set forth in each Bid Invitation, RFEI, RFP and RFQ, or in the respective specifications or other documents referred to therein.

(Added Ord. 2004-41, § 1, eff. 5-7-04; Am. Ord. 2007-96, § 3, eff. 1-19-08; Am. Ord. 2014-49, § 1, eff. 12-18-14).