“Writing laws is easy, but governing is difficult”
Municipal Code
Background: PVE is governed by a Municipal Code. On a number of occasions, one will hear in council that the Municipal Code “shall govern,” “takes precedence” or “prevails.” In the Code is a requirement to get competing bids. There have been a number of instances where it did not appear that City Council had solicited competing bids for some major services [e.g. for engineering, legal and external audit] thus making the bid selection process incomplete and less than transparent in terms of best value.
Question: Are you familiar with the City of Palos Verdes Estates Municipal Code? Are you familiar with its direction relative to “Purchasing Systems” which requires a minimum number of bids, solicitation of bids etc.? Do you pledge to follow the guidelines of the code in all matters?
Responses:
Gayne Brenneman
“GAYNE BRENNEMAN
”Yes to all questions.
I firmly believe that as an ‘elected’ official, representing the ‘voters’ and residents of PVE, I have a duty and obligation to adhere to the PVE rules, regulations, and municipal codes governing all actions taken on behalf of its residents.””
Sanford Davidson
“SANFORD DAVIDSON (incumbent)
(Councilmember Davidson declined to supply answers to any of the questions posed)”
Dawn Murdock
“DAWN MURDOCK
”Yes.Yes.Yes.
The Purchasing System is covered by section 3.24 of the municipal code. In what may be an error of omission, the code does not require services to be bid. Only supplies and equipment over $25K must be put out to bid. The only reference to services is under 3.24.070 Open Market Procedure which states that “services of an estimated value in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars or less may be made by the purchasing officer without going through the bid process outlined in 3.24.060,” and that bids should be collected whenever possible. The City spends significant sums of money on services contracts. The code must be fixed to address these loopholes.
Further, for purchases below twenty-five thousand dollars, there is not a requirement for there to be a written contract. This should also be amended.
To streamline the purchasing and contracting process and protect the City, the city attorney and city manager should build a standard contract template used for all contracts which includes standard terms and conditions with a statement of work including a description of the standard that must be met to receive payment.””
Jim Roos
“JIM ROOS
”I am committed to transparency in City contracts and to the use of competitive bidding to reduce costs to taxpayers.””
Bill Sewell
“BILL SEWELL
”Yes, I am familiar with Section 3.24.60 of the Municipal Code which requires competing bids. I would point out that neither 3.24.10 nor 3.24.60 includes bids for services but includes only supplies and equipment. This needs to be corrected immediately.
Early in my career I was a Federal Contract Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) and received extensive training in Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). More recently, I was Pro-gram Director for the $6.5 Billion LACCD Construction Bond Program and put procurement systems in place to purchase supplies, equipment and services totaling more than $20 million per month. All of these purchases were required to be fully transparent. I was both responsible and accountable for them. I would like to apply that knowledge to update our purchasing and procurement procedures.
I pledge to follow the current guidelines in the code and to update the code to close loopholes and clarify any conflicting regulations.””