On September 13, 2005, the Internal Operations Committee proposed a new ordinance to enact a local bid preference program. Under the proposed ordinance, if the low bid is not a local vendor, any responsive local vendor who submitted a bid which was within five percent (5%) of the lowest responsive bid as determined by the purchasing agent shall have the option of submitting a new bid within 48 hours (not including weekends and holidays) of the County’s delivery of notification. Such new bids must be in an amount less than or equal to the lowest responsive bid as determined by the purchasing agent. If the purchasing agent receives any new bids from the local vendors who have the option of submitting new bids within the 48-hour period, it shall award the contract to the local vendor submitting the lowest responsible bid. If no new bids are received, the contract shall be awarded to the original low bidder as announced by the purchasing agent.
On May 24, 2011, the Board of Supervisors referred to the Internal Operations Committee for consideration the addition of service contracts to the list of purchasing transactions subject to the County’s Local Vendor Preference Program. On October 25, 2011, the IOC discussed the issue and directed staff to begin drafting an ordinance establishing a program for service contracts. The IOC was clear that the intent was to implement a program; not just provide policy advice or guidance to department.
On February 13, 2012, the IOC considered a draft ordinance implementing a local vendor preference for service contract transactions. After review and discussion of the draft ordinance, the Committee voted to no longer pursue the program due to the potential for unintended workload increases to departmental and purchasing staff. In addition, it was noted that the program could potentially lengthen the amount of time it takes between issuing a Request for Proposals and deploying services by the selected contractor.