Procurement Solicitation and Evaluation - March 2006

Procurement Solicitation and EvaluationReleased: March 2006Download the Full Report hereDownload highlights here

City officials identified procurement as a significant potential risk to accomplishing their objectives.  We found the city's procurement ordinances and the Department of Procurement's procedures to be consistent with industry practices that are intended to ensure fair and open competition.  We focused on aviation procurements because these represent a large proportion of the city's total contracting budget. 

While we found the process to be open and to treat bidders and potential bidders fairly, we recommended the procurement department make the following improvements, intended to reduce delays and the potential for conflicts of interest:

Monitor the number and nature of changes to solicitation documents that originate with user departments and evaluate completed solicitations to provide guidance and improve templates and checklists

Offer briefing meetings to vendors to answer questions and provide feedback before protests are files. 

Allow evaluators to discuss criteria during evaluations. 

Ensure evaluators are qualified, free from conflicts of interest, and understand evaluation criteria and procedures.