§ 102-371. No contact provision.

(a)

Statement of policy. It shall be the policy of Fulton County that the evaluation and award process for county contracts shall be free from both actual and perceived impropriety, and that contacts between potential vendors and county officials and staff regarding pending awards of county contracts shall be prohibited, except as authorized herein, and that awards of county contracts to vendors other than vendors recommended by county staff should be temporarily held by the board of commissioners, and that such awards shall be supported by either a written report or an oral explanation of the award on the official minutes.

(b)

Applicability. This policy shall apply to all Fulton County employees, officers, elected officials, and agencies. This policy shall apply to all county contracts to be awarded following the solicitation of bids, requests for proposals, or the solicitation of competitive sealed proposals, issued on or after March 1, 2006.

(c)

Procedure.

(1)

The purchasing agent, in conjunction with the user department, shall ensure that every solicitation of bids, request for proposals, and solicitation for competitive sealed proposals, issued on or after March 1, 2006, shall contain instructions stating substantially the following:

a.

No person, firm, or business entity, however situated or composed, obtaining a copy of or responding to this solicitation, shall initiate or continue any verbal or written communication regarding this solicitation with any county officer, elected official, employee, or designated county representative, between the date of the issuance of this solicitation and the date of the county manager's recommendation to the board of commissioners for award of the subject contract, except as may otherwise be specifically authorized and permitted by the terms and conditions of this solicitation.

b.

All verbal and written communications initiated by such person, firm, or entity regarding this solicitation, if same are authorized and permitted by the terms and conditions of this solicitation, shall be directed to the purchasing agent.

c.

Any violation of this prohibition of the initiation or continuation of verbal or written communications with county officers, elected officials, employees, or designated county representatives, shall result in a written finding by the purchasing agent that the submitted bid or proposal of the person, firm, or entity in violation is not responsive, and same shall not be considered for award.

(2)

Between the date of the issuance of any solicitation of bids or proposals for county contracts and the date of the county manager's recommendation to the board of commissioners for award of the subject contract, no county officer, elected official, employee, or designated county representative, except in the course of carrying out obligations as a member of or designated adviser to a vendor selection committee acting in accordance with the terms and conditions of the solicitation, shall initiate or continue any verbal or written communications regarding the solicitation with any person, firm or business entity, however situated or composed, or any such representative of same, who the officer, elected official, employee, or representative knows or should have known has obtained a copy of the solicitation and either has submitted or may submit a bid or proposal; provided, further, except for members of or designated advisers to a vendor selection committee, no county officer, elected official, employee (including staff members of elected officials), or designated county representative shall contact any member of 1) such a vendor selection committee; 2) the relevant user department; or 3) the county manager's office regarding a pending solicitation between the date of the issuance of the solicitation and the date of the county manager's recommendation to the board of commissioners for award of the subject contract, and all inquiries during this period regarding the solicitation shall be directed to the purchasing agent.

(3)

In order to help ensure compliance with the terms of this policy, within two business days following the issuance of each solicitation of bids or proposals, the purchasing agent shall notify each member of the board of commissioners, the county manager, the head of each involved user department, and each then known county representative involved in the solicitation or expected to be involved in the solicitation review process, in writing, of the date of the issuance of the solicitation, the subject matter of the solicitation, and the due date for bids or proposals in response to the solicitation.

(4)

Nothing contained in this policy shall be construed to prohibit any communication regarding any matter other than pending solicitations of bids or proposals and pending contract awards otherwise specifically covered herein.

(5)

Except in cases where there is an emergency need as determined by four affirmative votes of the board of commissioners, whenever the board of commissioners fails to award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder, following a recommendation by the purchasing agent, and whenever, except in such cases of an emergency, the board of commissioners fails to award a contract to the vendor recommended by the vendor selection committee, following the solicitation of competitive sealed proposals, and there is an approved motion to award the contract to a person, firm, or entity other than the person, firm, or entity recommended by county staff, the decision to award the contract shall not be final until the award is also approved at the next following meeting of the board, at which time the board's decision to award the contract to a person, firm, or entity other than as recommended by county staff, shall result in a written report, to be prepared by each commissioner voting for the award, in conjunction with the county attorney, which report shall describe the basis of the award with reference to the terms and conditions of the solicitation or, in the alternative to such a written report, each commissioner voting for the award may immediately following the vote state publicly on the official minutes the basis for such commissioner's vote.

(Res. No. 13-0052, 1-23-13)