Crane No-Bid contract: Response to Steve Talt Esq. to read San Marino City Ordinance 02.05.06 in its entirety.

Merry Christmas Steve.  I'm finally getting around to your suggestion below that I read 02.05.06 in its entirety.

I could not find Ordinance 02.05.06 in the City's website.  What I was referring to in my email was 02.06.05  I'll assume yours is a typo.

O-02-06-05 was amended by O-20-1366 in June, 2020.  This was mentioned by Mayor ShepherdRomney during a CC meeting.

I would like to reciprocate and ask that you read O-20-1366 that amended O-02-06-05.

Section B. Procurement Of Goods And Services Other Than Public Projects: Procurement of goods and services, but excluding contracts for public projects, shall comply with the following procedures:

2.b. Waiver Of Bidding: Bidding required by this subsection B for procurements of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) or less may only be dispensed with when the City Manager or the Director of the department undertaking the procurement determines in writing that the goods or services are only available from one (1) source or that the best interests of the City are served by dispensing with competitive bids. Bidding required by this subsection B for procurements over thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) may only be dispensed with when the Finance Officer determines in writing that the goods or services are only available from one (1) source or that the best interests of the City are served by dispensing with competitive bids and are authorized by the City Council.

Attached is the response to my Public Records Act request for the Finance Officer's written determination that waived the bidding requirement.  My exact request is in City's the response.

The Finance Director only "reviewed" the July 31, 2020 Staff Report titled "Award of a Professional Design Services Agreement in the amount of $349,660...."

Therefore, I received a "Staff Routing Slip" where the Finance Director did not indicate under "Review" column that his comments were attached.  Since no Finance Director written determination exists to satisfy the requirement in B2.b., the City could  not provide me a copy of the written determination required  to waive bidding for procurement of services over $30,000.

Unless I am reading the above section incorrectly, it seems like the Finance Officer's written determination is required under O-20-1366 Section B.2.b in order to invoke the "Waiver of Bidding."  Since none exists after "research and review of the documents in the City's possession," waiving competitive bidding to award Crane a services contract is a violation of San Marino local ordinance, i.e. law.

Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year.