City Code Section
- A. An Affected Person may protest their exclusion from multi-tiered Solicitations. Protest of Contract terms and conditions, however, shall be made pursuant to Section 5.34.720.
- B. Offerors may protest in one of two ways:
- 1. If no other protest remedies are provided in the Solicitation Document, an Affected Person can file a Written protest to the Award within seven (7) Days after the issuance of the Notice of Intent to Award if the protest meets the requirements of Subsection 5.34.710 C., pursuant to Section 5.34.730 [Protests of Contractor Selection, Contract Award]; or
- 2. If expressly required or permitted by the Solicitation Document, an Affected Person can file a Written protest after being excluded from the Competitive Range or after being excluded from any subsequent stages of Procurement.
- C. Basis of Protest. An Affected Person may protest its exclusion from the Competitive Range or from subsequent stages of a Procurement only if:
- 1. The Affected Person is a Responsible and submitted a Responsive Offer;
- 2. The City made a mistake that, if corrected, would have made the Affected Person eligible to participate in the next stage of the Solicitation process.
- D. Method of Protest.
- 1. Time. If the Solicitation Document permits or requires protests prior to the City’s issuance of a Notice of Intent to Award, an Affected Person must submit a Written protest specifying its basis within seven (7) Days after the Affected Person was excluded from participating further in the Procurement, unless the Solicitation Document specifies a shorter period of time.
- 2. Contents: The protest must include the following information:
- a. Sufficient information to identify the errors that led to the Affected Person’s exclusion from the Competitive Range or from subsequent stages of a Procurement;
- b. A detailed statement of all the legal and factual grounds for the protest;
- c. Evidence or supporting documentation that supports the grounds on which the protest is based;
- d. A description of the resulting harm to the Affected Person; and
- e. The relief requested.
- E. Required City Response. The City shall take the following actions, as appropriate:
- 1. The City shall inform the Affected Person in Writing if the protest was not timely filed;
- 2. The City shall inform the Affected Person if it failed to meet the requirements of Subsection 5.34.710 D.2., and the reasons for that failure;
- 3. If the protest was timely filed and provides the information required by Subsection 5.34.710 D.2., the Chief Procurement Officer shall issue a decision in Writing and provide that decision to the Affected Person within seven (7) business days unless a Written determination is made by the City that circumstances exist that require a shorter time limit.
- 4. If the City denies the protest, it shall inform the Affected Person if the decision is final or whether the Chief Procurement Officer has decided to refer the protest to the Purchasing Board of Appeals or City Council.
- F. Optional City Response: In addition to the requirements of Subsection 5.34.710 E., the City may take any or all of the following actions:
- 1. Agree with the Protest, in whole or in part, and permit the Affected Person to participate in the next stage of the Solicitation process;
- 2. Issue a Written response to the protest and provide that determination to the Affected Person.
- 3. Refer the protest to the Board of Appeals.
- 4. Refer the protest to the City Council for consideration along with the Chief Procurement Officer’s Award; or
- 5. Take any other action that is in the best interest of the City while giving full consideration to the merits of the protest.
- G. Judicial Review. An Affected Person may not seek judicial review of its elimination from a preliminary stage of a multi-tiered process unless it files a protest in accordance with this rule and has exhausted all avenues of appeal provided by the Chief Procurement Officer.