The Board of Supervisors will now consider a proposal to streamline the process for projects under a certain price point.
"We are, I think, among the most difficult governments to contract with probably in the United States," said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.
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Here is an example of the steps needed to contract with the city:
Step 1
The city administrator identifies the need for a technology consultant.
Step 2
Prepare solicitation where the department
- does market research
- creates a scope of work
- set qualifications and scoring criteria
- and determines which city policies impact this contract
Step 3
The Civil Service Commission must approve the scope of work during public hearings. They meet only twice a month. Then, other departments, like the City Attorney's Office, will weigh in, along with the Contract Monitoring Division, located in another building. Its motto is "We oversee the city's contracting process to ensure economic justice for all."
Step 4
Solicitation -- finally, the department is allowed to put the project out to bid.
Step 5
Meetings with potential bidders take place to answer any questions they may have. In addition, the department has a public Q & A process.
Step 6
Evaluate and Award--A scoring panel is used to pick the top contender.
Step 7
Negotiate a contract between the city and the vendor.
Step 8
Even after the negotiations are finalized, a contract must be reviewed by program departments and, in some cases, by the Office of Contract Administration.
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"I don't care if you have a $5 contract or a $5 million contract, the steps are all the same," said Paul Pendergast, president of Build It, a company helping LGBTQ construction businesses compete when bidding on contracts.
The problem, he says, is that when you make the process so cumbersome for small vendors, you dissuade them from even applying.
"For small businesses, many times, the paperwork that it takes to get from point A to point B can be overwhelming, and really, it distracts people from wanting to do business with the city," Pendergast said.
Now, for those contracts under $230,000, San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman wants to simplify the process while revising or eliminating some of the social policy requirements imposed on them--like, for example, the sweat-free labor ordinance, doing business with entities in Burma, or following the same guidelines that U.S. companies follow in Northern Ireland.
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Mandelman says it's obvious some of these requirements have nothing to do with the goods and services small businesses provide.
"Generally, we're focusing on the lower dollar value contracts, because although the dollar value may be low, those accounts, for well more than half of the contract we enter into and suck up a huge amount of city staff and time in processing them. Make San Francisco work," Mandelman said.