San Diego, California, Contracting Rules, Measure H (November 2016)
| Measure H: San Diego Contracting Rules |
|---|
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Approved
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| Topic: |
| Local charter amendments |
| Related articles |
| Local charter amendments on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in California San Diego County, California ballot measures |
| See also |
| San Diego, California |
A measure moving some contracting rules from city charter to city ordinance was on the ballot for San Diego voters in San Diego County, California, on November 8, 2016. It was approved.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of consolidating charter provisions regarding public contracting and bidding, adopting the state government’s conflict of interests laws as municipal law, and removing the charter’s requirement to advertise public contracts in the city’s contracted newspaper. |
| A no vote was a vote against changing charter law on public contracting and bidding. |
Election results
| Measure H | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 360,127 | 77.09% | ||
| No | 107,047 | 22.91% | ||
- Election results from San Diego County Elections Office
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[1]
| “ |
CHARTER AMENDMENTS REGARDING PURCHASING AND CONTRACTING PROCESSES FOR THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO. Shall the City Charter be amended to: require contracts for public works, goods, services, and consultants to be awarded through a competitive process in accordance with rules adopted by ordinance, remove the position of Purchasing Agent, eliminate the requirement to publish certain notices in printed newspapers, and update other provisions consistent with state law? [2] |
” |
Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the San Diego City Attorney:
| “ |
This measure would amend sections of the San Diego Charter related to advertising and awarding of contracts, and other requirements for the City of San Diego’s contracting of public works, goods, services, and consultants. City contracting rules are found in the Charter, the San Diego Municipal Code, and Council Policy. Many requirements in those documents are duplicative. If approved by voters, this measure would repeal and consolidate into one section several Charter provisions regarding purchasing and contracting, requiring that contracts for public works, goods, services, and consultants be competitively bid in compliance with rules adopted by the City Council by ordinance. Charter provisions requiring public works contracts to be awarded to the lowest responsible and reliable bidder would be repealed. Instead, the Municipal Code would be the primary document to provide specific requirements for City contracting. The measure would continue the exceptions to competitive bidding currently found in the Charter, the Municipal Code, and state law. The Council would be required to adopt an ordinance regarding a competitive process to award consultant contracts, because the existing process is governed by Council Policy that is passed by resolution. Both the Charter and state law prohibit City officials from having a conflict of interest in City contracting. The wording each law uses is different, however, which could lead to inconsistent results under the Charter and state law. If approved, this measure would amend the Charter to adopt California’s conflict of interest laws for City contracting and allow the City to rely on interpretive opinions from state courts and administrative agencies in determining whether a conflict of interest exists. The Charter defines the “City official newspaper” as a newspaper with daily circulation under contract to publish the City’s advertising. The Charter and Municipal Code require certain contracts to be advertised in such a newspaper at least ten days before the deadline to submit bids. The Charter also requires notice to be published ten days before the Council’s consideration of contracts over five years in duration. This measure would repeal the Charter requirement to designate and use such a newspaper. Advertising of City contracts would be governed by the Municipal Code, which currently includes the same requirements. California law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires the City to provide at least 72 hours’ notice of Council consideration of all contracts, including those over five years in duration, but such notice would not have to be published in a newspaper. If approved, the measure would not immediately have a significant effect on the City’s purchasing and contracting processes, but would provide the Council with authority to make changes by ordinance, instead of through a public vote. Ordinances changing the City’s contracting processes would be subject to referendum. This measure was proposed by City staff involved with the procurement and contracting process, approved by the Council’s Charter Review Committee, and placed on the ballot by the Council. If approved, the Charter amendments would become effective after they are chaptered by the California Secretary of State. [2] |
” |
| —San Diego City Attorney[3] | ||
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the city council of San Diego, California.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms San Diego Local charter amendments. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ San Diego Registrar of Voters, "Local Measures for November 8, 2016," accessed September 29, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ San Diego Registrar of Voters, "Measure H," accessed September 29, 2016
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