Procurement Best Practices: Process Integrity Guidelines
Local governments should adopt guidelines to ensure integrity of the procurement process. Most communities already have these types of guidelines in place. Examples of common government procurement guidelines include:
- No contact between proposers and decision-makers/elected officials once Request for Proposals is issued until contract is awarded,
- No conflicts of interest for proposers, staff, consultants and reviewers,
- No contributions to elected officials or their designated charities one year before or after procurement, and
- No price-fixing among proposers.
Case Study: Napa
Advantages
- Fair, competitive process: These types of guidelines are standard practice for most government procurements to ensure ethical and fair procurements.
Disadvantages
- Local government staff workload: Elected officials will not be able to hear directly from proposers, so local government staff must conduct comprehensive analysis.