Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes a temporary waiver of certain of the competitive bidding provisions of Chapter 329 of the Columbus City Codes which require, in part, (1) the City’s bidding documents include the city agency’s needs, requirements and all contractual terms and conditions applicable to the procurement; (2) the City to advertise such procurements for, at a minimum, twenty-one (21) calendar days prior to submission deadline; and (3) the City’s requirement to publicly open all bids specifically Sections 329.18(a)(1), 329.18(a)(2), 329.18(a)(5), 329.18(b)(1), 329.18(b)(2), 329.18(b)(5), 329.18(d)(2), 329.18(d)(4), 329.18(d)(5), 329.22(a), 329.23(A)(a), 329.23(A)(b), 329.23(A)(c), 329.23(B)(a), 329.23(B)(b), 329.23(B)(c), 329.27(b)(2), 329.27(c), 329.28(b)(2), and 329.28(c). The waiver is with respect to various solicitations expected to be processed by or on behalf of the Department of Technology and the Department of Finance and Management’s Construction Office between the time of passage of this Ordinance and December 31, 2026. The Department of Finance and Management, the Department of Technology, and the City Attorney’s Office are working together on amendments to Chapter 329 of the Columbus City Codes to present to Council later this year with the goal of permanently addressing the need to allow for a different solicitation process for certain products and services that are necessary to the operation of the Department of Technology in response to the recent cybersecurity requirements for public entities found in Ohio Revised Code (ORC) Section 9.64. If those Code amendments are not completed prior to the end of 2026, waiver of the above-described competitive bidding provisions of Chapter 329 will be sought again prior to the expiration of the waiver authorized by this Ordinance.
This waiver would apply only to technology/cybersecurity procurements and construction procurements relating to sensitive security and/or infrastructure ...
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