Bids were invited from two local publications for the Notice Board, which is a means of communicating events to residents.
Staff recommended the contract be awarded to the publication which had enjoyed the business for several years.
They had undertaken a survey and reader numbers were higher .
It turned out, the survey was out of date and the entire circulation was used to determine reader numbers.
The circulation covered Aurora, Newmarket,East Gwillimbury,and King Township
Council rejected the recommendation and awarded the contract to the second publication.
Provincial regulations require municipalities to follow a process to ensure competitive prices for public purchases.
It's done by advertising specifications for construction projects and receiving bids.
A municipality may also seek requests for proposals.
Municipalities are required to have policies that govern purchasing..
When Council decided not to award the contract recommended by staff, the process needed to be changed.
The new recommendation was to pass a bylaw to permit sole source contracting..
We did that.
The contract was awarded
A condition was imposed for a survey to be submitted in three months
It has
It's satisfactory.
"Council rejected the recommendation..."
ReplyDeleteYou mean like Tuesday's decision re: the crossing on John West Way?
Damn right .
ReplyDeleteOnly staff who did not live in Aurora &/or were too lazy to change an old habit would have kept trying to give that contract to the Banner.
ReplyDeleteThe Auroran deserves the support. They cover local issues well and extensively.
ReplyDeleteAnd you can actually read the page of local events without a magnifying glass
ReplyDelete