"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Saturday, 19 January 2013

Recent History 2012

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It turned out, the survey was out of date and the entire circulation  was used to determine reader numbers.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.      
 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Council rejected the recommendation..."

You mean like Tuesday's decision re: the crossing on John West Way?

Anonymous said...

Damn right .

Anonymous said...

Only 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.

Anonymous said...

The Auroran deserves the support. They cover local issues well and extensively.

Anonymous said...

And you can actually read the page of local events without a magnifying glass