Section 2-166 (Cone of Silence) of the City Code of Ordinances, prohibits any communication, except written correspondence, regarding a particular request for proposal, request for qualification, bid, or any other competitive solicitation between any person’s representative seeking award from such competitive solicitation; and any City Council person or legislative staff, or any City employee authorized to act on behalf of the Council to award a contract under this Bid.
The Cone of Silence shall be in effect as of the deadline to submit the proposal, bids, or other response to this competitive solicitation and shall remain in effect and subject to the terms of this section for any person or person’s representative.
The provisions of this division shall not apply to oral communications at any public proceeding, including pre-bid conference, oral presentations before selection committees, and contract negotiations during any public meetings, presentations made to the Council, and protest hearings. Further, the Cone of Silence shall not apply to contract negotiations between any employee and the intended awardees, any dispute resolution process following the filing of a protest between the person filing the protest and any employee, or any written correspondence at any time with any employee, Council member, or selection committee member, unless specifically prohibited by the applicable competitive solicitation process.
The Cone of Silence shall terminate at the time the Council awards or approves a contract, rejects all bids or responses, or otherwise takes action, which ends the solicitation process.
Any Contract entered into in violation of the Cone of Silence provisions in this section shall render the transaction voidable.
Penalties for violation of the Cone of Silence shall be applied per Section 2- 168 (Penalties) of the City Code of Ordinances.
