ADMINISTRATIVE RULE NO: AR 5080-01

RELATED TO POLICY SERIES NO: 5080

TITLE: LBCC CONTRACT REVIEW BOARD RULES

PURPOSE
The purpose of these rules is to provide for the fair and equitable treatment of all persons involved in public purchasing by Linn-Benton Community College, to maximize the purchasing value of public funds in procurement, and to provide safeguards for maintaining a procurement system of quality and integrity. These rules are supplemental to the provisions set forth in the Oregon Revised Statutes 279ABC, Public Contracting and the Community College Rules of Procurement.

STATEMENT
ACQUISITION
Procurements amounting to $100,000 or more require formal competitive bidding. The Purchasing Office prepares advertisements and bid specifications to be mailed to vendors and conducts formal bid openings. After bids have been evaluated, final approval for the purchase is given by the LBCC Board of Education.

SPECIAL PROCUREMENTS/ EXEMPTIONS
Contracts shall be based upon competitive bidding except as noted in the Community College Rules of Procurement:

BRAND NAMES OR MARKS
If there are no other practical methods of specification, staff may designate a particular brand name, make, or product "or equal," but this practice should be avoided whenever practicable. When such designations are used, the burden of proof that an item offered is not equal in potential performance is on the staff member.

SINGLE MANUFACTURER OR COMPATIBLE PRODUCTS
If there is only one manufacturer or seller of a product of the quality required, or if the efficient utilization of existing equipment or supplies requires a compatible product or a particular manufacturer or seller, staff may specify such particular product subject to the following conditions:

  1. The product is selected on the basis of the most competitive offer considering quality and cost. The term "cost" includes not only the product price but also other items of expense such as costs related to quality or conversion.

  2. Prior to awarding the contract, staff has made reasonable effort to notify all known vendors of competing or comparable products of the intended specifications and invited such vendors to submit competing proposals. If the purchase does not exceed the intermediate threshold as defined in the Community College Rules of Procurement, such notice and invitation may be informal. If the amount of the purchase exceeds the intermediate threshold, such notice shall include advertisement in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the area where the contract is to be performed and shall be timely to allow competing vendors a reasonable opportunity to make proposals.

PRODUCT PRE-QUALIFICATION
When it is impractical to create specific design or performance specifications for a type of product to be purchased, staff may specify a list of approved products by reference to particular manufacturers or sellers. Product pre-qualification procedures consist of making reasonable efforts to notify all known manufacturers or vendors of competitive products of its intention to accept applications for inclusion in its list of prequalified products.

WAIVER OF SECURITY BID AND PERFORMANCE BOND

  1. Bid security requirements

    The vice president of Finance and Operations may waive the bid security requirements of ORS 279 B.055 for contracts other than those for public improvements.

  2. Contracts under the intermediate threshold

    The vice president of Finance and Operations may waive the bid security requirements of ORS 279 C.390 and performance bond requirements of ORS 279m C.390 if the amount of the contract for the public improvement is less than the intermediate threshold.

EMPLOYEE CONFLICT OF INTEREST
It shall be unethical for any LBCC employee to participate directly or indirectly in a procurement contract when the LBCC employee knows that:

  1. The LBCC employee or any member of the LBCC employee's immediate family has a financial interest pertaining to the procurement contract; or
  2. Any other person, business, or organization with whom the LBCC employee or any member of an LBCC employee's immediate family is negotiating or has an arrangement concerning prospective employment is involved in the procurement contract.

    An LBCC employee or any member of an LBCC employee's immediate family who holds a financial interest in a disclosed blind trust shall not be deemed to have a conflict of interest with regard to matters pertaining to that financial interest.

GRATUITIES AND KICKBACKS – RETRIBUTION

  1. Gratuities – It shall be unethical for any person to offer, give, or agree to give any LBCC employee or former LBCC employee to solicit, demand, accept, or agree to accept from another person, a gratuity or an offer of employment in connection with any decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, or preparation of any part of a program requirement or a purchase request, influencing the content of any specification or procurement standard, rendering of advice, investigation, auditing, or in any other advisory capacity in any proceeding or application, request for ruling, determination, claim or controversy, or other particular matter, pertaining to any program requirement or a contract or subcontract, or to any solicitation or proposal therefore.
  2. Kickbacks – It shall be unethical for any payment, gratuity, or offer of employment to be made by or on behalf of a subcontractor under a contract to the prime contractor or higher tier subcontractor or any person associated therewith, as an inducement for the award of a subcontract or order.
  3. Retribution – Individuals participating in unethical practices as defined in this agreement shall be subject to discipline as deemed appropriate by the President of the College. (See Sanctions.)

PROHIBITION AGAINST CONTINGENT FEES
It shall be unethical for a person to be retained, or to retain a person, to solicit or secure an LBCC contract upon an agreement or understanding for a commission, percentage, brokerage, or contingent fee, except for retention of bona fide employees or bona fide established commercial selling agencies for the purpose of securing business.

CONTEMPORANEOUS EMPLOYMENT PROHIBITED
It shall be unethical for any LBCC employee who is participating directly or indirectly in the procurement process to become or to be, while such an LBCC employee, the employee of any person contracting with the governmental body by whom the employee is employed.

WAIVERS FROM CONTEMPORANEOUS EMPLOYMENT PROHIBITION AND OTHER CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The LBCC Board of Education may grant a waiver from the employee conflict of interest provision or the contemporaneous employment provision upon making a written determination that:

  1. The contemporaneous employment or financial interest of the LBCC employee has been publicly disclosed;
  2. The LBCC employee will be able to perform his/her functions without actual or apparent bias or favoritism; and
  3. The award will be in the best interest of LBCC. USE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

USE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
It shall be unethical for any employee or former employee knowingly to use confidential information for actual or anticipated personal gain, or for the actual or anticipated personal gain of any other person.

SANCTIONS

  1. Employees

    The President may impose any one or more of the following sanctions on an LBCC employee for violations of the ethical standards in this Article:

    1. Oral or written warnings or reprimands
    2. Suspension with or without pay for specified periods of time; or
    3. Termination of employment.
  2. Non-employees

    The LBCC Board of Education may impose any one or more of the following sanctions on a non-employee for violations of the ethical standards:

    1. written warnings or reprimands;
    2. termination of contracts; or
    3. debarment or suspension.

RECOVERY OF VALUE TRANSFERRED OR RECEIVED IN BREACH OF ETHICAL STANDARDS

  1. General Provisions
    The value of anything transferred or received in breach of the ethical standards of this Rule by an LBCC employee or a non-employee may be recovered from both LBCC employee and non-employee.
  2. Recovery of Kickbacks by LBCC
    Upon a showing that a subcontractor made a kickback to a prime contractor or a higher tier subcontractor in connection with the award of a subcontract or order there under, it shall be conclusively presumed that the amount thereof was included in the price of the subcontractor order and ultimately borne by LBCC and will be recoverable hereunder from the recipient. In addition, that amount may also be recovered from the subcontractor making such kickbacks. Recovery from one offending party shall not preclude recovery from other offending parties.

PROCUREMENT OF SERVICE/PRODUCTS

  1. General

    The college is committed to the procurement of high quality services and products that are of good value. The college will support its own service units and the vendors within the local two-county district to the extent possible. It is acknowledged that there will be some situations where service units will not be able to meet the needs of the college departments and purchases will be made off campus.

    Notwithstanding, the following guidelines will apply:

    1. To maintain quality and value of service and product, and for the convenience and consistency of same, college departments are to first attempt to procure such services or products from the college units assigned to provide them whenever feasible. Departments purchasing elsewhere should consider all costs involved in the purchase.
    2. To support businesses within the local community, departments are encouraged to procure services or products from local vendors when a college service unit cannot meet the request. This, however, should not be done if the cost is significantly greater than vendors outside the district.
    3. To procure services or products beyond the college, the Oregon General Services Department, or the two-county area when:
      1. the college service department cannot provide adequate service or product, or
      2. a savings in terms of dollars and/or time can be realized by procuring services or products beyond the local area.

DATE OF ADOPTION: 08/13/84
DATE(S) OF REVISION(S): 11/19/91; 06/14/05; 09/19/12, 12/1/16
DATE OF LAST REVIEW: 12/1/16; 1/7/21