Ceres Municipal Code Ch. 05 Accountability

Any officer or employee of the City, or of any City department, who shall aid or assist a vendor in securing a contract to furnish supplies or nonprofessional services at a higher price than that proposed by any other vendor, or who shall favor one vendor over another by giving or withholding information, or who shall willfully mislead any vendor in regard to the character of the supplies called for, or who shall knowingly accept supplies of a quality inferior to those called for in the contract, or to the receipt of greater amount or different kind of supplies than has been actually received, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. 2019-1053, § 4, 11-12-2019)

It shall be unlawful for any City officer or employee to purchase or contract for supplies or nonprofessional services on behalf of the City, other than as prescribed in this title, excepting purchases made from petty cash, emergency purchases or other purchases made in conformance with procedures established by the Purchasing Officer. Any purchases, contracts, or obligations to pay made contrary to the provisions of this chapter shall be null and void.

(Ord. No. 2019-1053, § 4, 11-12-2019)

A. No person submitting any bid or proposal in connection with the procurement of supplies or nonprofessional services by the City shall:

1. Propose or bid prices which have not been arrived at independently without consultation, communication, or agreement with any other bidder, offeror, or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition as to any matter relating to the prices bid or proposed;

2. Unless otherwise provided by law, prior to opening of the bids or proposals, knowingly disclose any price bid or proposed to any other bidder, offeror or to any competitor;

3. Make any attempt to induce any other person, firm or other entity or association to submit or not to submit a bid or proposal for the purpose of restricting competition;

4. Knowingly be interested in more than one bid as the principal bidder; provided, however, subcontract bids to the principal bidders are excluded from this subsection A.4.

B. In the case of joint venture bids, the joint venture and each and every member of the joint venture shall, for purposes of this section be construed to be the person submitting the bid or proposal.

C. Any violation of this section shall be unlawful and a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500.00 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Any bid received or contract awarded where there was a violation of this section shall be null and void and the City Council shall proceed with the bid as if the bidder failed to enter into the contract after the award. Nothing in this section shall limit the City to any other remedy available to it under law and equity.

(Ord. No. 2019-1053, § 4, 11-12-2019)