§ 2-138. Cone of silence.

(a)

Contracts for the provision of goods and services.

(1)

Cone of silence is hereby defined to mean a prohibition on:

a.

Any communication regarding a particular RFP, RFQ, or bid between a potential vendor, service provider, bidder, lobbyist, or consultant and the village's professional staff including, but not limited to, the village manager and his or her staff;

b.

Any communication regarding a particular RFP, RFQ, or bid between the mayor or village council members and any member of the village's professional staff including, but not limited to, the village manager and his or her staff;

c.

Any communication regarding a particular RFP, RFQ or bid between a potential vendor, service provider, bidder, lobbyist, or consultant and any member of the selection committee therefor;

d.

Any communication regarding a particular RFP, RFQ or bid between the mayor, village council members and any member of the selection committee;

e.

Any communication regarding a particular RFP, RFQ or bid between a potential vendor, service provider, bidder, lobbyist, or consultant and the mayor or village council members; and

f.

Any communication regarding a particular RFP, RFQ or bid between any member of the village's professional staff and any member of the selection committee. The village manager and the chairperson of the selection committee may communicate about a particular selection committee recommendation, but only after the committee has submitted an award recommendation to the village manager and provided that should any change occur in the committee recommendation, the content of the communication and of the corresponding change shall be described in writing and filed by the village manager with the village clerk and be included in any recommendation memorandum submitted by the village manager to the village council.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the cone of silence shall not apply to:

a.

Communications with the village attorney and his or her staff;

b.

Duly noticed site visits to determine the competency of bidders regarding a particular bid during the time period between the opening of bids and the time the village manager makes his or her written recommendation;

c.

Any emergency procurement of goods or services;

d.

Communication regarding a particular RFP, RFQ or bid between any person and the contracting officer responsible for administering the procurement process for the RFP, RFQ or bid, provided the communication is limited strictly to matters of process or procedure already contained in the corresponding solicitation document.

(2)

Procedure.

a.

A cone of silence shall be imposed upon each RFP, RFQ and bid after the advertisement of the RFP, RFQ or bid. At the time of imposition of the cone of silence, the village manager or his or her designee shall provide for public notice of the cone of silence. The village manager shall issue a written notice to the affected departments, file a copy of the notice with the village clerk, with a copy to the mayor and each village council member, and shall include in any public solicitation for goods and services a statement disclosing the requirements of this article. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the imposition of a cone of silence on a particular RFP, RFQ or bid shall not preclude staff from obtaining industry comment or performing market research, provided all communications related thereto between a potential vendor, service provider, bidder, lobbyist, or consultant and any member of the village's professional staff including, but not limited to, the village manager and his or her staff, are in writing or are made at a duly noticed public meeting.

b.

The cone of silence shall terminate at the time the village manager makes his or her written recommendation to the village council; provided, however, that if the village council refers the village manager's recommendation back to the village manager or staff for further review, the cone of silence shall be re-imposed until the time as the village manager makes a subsequent written recommendation.

(3)

Exceptions. The provisions of this article shall not apply to oral communications at pre-bid conferences, oral presentations before selection committees, contract negotiations during any duly noticed public meeting, public presentations made to the village council during any duly noticed public meeting or communications in writing at any time with any village employee, official or member of the village council unless specifically prohibited by the applicable RFP, RFQ or bid documents. The bidder or proposer shall file a copy of any written communication with the village clerk. The village clerk shall make copies available to any person upon request.

(b)

Penalties. In addition to the penalties provided in this chapter and Miami-Dade County Code Sections 2-11.1(s) and (v), violation of this section by a particular bidder or proposer shall render any RFP award, RFQ award or bid award to the bidder or proposer voidable. A violation of section 2-155 may render the public hearing item voidable and a $500.00 penalty to the applicant. The village council shall hold an evidentiary hearing to determine whether a violation of section 2-155 has taken place, whether a penalty shall issue, and/or whether the public hearing item should be voided. Any person who violates a provision of this article shall be prohibited from serving on a village competitive selection committee. In addition to any other penalty provided by law, violation of any provision of this article by a village employee shall subject the employee to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. Additionally, any person who has personal knowledge of a violation of this article shall report the violation to the State Attorney and, or, may file a complaint with the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics.

(Ord. No. 06-01, § 1(.18), 1-9-2006; Ord. No. 07-06, § 1(.18), 3-5-2007)