Sec. 9-16. - Purchasing agent—Office created.

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 25500 et seq., of the Government Code of the state, the office of purchasing agent of the county is established.

(Ord. No. 236, § 1, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-17. - Same—Duties.

The purchasing agent shall perform the duties and have the powers prescribed by the laws of the state, this article, and the resolutions and orders of the board of supervisors. He shall supervise the work of such assistants as may be employed in the purchasing department. The purchasing agent shall furnish to the board of supervisors such reports and information as said board shall require and establish such methods and procedures as may be necessary for the practical conduct of the purchasing department and perform such other acts as may be deemed necessary by the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 236, § 2, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-18. - Same—To make all purchases; exception.

All purchases of every kind and character shall be made by the purchasing agent and no purchase of any personal property for the use of the county or any department thereof shall be valid or binding upon the county unless made by the purchasing agent, except in cases of emergency as herein provided.

(Ord. No. 236, § 3, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-19. - Emergency purchases.

Emergency purchases may be made by an official authorized by the board of supervisors to sign requisitions when the purchasing agent is not immediately available or the items so purchased are necessary for the preservation of life or property.

Such emergency purchase shall later be approved and confirmed by the purchasing agent, or if he rejects, such purchase may subsequently be ratified and confirmed by a majority vote of the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 236, § 4, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-20. - Purchasing agent's revolving fund.

There is established from the unappropriated funds of the county a revolving fund in such an amount as the board of supervisors may from time to time establish, by resolution, such fund to be known as the purchasing agent's revolving fund. The purchasing agent may purchase supplies, materials, equipment and services in quantity to be issued to the several offices and departments of the county as needed and shall make payment therefor out of the funds of such revolving fund. As such supplies, materials, equipment and services are issued to an office or department, the fund shall be reimbursed from the budgeted funds of the requisitioning department.

The department head shall certify availability of unencumbered funds in the appropriate budget account of his department before such issues are made.

(Ord. No. 236, § 5, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-21. - Purchases without notice, advertisement or competitive bid.

Except as otherwise provided by ordinance or general law, the purchasing agent shall have the power without notice, advertisement or competitive bidding to purchase for and on behalf of the county any insurance, supplies, material, equipment or other personal property or engage independent contractors to perform sundry services for the county.

The purchasing agent shall send a report to the board of supervisors when:

(1)

Competitive, written bids or contracts are not secured on items costing more than $2,000.00.

(2)

Award is made to other than the low bidder, if value of item is over $250.00.

(Ord. No. 236, § 6, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-22. - Furnishing request forms.

The purchasing agent shall supply the heads of various offices, departments, and institutions of the county with forms of requests and prescribe the number of copies of such completed forms to be submitted to him.

(Ord. No. 236, § 7, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-23. - Drawing requests by department heads and institutions.

The board of supervisors grants authorization to heads of offices, departments and institutions to draw requests on the purchasing agent. Such head may delegate this authority to any of his deputies, officers, or employees by filing written authorization with the purchasing agent and auditor.

(Ord. No. 236, § 8, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-24. - Bids—May be solicited.

The board of supervisors may require the purchasing agent to solicit bids by public notice. The method and extent of public notice shall be prescribed by the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 236, § 9, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-25. - Same—Procedure.

When such bid solicitation is required by the board of supervisors or where the purchasing agent elects to call for bids, all bids shall be submitted sealed to the purchasing agent on the official bid form and in an envelope, which shall have indicated thereon the class of commodities to be purchased and the established time for opening bids. Each bid shall be accompanied by surety in the form of a certified or cashier's check or bid bond in such amount as shall be prescribed in the public notice inviting bids and in the bid form. A tabulation of all bids received shall be open for public inspection during regular business hours for a period of not less than seven days after the bid opening. The purchasing agent shall submit a copy of the tabulation and all bids received to the board of supervisors, together with his recommendation for award.

Further policies and procedures regarding bidding regulations not in conflict with this article may be adopted by the board of supervisors and shall be available for public distribution.

(Ord. No. 236, § 9, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-26. - Surplus material—Reporting to purchasing agent.

Whenever any items of personal property are no longer needed by the office, department or institution having possession thereof, such fact shall be reported to the purchasing agent.

(Ord. No. 236, § 10, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-27. - Same—Acquiring by department, etc.

Whenever an office, department or institution has need for an article which has been placed in the purchasing agent's stock of salvage materials and equipment, such office, department or institution may acquire the article by submitting to the purchasing agent a properly drawn request for transfer approved by the board of supervisors or other authority as designated by the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 236, § 11, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-28. - Same—Sale.

Whenever any personal property is not required for public use, the purchasing agent shall sell or dispose of it, subject to such regulations as may be provided by the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 236, § 12, 4-1-58; Ord. No. 236A, § 1, 1-14-69)

Sec. 9-29. - Standards committee.

The purchasing agent is granted authority to organize "standards committees" as needed to establish standards with respect to the type, design, quality or brand of a certain article or a group of related articles or services purchased by the county. The membership of a committee shall be the purchasing agent, who shall be chairman, and the heads of each county office, department or institution that is a primary user of the item or group of items for which the committee is appointed.

(Ord. No. 236, § 13, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-30. - Purchase order form; register.

An original purchase order and as many copies as necessary shall be prepared by the purchasing agent. The original shall be delivered to the vendor, and the first copy shall be designated as an original and filed numerically in the office of the purchasing agent as a "purchase order register."

(Ord. No. 236, § 14, 4-1-58)

Sec. 9-31. - Local preference in the purchase of supplies, materials and/or equipment.

(a)

Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter to the contrary, whenever the purchasing agent purchases supplies, materials and/or equipment for the county through the use of competitive bids or proposals, the purchasing agent in evaluating the price, bid or proposal for such supplies, materials and/or equipment shall determine if the lowest responsible bidder is a local vendor as defined in this section, and if so, the contract shall be awarded to such local vendor. If the low bidder is not a local vendor, any local vendor who submitted a bid which was within five percent of the low bid or proposal announced by the purchasing agent shall have the option of submitting a new bid or proposal within 48 hours (not including weekends and holidays) of the time indicated in the bid documents for the bid opening. Such new bids or proposals must be in an amount less than or equal to the low bid or proposal announced by the purchasing agent. If the purchasing agent receives any new bids from local vendors who have the option of submitting new bids or proposals within said 48-hour period, it shall award the contract to the local vendor submitting the lowest responsible bid. If no new bids or proposals are received, the contract shall be awarded to the original low bidder as announced by the purchasing agent.

(b)

For purposes of this section, "local vendor" shall mean any business which meets all of the following requirements:

(1)

Has had a fixed office or distribution point located in and having a street address within the county for at least six months immediately prior to the issuance of the request for competitive bids by the purchasing agent;

(2)

Holds any required business license by the county or a city within the county;

(3)

Employs at least one full-time or two part-time employees whose primary residence is located within Kings County, or if the business has no employees, shall be at least 50 percent owned by one or more persons whose primary residence is located within Kings County.

(c)

For purposes of this section, "supplies and materials" shall mean supplies and materials of any kind or nature, including, but not limited to, petroleum products, oil, gasoline, natural gas and other fuels or lubricants.

(d)

Any vendor claiming to be a local vendor as defined above, shall so certify in writing to the purchasing agent. The purchasing agent shall not be required to verify the accuracy of any such certifications, and shall have sole discretion to determine if a vendor meets the definition of a "local vendor."

(e)

Any person or business falsely claiming to be a local vendor under this section shall be ineligible to transact any business with the county for a period of not less than three months and not more than 24 months as determined in the sole discretion of the purchasing agent. The purchasing agent shall also have the right to terminate all or any part of any contract entered into with such person or business.

(f)

Prior to the purchasing agent declaring any person or business not a "local vendor" or ineligible to transact business with the county, such person or business shall be entitled to a public hearing before the board of supervisors and to a five-day notice of the time and place thereof.

(g)

This section shall not apply to contracts required by state or federal statutes or regulations to be awarded to the "lowest responsible bidder," or otherwise exempted from local preferences.

(Ord. No. 648, § 1, 9-1-09)

Secs. 9-32—9-39. - Reserved.