New Westminster city council wants more time to contemplate changes to its existing procurement policy.
City council was set to consider revisions to several areas of the 2007 procurement policy on July 8 but tabled the report until Aug. 26. The changes deal with items such as spending thresholds, authority to obtain quotes and to commit city funds, sole/single sourcing considerations and variances to project's budgets. "(It was) tabled only because there is so much to it and we want to discuss it," said Mayor Wayne Wright. "The day that we tabled some of the things, there was 42 issues."
Wright said he supports the proposed amendments but had a couple of questions he wanted to pose to staff.
"I had questions that are easily answered, but I think they should be answered in the public - the amounts and how we are relative to other cities, is there any there that cause any confusion for the public," he said.
While staff proposed changes to the current policy that would give "greater clarity" to purchases of goods and services, some critics have expressed concern that the changes will give too much power to city staff and keep citizens in the dark about city spending.
Wright said he hasn't received any letters or phone calls from people who are concerned about the changes to the policy. He said a chart in the staff report showed a comparison between what's being proposed in New Westminster and policies in other Metro Vancouver municipalities.
"It compares all the other cities so you can see it really easily," he said of the chart. "We are not out of line. In fact, we are probably right in the very middle." Some concerns have been raised about the proposed change that wouldn't require the city to post transactions under $75,000 on the city's website as departments could obtain quotes directly from vendors without going through the purchasing department. The city is currently required to get three quotes and post any purchases valued between $10,000 and $100,000 on the city's website.
The updated procurement policy being considered by city council states that preference to local suppliers will be provided, when all other criteria are equal. The existing procurement policy makes no mention of local preference purchasing.
The New Westminster Chamber of Commerce wants the city to find a balance between efficiency, opportunity and transparency with its purchasing process.
While the "protect our own" reaction is natural, the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce said it can be selfdefeating in the long run as B.C. companies in all communities rely on domestic and regional markets to create and grow jobs.
"Other concerns raised from our local businesses are that there is the perception that such policy changes may see contracts being awarded to a 'chosen few' and that the opportunities for procurement may not be accessible to all," stated a chamber press release. "As a general principle, the New Westminster Chamber of Commence is in favour of local government initiatives to reduce waste and inefficiency, so long as such initiatives strike an appropriate balance with providing local businesses with reasonable opportunities to compete for city tenders."
