2.1415 Public Contracts – Authority of Purchasing Agent.
(1) General Authority. The city manager or designee shall be the purchasing agent for the city and is hereby authorized to award all city contracts for which there is an appropriation. Subject to the provisions of sections 2.1400 to 2.1451 of this code, the purchasing agent may adopt and amend all rules, regulations, procedures and forms required or permitted to be adopted by contracting agencies or otherwise convenient for the city’s contracting needs. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the purchasing agent shall adopt public contracting rules for the award of personal services contracts and concession agreements and shall hear all solicitation and award protests.
(2) Standards for Contracting Rules. When adopting public contracting rules, the purchasing agent shall establish practices and procedures that:
(a) Do not encourage favoritism or substantially diminish competition;
(b) Allow the city to take advantage of the cost-saving benefits of alternative contracting methods and practices;
(c) Give preference to goods and services that have been manufactured or produced in the State of Oregon if price, fitness, availability and quality are otherwise equal;
(d) Give preference to goods that are certified to be made from recycled products when such goods are available, can be substituted for non-recycled products without a loss in quality, and the cost of goods made from recycled products is not significantly more than the cost of goods made from non-recycled products; and
(e) Establish purchasing practices that assure, to the maximum extent economically feasible, purchase of materials, goods and supplies that may be recycled or reused when discarded.
(3) Delegation of Authority. Any of the responsibilities or authorities of the purchasing agent under Sections 2.1400 to 2.1451 of this code may be delegated and sub-delegated by administrative order.