No expenditure shall be submitted or recommended to the council
except on report or approval of the city manager.
(Code 1957, § 1313.191)
Except as otherwise provided in Articles 5 and 6 of this chapter,
the city is not bound by any contract unless the same shall be in
writing and signed by the mayor, or other officer of the city so authorized
by ordinance or resolution of the council.
(Code 1957, § 1661)
All debts owed to the city, the performance of any service,
or an obligation owed to the city, shall be subject to a collection
fee. The collection fee shall be established from time to time by
resolution of the Escondido city council, and shall be based upon
a reasonable estimate of the city's costs incurred in collecting those
debts which are unpaid for periods of 30 days or more after billing.
The amount of the collection fee shall be addition to the debt owed
to the city, and shall not be waived except by the finance director
upon a showing of good cause.
(Ord. No. 94-29, § 1, 7-20-94)
Contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and consultants shall
at all times deal in good faith with the city and shall submit claims,
requests for equitable adjustments, requests for change orders, requests
for contract modifications or requests of any kind seeking increased
compensation on a city contract only upon a good faith, honest evaluation
of the underlying circumstances and a good faith, honest calculation
of the amount sought. Violation of this section subjects the contractor,
subcontractor, supplier or consultant to the penalties set forth in
section 10-5, including disqualification. The act of knowingly submitting
a false, untrue or misleading claim, request for change order or request
of any kind seeking increased compensation is sufficient of itself
to subject the contractor, subcontractor or consultant to the penalties
stated in section 10-5, regardless of the city's reliance on, or response
to, the submission.
(Ord. No. 95-17, § 1, 10-18-95)
(a)
Any
contractor, subcontractor, supplier or consultant who commits any
of the following acts shall be liable to the city for three times
the amount of damages which the city sustains because of the act of
that contractor, subcontractor, supplier or consultant. A contractor,
subcontractor, supplier or consultant who commits any of the following
acts shall also be liable to the city for the costs, including attorney's
fees, of a civil action brought to recover any of those penalties
or damages, and may be liable to the city for a civil penalty of up
to $10,000 for each false claim:
(1)
Knowingly presents or causes to be presented to an officer or employee
of the city a false claim or request for payment or approval;
(2)
Knowingly makes, uses or causes to be made or used a false record
or statement to get a false claim paid or approved by the city;
(3)
Conspires to defraud the city by getting a false claim allowed or
paid by the city;
(4)
Knowingly makes, uses or causes to be made or used a false record
or statement to conceal, avoid or decrease an obligation to pay or
transmit money or property to the city;
(5)
Is a beneficiary of an inadvertent submission of a false claim to
the city, subsequently discovers the falsity of the claim, and fails
to disclose the false claim to the city within a reasonable time after
discovery of the false claim.
(b)
This
section does not apply to any controversy involving an amount of less
than $500 in value. For purposes of this subsection, "controversy"
means any one or more false claims submitted by the same contractor,
subcontractor or consultant in violation of this section.
(c)
Every contract performed at the expense of the city, or the cost of which is paid for out of monies deposited in the treasury of said city, whether directly awarded or indirectly by or under subcontract, subpartnership, day labor, station work, piece work or any other arrangement whatsoever, shall contain a clause reciting the provisions of subsection (a).
(d)
Liability
under this section shall be joint and several for any act committed
by two or more persons.
(e)
For
purposes of this section, the terms "contractor" and "subcontractor"
shall have the same definitions as found in Article I, section 16-3,
of the this code. The term "consultant" shall be broadly defined to
include any person or entity that provides services to the city. The
term "supplier" shall be broadly defined to include any person or
entity that supplies goods to the city.
(f)
For
purposes of this section, "claim" includes any request or demand for
money, property or services made to any employee, officer or agent
of the city, or to any contractor, subcontractor, grantee or other
recipient, whether under contract or not, if any portion of the money,
property or services requested or demanded issued from, or was provided
by, the city.
(g)
For
purposes of this section, "knowingly" means that a contractor, subcontractor
or consultant, with respect to information, does any of the following:
(Ord. No. 95-17, § 1, 10-18-95)
Any contractor, subcontractor, supplier or consultant who fails
to comply with the terms of its contract with the city, or contractor,
subcontractor, supplier or consultant who violates any provision in
section 10-4 or 10-5, or who fails to abide by any rules and/or regulations
adopted pursuant to those sections, may be declared an irresponsible
bidder by the department head, board or commission responsible for
the public work or improvement at issue. Upon such determination,
the contractor, subcontractor, supplier or consultant (or any other
entity with substantially the same officers, directors, owners or
principals) shall not be permitted to act as a contractor, subcontractor,
supplier, or consultant on any public work or improvement for the
city for a period of up to five years as determined by the department
head, board or commission. The contract of any such person or entity
may, at the option of the department head, board or commission be
canceled and in the event of such cancellation, no recovery shall
be had thereon by the contractor, subcontractor, supplier or consultant.
(Ord. No. 95-17, § 1, 10-18-95)
When charges are brought for violation of section 10-4 or 10-5,
of Chapter 10, the contractor, subcontractor, supplier or consultant
shall be given notice of the charges and of all evidence supporting
such charges. The contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or consultant
or its attorney shall be entitled to offer rebuttal evidence and any
other evidence in support of its position. The department head, board
or commission shall conduct a hearing, where the charges and all evidence
shall be presented. In the alternative, the department head, board
or commission may appoint a hearing officer to conduct such a hearing
and make written findings of fact to be submitted to the department
head, board or commission, who shall render the final decision. Following
any decision finding a contractor, subcontractor, supplier or consultant
irresponsible, the department head, board or commission who made the
finding of irresponsibility retains authority to modify the decision.
(Ord. No. 95-17, § 1, 10-18-95)
Any contract partially or fully funded through state, federal
or private grants shall strictly comply with the procurement procedures
established by the procurement articles set forth in this chapter,
those purchasing rules and regulations set forth in the applicable
grant agreements, and any other applicable state and federal regulations
if not addressed by this chapter. If a conflict exists between a federal,
state, or local procurement standards, the more restrictive procurement
standard shall prevail.
(Ord. No. 2020-17 § 1, 8-12-20)
No employee or official shall participate in the selection,
award, or administration of a contract if this person has a real or
apparent conflict of interest as established in the Code of Federal
Regulations section 200.318(c)(1).
(Ord. No. 2020-17 § 1, 8-12-20)
No contract shall be made with parties listed on the government-wide
Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) in the System for Award Management
(SAM). The EPLS in SAM contains the names of parties debarred, suspended,
or otherwise excluded by agencies, as well as parties declared ineligible
under statutory or regulatory authority.
(Ord. No. 2020-17 § 1, 8-12-20)
