O2039
CA:f:\atty\muni\laws\bar\CEQAcontract2d-1.wpd
City Council Meeting 3-5-02
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2039(CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 2.24.073 TO
AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO PROFESSIONAL
SERVICE CONTRACTS INVOLVING THE PREPARATION OF
ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS WITHOUT REQUIRING
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL
WHEREAS, Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.24.073 presently requires City
Council approval of all professional service contracts greater than fifty-five thousand
dollars; and
WHEREAS, all environmental impact reports and the majority of negative
declarations are prepared by consultants hired by the City pursuant to professional service
contracts; and
WHEREAS, environmental impact reports routinely exceed fifty-five thousand
dollars in costs and negative declarations often exceed this amount, thereby requiring prior
City Council approval; and
WHEREAS, the requirement that such professional service contracts be individually
approved by the City Council after the completion of certain administrative selection
procedures can add three to four months to the environmental review process, and even
more time when contract amendments become necessary; and
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WHEREAS, the State CEQA Guidelines establish that an environmental impact
report should be completed within one year after the date that the lead agency has
determined that the development application is complete and that negative declarations
should be completed within six months from that date; and
WHEREAS, the requirement that City Council approval be obtained on these
professional service contracts makes it much more difficult to meet these CEQA time
frames; and
WHEREAS, one of the action plans for Program 1.b. in the City's 2000-2005
provides in part that the City should modify procurement procedures for consultant
retainment as needed to enable timely compliance with CEQA; and
WHEREAS, amending the Municipal Code in this fashion will significantly streamline
the environmental review process,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.24.073 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
Section 2.24.073 Professional services contracts.
(a) Except as established in subsection (e) of this Section, the City
Council shall approve every agreement involving an expenditure of more
than fifty-five thousand dollars for professional services. The award of such
contracts shall be made to the best qualified person or firm.
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(b) In determining the best qualified person or firm, the following
criteria shall be utilized:
(1) The training, credentials and experience of the person or firm;
(2) The demonstrated competence, ability, capacity and skill of the
person or firm to perform the contract or provide the services;
(3) The capacity of the person or firm to perform the contract or
provide the service promptly, within the time specified, and without delay;
(4) The sufficiency of the person's or firm's financial and other
resources;
(5) The character, integrity, reputation and judgment of the person or
firm;
(6) The ability of the person or firm to provide such future service as
may be needed; and
(7) The price which the person or firm proposes to charge, including
whether the price is fair, reasonable and competitive.
(c) The City Council may in its sole discretion reject any and all
proposed professional services agreements whenever in the opinion of the
City Council:
(1) The agreement does not comply with the City's specifications or
other requirements;
(2) The proposed service should be abandoned or delayed;
(3) The best interests of the City would be served by the rejection of
the proposed professional service agreement.
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(d) The City Manager is authorized to solicit requests for proposals or
qualifications or to proceed in such other fashion for professional services,
whenever the City Manager determines in his or her sole discretion that the
best interests of the City would be fully served by proceeding in such a
manner.
(e) Professional service contracts of fifty-five thousand dollars or less
or professional service contracts involving the preparation of environmental
documents and analysis undertaken to meet federal or state environmental
laws. may be awarded without City Council approval in accordance with
procedures established by the City Manager which ensure that the selection
process is undertaken consistent with the criteria set forth in subsection (b)
of this Section.
(f) During any period of a declared state of local emergency, the City
Manager or the Director of Emergency Services is authorized to implement
such practices, policies and procedures for obtaining professional services
as are necessary to protect the public health, welfare or safety without
otherwise complying with this Section, if the City Manager or the Director of
Emergency Services finds that complying with this Section would cause
unnecessary expense or delay. The City Manager or Director of Emergency
Services shall report all such findings at a regular meeting of the City Council
no later than thirty days after making the finding.
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SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto, inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
inconsistencies and no further, are hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court
of any competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions ofthis Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this
Ordinance, and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the Ordinance
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage
of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause this ordinance, or a summary thereof to be
published once in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance
shall be effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Adopted and approved this 5th day of March, 2002.
State of California )
County of Los Angeles) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 2039 (CCS) had it's introduction on February 26, 2002 and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting on March 5, 2002 by the
following vote:
Ayes: Council members: O'Connor, Bloom, Genser, Mayor Pro Tem McKeown,
Mayor Feinstein
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: Holbrook, Katz
ATTEST:
2\0 -~~J
Maria M. Stewart, City CI,~rk
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