Prohibition Against Considering Social, Political or Ideological Interests in Government Contracting Respondent/Artists are hereby notified of the provisions of section 287.05701, Florida Statutes, as amended, that the City will not request documentation of or consider a Respondent/Artist’s social, political, or ideological interests when determining if they are a responsible Respondent/Artist. Respondents/Artists are further notified that the City's governing body may not give preference to a Respondent/Artist based on the Respondent/Artist’s social, political, or ideological interests.

Cone of Silence

Cone of Silence: Definitions: “Cone of Silence,” as used in this Call to Artists, means a prohibition on any communication, between:

•       a potential vendor, service provider, Respondent/Artist, lobbyist, or consultant, and

•       a City Commission member, City’s professional staff including, but not limited to, the City Manager and her staff, or any member of the City’s Selection Committee/Public Art Advisory Board.

Restriction; Notice: A Cone of Silence shall be imposed upon this Call to Artists upon its advertisement. At the time of imposition of the Cone of Silence, the City Manager or designee shall provide for public notice of the Cone of Silence by posting a notice at City Hall. The City Manager shall issue a written notice as to the Cone of Silence to the affected departments, file a copy of such notice with the City Clerk, with a copy to each City Commissioner, and to the Public Art Advisory Board and this shall include in any public solicitation for goods or services a statement disclosing the requirements of this section.

Termination of Cone of Silence: The Cone of Silence shall terminate at the beginning of the City Commission meeting (whether a regular or special meeting) at which the Public Art Advisory Board, through the City Manager, makes a written recommendation of final award to the City Commission. However, if the City Commission refers the Public Art Advisory Board and the City Manager’s recommendation back to the Public Art Advisory Board and to the City Manager or staff for further review, the Cone of Silence shall be re-imposed until such time as the Public Art Advisory Board and City Manager1 makes a subsequent written recommendation.

1 The City’s Code provides that the Public Art Board is to make recommendations to the City Commission. As the staff liaison works for the City Manager, and as the City Manager is in charge of the agenda, and in reconciling the City’s procurement code with the City’s Code as to the Board, the Board and Manager will work together on issuing the recommendation to the City Commission, of the Board’s Art recommendation.

Exceptions:

a.          Oral communications at pre-submission conferences;

b.          Oral presentations before the Selection Committee/Public Art Board;

c.            Public presentations made to the City Commission members during any duly noticed public meeting;

d.          Communications in writing at any time with any City employee, unless specifically prohibited by the solicitation. The Respondent/Artist shall file a copy of any written communication with the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall make copies available to any person upon request;

e.          Communications regarding the solicitation between a potential vendor, service provider, Respondent/Artist, lobbyist or consultant and the City’s Procurement Administrator or City employee designated as responsible for administering the procurement process for the Call to Artists, provided the communication is limited strictly to matters of process or procedure already contained in the corresponding solicitation document;

f.            Communications with the City Attorney and her staff;

g.          Duly noticed site visits to determine the competency of a Respondent/Artist regarding the solicitation during the time period between the opening of Bids and the time the Public Art Board and City Manager makes a written recommendation;

h.           Any emergency procurement of goods or services pursuant to City Code;

i.             Responses to the City’s request for clarification or additional information;

j.             Contract negotiations during any duly noticed public meeting;

k.           Communications to enable City staff to seek and obtain industry comment or perform market research, provided all related communications between a potential vendor, service provider, Respondent/Artist, lobbyist, or consultant and any member of the City’s professional staff including, but not limited to, the City Manager, Public Art Board staff liaison, and her staff are in writing or are made at a duly noticed public meeting.

Penalties: Violation of this section by a particular Respondent/Artist shall render any solicitation award or contract to the Respondent/Artist voidable by the City Commission or City Manager. Any person who violates a provision of this section may be prohibited from serving on a City selection or evaluation committee. In addition to any other penalty provided in this solicitation, violation of any provision of this section by a City employee may subject the employee to disciplinary action.

Please contact the City Attorney for any questions concerning “Cone of Silence” compliance.