During a special Grants Pass City Council workshop on the Addressing Homelessness grant, councilors voted to disqualify one applicant, Tender Technologies, for missing required materials and other concerns; a separate motion to disqualify Pathways to Stability for alleged improper communications failed.

Tender Technologies disqualified
Councilors moved and voted to disqualify Tender Technologies after staff and several councilors identified missing application components, potential unallowable costs and a risk review that raised concerns about the applicant's readiness. The disqualification motion passed in council at the workshop and Tender Technologies' application was removed from further consideration.

Allegations of improper communications and a failed disqualification motion
Councilors debated whether some applicants had engaged in improper communications with elected officials or staff during the RFP period. One councilor moved to disqualify Pathways to Stability, citing an Oct. 1 email that had been sent to the mayor and a Oct. 14 email describing a national program. That motion failed: council twice rejected motions that would have disqualified Pathways — first a combined location-and-communication motion and then a narrower motion focused on communications.

Council discussion and mayoral statements
Several councilors described the RFP's rule that communications about proposals should be limited to the city recorder or city attorney and noted that some outside emails had been received. Council debated whether the emails constituted disqualifying improper communications or mere informational messages. Mayor Clint Sherf told council he had not replied to an Oct. 1 message and that he had not engaged in private discussions that would have influenced the RFP evaluation.

Why it matters
The RFP included explicit mandatory disqualifiers (failure to meet program requirements, unacceptable location under zoning law, missing deadlines, improper communications) and optional ones. Council applied the mandatory rules in its disqualification of Tender Technologies while deciding not to disqualify Pathways after discussion and a roll call vote.

Next steps
After disqualifying Tender Technologies and declining to disqualify Pathways, council heard and scored remaining applicants and later directed staff to prepare a draft contract for Pathways to Stability conditioned on site control. The workshop record reflects continuing debate about how strictly to interpret the RFP's optional disqualifiers and how the city should treat outside communications while preserving a fair procurement process.