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Council amends Responsible Bidder Ordinance after hours-long debate; apprenticeship, local preferences and waivers changed
Summary
Council introduced Ordinance 23-025, the Responsible Bidder Ordinance, and adopted amendments narrowing local preference radius to 5 miles, changing certification timing to a 12-month rolling period, and creating an experience-exemption pathway while rejecting a proposal to raise the contract threshold to $100,000.
Evanston city council members on May 12 voted to introduce Ordinance 23-025, the Responsible Bidder Ordinance (RBO), after more than an hour of committee-level and public discussion and several amendments to the draft ordinance.
Council member Suffredin moved introduction of the ordinance, which staff described as a package that creates local preference points, an apprenticeship training requirement for contractors on covered projects, and a process for waivers for local firms. City attorney and staff told the council that the ordinance was revised at committee to remove a provision on project labor agreements because of recent litigation and to add a general waiver process reserved for local businesses.
Key amendments adopted before introduction:
- Local radius narrowed to 5 miles: Council adopted a motion replacing a 15-mile radius option with a 5-mile radius for the expanded…
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