Oxnard staff propose comprehensive overhaul of city purchasing code

Elle McCarron, assistant city attorney for the City of Oxnard, presented a proposed ordinance to repeal and replace Chapter 4, Articles 1–5 of the Oxnard City Code covering purchasing, contracting and public projects and asked that the finance and governance committee review the measure and recommend that the city council introduce and waive first reading.

McCarron told the council the rewrite is intended to provide clear, detailed guidance to city staff on procuring goods, services, professional services and public projects and to align local code with recent state changes. “Iwould like to present to you an ordinance repealing and replacing chapter 4, articles 1 through 5 of the Oxnard City Code for purchasing, contracting, and public projects,” McCarron said.

The draft ordinance reorganizes the purchasing system into five articles: citywide provisions; public projects; professional services; general goods, supplies and services (including IT); and miscellaneous procedures. The proposal replaces language that directed staff to look up multiple state code provisions with expanded local text designed to be used alongside the cityTyler Munis enterprise resource planning (ERP)…