Denver committee presses administration for clearer best‑value contracting rules and more transparency

The Budget and Policy Committee of the Denver City Council heard a briefing Oct. 29, 2025, on the city's use of "best value" contracting, with presentations from General Services, the Department of Transportation & Infrastructure (DOTI), the mayor's office and the city attorney's office. Council members pressed staff about how best value is defined and applied, how worker protections and small‑business participation are weighed, and what transparency measures the city will adopt for on‑call contracts.

Committee members said the topic matters because procurement choices affect worker pay and safety, subcontractor payment, small‑business opportunity and how public money is spent. Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer and several colleagues asked for clearer, citywide criteria and for the administration to publish evaluation matrices so prospective vendors know how proposals will be judged.

Agency presenters outlined the legal and operational framework that currently allows Denver to contract on a best‑value basis rather than on price alone. Michael Romero, director of purchasing for General Services, told the committee the Denver Revised Municipal Code includes a definition of best value and that some solicitations are evaluated on criteria beyond price. Romero said the code definition appears in "chapter 20, article 4, division 2, definition section 20‑61" and that the city's request‑for‑proposal method permits awards where "an award is made in consideration of best value and not necessarily lowest price." Nicole Sundreth,…