Council directs RFP for land-management software study after debate over process

Councilmembers and members of the public on Oct. 11 pressed staff for competitive procurement and transparency before the city hired a consultant to assess land-management and permitting software options.

City Manager Eric told the council community-development permitting is hampered by an antiquated system, cited legislative deadlines that require online permitting capabilities for certain permit types, and presented a consultant proposal (ClientFirst) for $48,585 to assess needs and draft an RFP. He estimated an eventual implementation cost in the range of $300,000 to $500,000, plus ongoing licensing.

Public commenters raised concerns about awarding professional services without competition and warned against perceived favoritism. Chuck Hicks specifically urged the city to run a public RFP to ensure best price and process fairness.

Council debated whether to approve the consultant directly (allowed under the city’s professional-services policy) or to require an open RFP. Several council members said they wanted competitive proposals for fairness and public confidence. Following that discussion, council moved and approved a motion directing staff to issue an RFP for the software-consultant work. Staff said the RFP will produce comparative proposals and that staff would return with recommendations for consultant selection and, later, for software selection and budget implications.

Council members emphasized that whatever path is chosen must ensure the recommendation process avoids conflicts of interest and includes clear evaluation criteria; staff said they will structure the RFP and include planning-department and planning-commission representatives in evaluations.

The council’s action directs staff to pursue an RFP; a timeline for selection and eventual software purchase was not finalized and will return to council for further action.