Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Procurement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Virginia Lottery board urged to avoid ex parte vendor contacts as major RFPs loom
Summary
Legal and procurement staff told the board to avoid informal vendor contacts and to maintain a single point of contact for upcoming major RFPs; the board's role is to set procurement policy while operations handle competitive processes and confidentiality of panel membership.
Agency procurement and legal staff briefed the board on best practices the Lottery will follow ahead of major upcoming requests for proposals.
Staff emphasized the board is a policy body that promulgates procurement processes but does not participate in operational procurement decisions. For integrity and transparency, the agency will enforce a single point-of-contact rule (the procurement manager) while competitive procurements are active, will not disclose RFP panel membership and will avoid ex parte communications with vendors.
Staff said the industry has a small number of specialized vendors and that board members working in the private sector should avoid appearances of favoritism by declining gifts or off-the-record meetings with potential bidders while an RFP is live. Procurement staff will notify board members when major RFPs drop and will provide the procurement manual and relevant materials to board members.
The board did not change policy at the meeting; staff said they would send the procurement manual and alert members when major RFPs are posted so members can avoid inadvertent communications that could create protest risk or erode confidence in competitive fairness.
