City of Cleveland...• Cisco 9300, 6800, 4500, 3560, and 2960 switches • Cisco CUCM 10.5, CUC...

City of Cleveland

Frank G. Jackson, Mayor

Department of Finance

Division of Information Technology and Services

205 St. Clair Avenue, 4th Floor

Cleveland, Ohio 44113-1503

216/664-2330

November 30, 2020

Dear Prospective Vendor,

The City of Cleveland Department of Finance, through its Division of Information

Technology & Services, is soliciting proposals from qualified information technology

staffing/consultancy firms to provide IT candidates on a contract basis.

The specific requirements are fully explained in the attached Request for Proposal

document. The City invites you to consider submitting a proposal.

An optional WebEx pre-proposal conference has been scheduled for 4:00 PM on

Friday, December 11, 2020. Those planning to attend the pre-proposal conference

must register by email to [email protected]. to receive a Webex invite.

The last day for submission of questions is Friday, December 18, 2020. A final

addendum to the RFP will be published on the city's website by Thursday, December

24 2020

The deadline for receipt of all proposals is Friday, January 8, 2021, by 5:00 p.m. EST.

No proposals will be accepted after that date and time unless the city extends the

deadline by a written addendum.

All submissions should be made by email to [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]

[email protected]

Should you have any questions regarding this solicitation, please contact

Regina Bob-Iwe, by email at [email protected].

The City of Cleveland invites responses to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for General

IT Consulting Services.

We ask that you strictly adhere to the following critical guidelines outlined in this document.

Schedule of Critical Dates:

1. November 30, 2020 RFP Published on City website

2. December 11, 2020 Pre-Proposal Conference

3. December 18, 2020 Last Day to Submit Provider Questions

4. December 24, 2020 Publish Final RFP Addendum

5. January 8, 2021 Proposal Submission Deadline

LATE PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED

Pre-proposal Conference

A pre-proposal conference will be held on Friday December 11, 2020 at 4:00PM EST. Interested parties may ask questions or seek clarification pertaining to this Request for Proposals (RFP) and the services desired. For security reasons, those planning to attend the pre-proposal conference must register by email to [email protected]. When registering, it will be necessary to provide the names of all attendees.

Sincerely,

Regina Bob-Iwe

Project Manager.

The city of Cleveland reserves the right to reject any or all proposals or portions of them, to waive irregularities,

informalities, and technicalities, to re-issue or to proceed to obtain the service(s) desired otherwise, at any time

or in any manner considered in City of Cleveland’s best interests. At his/her sole discretion, the Director may

modify or amend any provision of this notice or the RFP.



1. INTRODUCTION AND RFP OVERVIEW

The City of Cleveland (City), Division of Information Technology & Services (ITS), through its

Director of Finance, is soliciting proposals from qualified information technology

staffing/consultancy firms to provide IT candidates on a contract basis. Firms will be selected

based on their demonstrated capabilities of providing a wide range of IT candidates to

include Database Administrators (DBAs), Network Engineers, Application Developers,

Webmasters, Web Designers, IT Project Managers, Business Analysts, ERP Application

Developers, Network Hardware and IT Auditors, and a wide variety of others, with the

experience and depth of resources in the services listed in Section 3, Scope of Services.

The consultants will supplement the Information Technology & Services Division's regularly

employed staff to provide various information technology services on an as-needed and

ongoing basis.

The services may also include systems, networks, security monitoring, maintenance, and

support 24/7/365 for on-premises, managed, and cloud services. Consultants should provide

documentation to support certification to support any software/system identified in Section 2,

Current Technical Environment. The Information Technology & Services (ITS) division

consists of approximately 20 staff members responsible for all aspects of the City of

Cleveland IT architecture and applications.

The result of this procurement process will be one or more contract(s) for the services

described herein; governmental cooperative purchasing pricing/agreements will be accepted

pending validation of a competitive bidding process verified by the City. The contract term for

this service is anticipated to be one (1) year with two (2) one-year options to renew at the

discretion of the Director of Finance.

.

http://www.itstaffingrecruiting.com/erp

http://www.itstaffingrecruiting.com/erp

IT CONSULTING SERVICES

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2. CURRENT TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENT

Network and Telecommunications

ITS has a multilevel network environment. The network includes multiple virtual local area

networks (VLANs), physically separated networks, and Windows Domains. The network is built

upon Cisco switching and routing equipment and the Microsoft Network Operating Systems

and Exchange 2013 (On-prem) e-mail services. Within the Microsoft network operating

systems, there are multiple domains and workgroups.

The MAN (Municipal Area Network) physical network design is built on different levels of

network connectivity. They include Opt-E-man fiber and/or ATT Switched Ethernet (ASE) with

different high-speed connectivity levels with physical fiber optic for backup in some locations.

Network, Telecommunication & Wireless Infrastructure Environment

• Cisco ASA 55xx-X Firewalls

• Firepower AMP, IPS, and Web

• Cisco 9300, 6800, 4500, 3560, and 2960 switches

• Cisco CUCM 10.5, CUC 10.5, UCCX 10.6 and CER 10.5 (v14 cloud 2021)

• Cisco ISR 4330 with SIP and SRST at 7 locations

• Cisco 5500 series WLC

• Cisco Small Business 300 series managed switches

• Cisco 1700/1832 series Aironet AP

• Overlay Transport Virtualization (OVT)

• Cisco Nexus 77xx series switches

• Cisco AMP, Umbrella, Email (CES) and ISE

• Akamai WAF and DNS

Compute and Datacenter Environment

The Compute and Datacenter environment within ITS consists of both physical and virtual

servers. The virtual servers are run on top of VMWare software and utilize NetApp (SAN)


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technology.

There are two (2) Data Centers that house the environments for the Department of ITS. The

server environment within the department consists of both physical and virtual servers. The

virtual environment consists of VMware vSphere version 5.5 (upgrade pending to 6.5)

Compute Infrastructure

Flex Pod Datacenter

o Cisco UCS Chassis

o 12 Cisco UCS B-200-M4 Blade Servers (ESXi) or higher

o 4 Cisco UCS C220 Rack Servers or higher

o NetApp Storage FAS8040/AFF8040 flash storage cluster or higher

a. Storage Protocol - NFS, CIFS, iSCSI

o Cisco Nexus Switching – Fiber-Interconnect

Compute Services

o Active Directory-integrated Domain Name System

o Microsoft Exchange 2013 or Microsoft 365 GCC G3

o DHCP, DNS

o Distributed File Services

o Microsoft Internet Information Services Server

o Microsoft Print Services

o Windows Server Update Services

o Cisco Email & Umbrella Web Security

o Veeam Backup & Replication Service

o Microsoft Azure Cloud Services

o Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Services

Enterprise Systems and Mobility Environment

VMware Air Watch (vs. 9.5.0.6)

Office 365

Internet

o Drupal (vs 20.8.0.1 (2008)).


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Intranet –

o SharePoint Services 3.0

o SharePoint Server 2016

Advantage Financial Management System - (v3.10.01).

o IBM WebSphere v6.1 webserver

o The database is Microsoft SQL Server 2012

o SAP Business Objects XI 3.1 SP3 and utilizing info Advantage for reporting.

o Third-party applications, including PCI Point of Sales, Sympro Debt

Management, Sympro Investment, Pervasive Data Integrator (PDI), BERT

engine, Versata application development tool, as well as an Eclipse.

o SQL server 2008 – 2016 (clustered and none-clustered)

Cityworks Work Order and Assets Management System

o Database Server AMS connects to the City GIS SDE geodatabase (supporting

both editors and viewers).

o Windows 10, using an Internet browser and Mozilla Firefox (preferred

Browse is Firefox)

o Version is 15.1.2, and it is a geocentric application with Arc GIS Server10.3

and runs on an SQL Server database.

o Cityworks licenses and APIs

Cityworks Server AMS

Citizen Engagement Web App

Service Request API

Storeroom

Micro paver Interface

CCTV Interface

Cityworks Analytics

API’s for 3rd party Cityworks-centric applications

AMS Mobile

Project Management Office (PMO)


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The PMO ensures that Project management standards and quality are maintained across the

City. The PMO is currently at a “developing” maturity level. The adopted PM methodologies

are Waterfall and Agile, based on the PMI PMBOK standards.

Tools

MS Projects

SharePoint

MS. Excel

Smartsheet

3. SCOPE OF SERVICES

This list of potential services is intended to provide an overview of the work anticipated to be

performed under this contract. The scope may include all IT disciplines and the work products

developed by these disciplines, whether identified or not. The consultant may be asked to

provide any variety of services that span the complete ITS environment. ITS will release

individual tasks to the Consultant, as described in Section V under Task Release.

The following are examples of the types of activities that may be requested and are organized

into categories based on the type of service:

Management Services/Technical Support

System/server/network administration

Cloud system planning, evaluation, and migration

Disaster recovery/business continuity planning, testing, and site build

Security/audit compliance

Infrastructure Support

Network assessments, design, engineering, and tuning

Voice System (VoIP) assessments, design, engineering, and tuning

System architecture, design, and solution


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Data Center Upgrade Design- NetApp SAN, Cisco Compute and Core Cisco Switches,

Cisco WLC, Cisco 1700 series Aironet AP

Firewall/ ASA Administration & Support

Cisco Email Security, Barracuda Load Balancer, and Cisco Umbrella Web Filter Support

Operational Support

RFP Development & Evaluation

Exchange Administration & Support

Back-Up Administration & Support

Voice System (VoIP) assessments, design, engineering, and tuning

Mobile Data Management Administration & Support

Wireless Network Administration & Support

Microsoft SQL database Maintenance and administration

SharePoint implementation, development, maintenance, and administration

Application development (primarily Java and .NET/C#) and support

Report development (Crystal, Info-Advantage, SQL Reporting Server)

Cisco 8.x WLC, Prime 3.1, ISE, MSE, APIC-EM

Advantage Financial System Support

Drupal Maintenance and Support

Project Management Services

The services below are potential services specific to applications or infrastructure that we may

request. This listing aims to define more clearly what services may be requested even though

they are included in the general services listed above.

Telecommunications

Cisco VoIP and Call Center Support

The selected Consultant may be asked to make changes to the existing Cisco Telephony and

Call Center Systems, including:

Assists in planning, engineering, architecture, and development of telephony and call

center technologies based on Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco


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IPCC Express.

Provide Level 2 Fault Management and break-fix support on CUCM and Cisco IPCC

Express

Design and implement modifications to call center applications (call flows)

Network, Compute, and Datacenter Support

Assess, design, and implement network and telecommunications systems.

Troubleshoot network operational issues.

Assess and recommend network design solutions for short-, medium-, and long-

range network projects.

Install, configure, and maintain network components.

Determine the plan and layout for new hardware or modifications to the existing layout.

Review, design, administer, and troubleshoot the SAN environment.

Implement data center management best practices

Support server consolidation and VMWARE virtualization projects.

Provide ITIL-based operational support for data center management (including

backups)

Provide network security reviews.

Assess, redesign to streamline, and fine-tune Active Directory infrastructure.

Assess, design, implement, and fine-tune Exchange-based email infrastructure.

Provide hands-on operational support for Exchange servers

Assess, design, implement and fine-tune Microsoft SharePoint infrastructure

Provide Microsoft Server 2012/2016/2019 management and administration support

Development of a complete Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity (DR-BC)

strategic plan and or maintenance/ updating of existing plans. Which includes cloud

recovery, systems/data recovery, colocation, data center recovery/support

Provide plan test scripts and recovery procedures following NIST 800-34

Conduct BIA

Document technology architecture.

Conduct Disaster Recovery Testing and Audits


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Application Services Support

Advantage Financial System and Third-Party application and Platform Support

Provide support for Advantage Financial System and third-party applications and

Interfaces (e.g., Info Advantage Reporting, Performance Budgeting, PCI, Pervasive

Data Integrator (PDI), Sympro, and ARCHIBUS)

Supplement staff to support and Troubleshoot Advantage Financial System and Third-

Party applications, and Interfaces

Supplement staff to support the future upgrade and implementation services for

Advantage Financial System 3.10 (or above), Third Party Applications, and Interfaces

Supplement staff to monitor the performance of the application in different shifts

Using PDI (or like) development tools to create or modify current inbound and

outbound interfaces

Assist with patch deployment using Versata development environment

Using the Eclipse development tool to create and modify BERT forms as needed

Info Advantage - SAP Business Object Support and Development

Review Info Advantage reporting and business intelligence (SAP Business Object)

environment.

Develop reports using existing Department of Finance reporting tools, such as info

Advantage Reports and SAP Business Objects.

Provide data modeling and universe design

Monitor and troubleshoot Advantage nightly and weekly batch processes, including

the ETL Process

City of Cleveland website

Assist with the upgrade and troubleshooting of Drupal Application

Assist with web content editing and web page design

Assist with data gathering, design, implementation, and migration to a new platform

as is identified

SharePoint Support and Development

Assess, design, implement, migrate and fine-tune Microsoft SharePoint from service

3.0 to server 2016 or Office 365 infrastructure


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Data warehouse

Develop recommendations for enterprise business intelligence strategies. Data and

requirement gathering

Develop an enterprise cross-departmental data warehouse

, design, development, and implementation

Maintenance and support

Provide data modeling, universe design, and ETL development.

Develop corporate dashboards and portals as needed.

SQL Database Support and Monitoring

Installation, configuration, upgrade, and migration

Performance monitoring and tuning

Backup and Recovery

Database security

Storage and capacity planning

Troubleshooting

Data Extraction, Transformation, and Loading

High availability and Replication

Very Large Databases (VLDBs)

Application Development

Mobile Application development

Professional Services

Project Management Services Business Analysis

Requirements Discovery, Gap Analysis, and Validation

Workflow Configuration

3rd Party Applications Interface Integration (Accela Automation, Version 9.2)

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

Training


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4. PROJECT STAFF AND ROLES

ITS has the right to approve all individuals working on the project, and it is expected that the

selected individuals will remain on the project until the task is complete. Flexibility in staffing

hours may be required to meet operational needs. Staffing can only be replaced with ITS

written approval. Staffing each authorized task of the project is the Consultant's responsibility

and shall start immediately after receiving the task Notice to Proceed (NTP).

ITS reserves the right to receive a resume for all proposed task resources and to interview the

resources before accepting them to perform task work.

Labor categories and skill levels for services being requested:

A. Management Services/Technical Support Category

a. Consultant Level 1

b. Consultant Level 2

c. Consultant Level 3

d. Subject Matter Expert Level 1

e. Subject Matter Expert Level 2

B. Network and IT Infrastructure Support Category






C. Application Services Support Category







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D. Professional Services Support Category

Consultant Level 1

Consultant Level 2

Consultant Level 3

Subject Matter Expert Level 1


Role Descriptions

A. Consultant Level 1: Resource with at least seven years’ experience with appropriate

training, certification, education, and experience for the category and task assigned to

that resource.

B. Consultant Level 2: Resource with at least five years’ experience with appropriate

training, certification, education, and experience for the category and task assigned to

that resource.

C. Consultant Level 3: Resource with at least two years’ experience with appropriate

training, certification, education, and experience for the task assigned to that resource.

D. Level 1 Subject Matter Expert: Senior level expert in the proposed category and task.

E. Level 2 Subject Matter Expert: Junior level expert in the proposed category and task.

Special Certification Requirements,

Consultants Level 1, in all support categories, MUST possess widely recognized and

accepted industry or proprietary OEM certifications for the services being offered


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5. GENERAL GUIDELINES

Task Release for Support Services

Task Request for Proposal

When a task is first initiated, ITS Commissioner or designee shall issue a Task Request

for Proposal (TRFP) to the Consultant. The TRFP will include relevant information based

on the type of task, broken down into either Fixed Labor or Fixed Deliverables.

Fixed Labor Tasks-These are tasks where ITS requires a skilled resource to fulfill an

operational need (e.g., DBA, CCNA, etc.). ITS will provide the Consultant with a TRFP

that includes the description of the need for that task.

Fixed Deliverables - These are complex tasks that there are defined deliverables and

outcomes. ITS will provide the Consultant with a TRFP with goals and objectives and

services for the task.

Task Proposal

The Consultant will review the TRFP and prepare a proposal based on the type of task

being requested:

Fixed Labor Tasks-Consultant will provide:

Resumes of proposed resources

Labor category and skill level/rates based on the fee proposal.

Task Resource Required Certification Required

Provides assistance in planning, engineering, architecture and development of telephony and call center technologies based on Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco IPCC Express

Consultant Level 1 Cisco Certifies Internetwork Expert (CCIE)

Disaster recovery and business continuity related tasks

Consultant Level 1 Certified Business Continuity Manager (CBCM) or equivalent

All Project Managers Consultant Level 1 PMI PMP certification or equivalent


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Completion of any required forms based on ITS task process.

Fixed Deliverables – Consultant, will provide:

Proposal including resources, schedule, and deliverables

Resumes of proposed resources

Labor category and skill level/rates, based on the fee proposal.

Completion of any required forms based on ITS task process.

The Consultant shall submit this information in proposal form to the ITS Commissioner or

designee.

Task Negotiation

ITS will review the task proposal as received from the Consultant and determine if the

proposal is acceptable. If ITS thinks some adjustment in the proposal is needed, it will

negotiate with the Consultant until both agree on the details in the task proposal.

Task Authorization

When the task proposal is finalized, a formal Task Authorization Letter will be given to

the Consultant by ITS.

Each authorized task shall indicate a total Not-To-Exceed funding cap. The Consultant

shall cease work on a task once he/she has expended all of the authorized funds on a

task. Work on a task will resume only after ITS authorizes additional funds. The

Consultant shall give ITS at least one-month advance notice when it thinks a task’s

funding will be exhausted.

Task Completion and Close-out

All work by the Consultant shall conform to ITS standards. After the Consultant has

completed the activities as authorized in each task, he/she shall submit, in hard copy and,

where applicable, in electronic form (in the latest versions of Adobe PDF, MS Word, Visio,

or MS Excel), all required documentation and deliverables as defined in the task.

Noncompetitive Statement on Sub consultants

To preserve the City’s interest in continuing the project work without undue interruption,


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the Consultant is prohibited from imposing non-compete conditions on its sub-consultants

without the prior written approval of such conditions by the City.

6. COMPENSATION AND INVOICING

A. General Services

Compensation for general services shall be based on hourly billing rates or fixed price

based on the support category of the individuals assigned to each task and approved

reimbursable expenses as agreed upon during negotiation of the Agreement.

Billing rates shall remain unchanged throughout the life of this contract.

The Consultant shall be compensated for reimbursable expenses incurred in the work's

interest following the City Reimbursable Policy (Appendix C).

The Consultant shall be paid for services on a simple time-based method or mutually

agreed upon fee schedule based on project deliverables. The Consultant shall invoice

each month based on the actual hours and approved hourly billing rates expended for the

services. The invoice shall include only the staff titles listed in the Fee Proposal.

The Consultant shall submit its invoice for progress payment to ITS no later than the

business's close on the last day following the month for which payment is requested. If

the last calendar day would fall on a Saturday, Sunday, or Holiday, then the submittal

shall be on the previous working day. The Consultant shall not submit invoices more

frequently than once per month.

Invoices shall include a cover page, summary table, detailed invoice per task, summary

table of labor costs, timesheets, a summary table of reimbursable, original receipts, and

other information as deemed appropriate. Invoices shall include specific activities worked

on an hourly and daily basis by resource or task/deliverables.


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Supporting information (receipts, timesheets, etc.) shall be attached in the appropriate

section of the invoice alphabetically and chronologically. For example, timesheets shall

be attached alphabetically by individual name and chronologically by the individual.

Each approved task shall be specifically identified and tracked.

Invoices not submitted in the approved format may be rejected and returned to the

Consultant. This includes incomplete information and missing documentation.

B. Payments to Sub consultants

The consultant is obligated to pay sub-consultants within 45 days of the Consultant’s

receipt of the sub consultant’s invoice (unless the City authorizes specific written

exceptions on a case-by-case basis).

7. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

Submission of Proposal

Each proposer shall submit its proposal(s) in the number, form, manner, and by the date

and time and at the location required in Section I above.

i. Each proposer shall provide all information requested in this RFP. The proposer must

organize its proposal package to address each of the elements in this RFP in the order

listed in Section 8, PROPOSAL CONTENTS. The proposer should carefully read all

instructions and requirements and furnish all information requested. If a proposal does

not comply with all terms, conditions, and requirements for submittal, the City may

consider it unacceptable and may reject it without further consideration.

ii. The City wishes to promote the greatest feasible use of recycled and environmentally

sustainable products and minimize waste in its operations. To that end, all proposals

should comply with the following guidelines: Unless necessary, copies should reduce or

eliminate the use of non-recyclable or non-reusable materials. Materials should be in a

format permitting easy removal and recycling of paper. To the extent possible, a

proposer should use products consisting of or containing recycled content in its

proposal, including, but not limited to, folders, binders, paper clips, diskettes, envelopes,


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boxes, etc. Do not submit any or a greater number of samples, attachments, or

documents not specifically requested.

iii. If you find discrepancies or omissions in this RFP or if the intended meaning of any part

of this RFP is unclear a request for clarification or interpretation may be submitted via

e-mail to [email protected]

8. PROPOSAL CONTENTS

Each technical proposal shall include the following parts in the below order. Please separate

and identify each part by tabs for quick reference. Each proposal should be organized to

facilitate its evaluation.

The technical proposal shall Be No Longer Than 30 Single-Sided Printed Pages, excluding

appendices.

The technical proposal response shall consist of the following sections:

Section 1: Cover Letter and Executive Summary

The Executive Summary should provide a complete and concise summary of the proposer’s

experience and ability to meet the requirements of this RFP. It should briefly state why the

proposer is the best candidate for the engagement. The summary should be organized to

serve as a stand-alone summary apart from the remainder of the proposal.

Section 2: Profile

The Proposer will provide a profile of its organization and all other sub-consultants who will

be providing services. At a minimum, the Proposer will provide the following information:

Principle owners of the business

Number of years in business

Number of years involved with services as proposed

Total number of employees

Latest gross sales revenue



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Latest gross income

Section 3: Qualifications

Each proposer should state in detail, its qualifications and experience and how its services

and/or products are unique and best suited to meet the requirements and intent of this RFP.

This should include the qualifications of sub-consultants included in the proposal. The

proposer may consist of as much information as needed to differentiate its services and

product(s) from other proposers. At a minimum, please include the following:

A. Staffing: Qualifications must include a description of organizational and staff

experience and resumes.

B. Organizational and Staff Experience: Proposer must describe their qualifications and

experience to perform the work described in this RFP. Information about experience

should include direct experience with the specific subject matter, demonstrating a

technical strength in at least five of the items listed in the Scope of Services section.

Consultants should provide documentation to support if they are certified to support

any particular software/system identified in Section 2, Current Technical

Environment. The proposer’s record should reflect experience in work of similar

nature to that being proposed and the ability to bring in resources as needed for the

wide-ranging IT services requested in this RFP. Relevant experience must be

associated with projects completed not more than five years before this RFP date.

C. Describe your process for recruiting, selecting, and assigning staff to tasks, providing

oversight, evaluation, and quality control procedures, as well as addressing

deficiencies in performance with steps for remediation.

Section 4: List of Representative Services

Provide a list of at least three similar IT consulting services that the proposer has

completed within the last three years.

Include a detailed description of the scope, responsibilities, services, and dollar value for

each contract listed for the proposer

Provide at least three client references (verified name and telephone number) of

someone closely familiar with each client and your firm's performance.

Each service description shall be presented in the format consistent with the table below.


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Project Name and Description

Owner’s Name:

Location of Project:

Knowledgeable Contact’s Name

Verified Telephone Number for Contact

Business Manager’s Name*

Key Team Member’s Names and Duties*

Prime Consultant

Sub-consultant(s) and Percent of Total Project (if applicable)

Section 5: Financial Statements

Any financial statements required will be requested only from those proposers that are

“short-listed.”

Section6: Environmental Sustainability:

Describe how the proposed services/project/solution incorporates environmental

sustainability.

Section 7: Litigation: Disclose any current litigation(s) that the proposer or any of its

subcontractors is currently involved or has been involved over the last five years.


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Section 8: Fee Proposal: The proposer should submit its fee proposal for all its services

as a document

A. Fee Proposal Template

Task-Based Support Services

Submit hourly rates by discipline as listed in Table 1 – Fee Proposal Template, located in

“Attachment G.” Labor rates will be fixed for the entire contract term.

Compensation for labor shall be based not on the actual salary rates but on category

billing rates quoted by the Fee Proposal Template proposer.

Labor rates have been placed into five categories.

Overtime shall be treated as a straight time unless required otherwise by state law.

Reimbursable items will be negotiated on a per-task basis. Proposer shall fill in billing

rates it is willing to accept as payment for services performed by any proposed team

member falling into the given labor classification role. Proposer shall complete only one

such form for its entire team and not submit separate forms for different sub-consultant

firms.


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9. THE CITY’S RIGHTS AND REQUIREMENTS

i. At his/her sole discretion, the Director may require any proposer to augment or

supplement its proposal or meet with the City’s designated representatives for an

interview or presentation to describe the proposer’s qualifications and capabilities

further. The requested information, interview, meeting, or presentation shall be

submitted or conducted appropriately at a time and place the Director specifies.

ii. The City reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to reject any proposal that is incomplete

or unresponsive to the requests or requirements of this RFP. The City reserves the right

to reject any or all proposals and to waive and accept any informality or discrepancy in

the proposal or the process as may be in the City’s best interest.

iii. A Proposal as a Public Record

Under the State of Ohio laws, all parts of a proposal, other than trade secret or

proprietary information and the fee proposal, may be considered a public record that, if

properly requested, the City must make available to the requester for inspection

copying. Therefore, to protect trade secret or proprietary information, the proposer

should mark each page - but only that page - of its proposal containing that information.

The City will notify the proposer if such information in its proposal is requested, but

cannot, however, guarantee the confidentiality of any proprietary or otherwise sensitive

information in or with the proposal. Blanket marking of the entire proposal as

“proprietary” or “trade secret” will not protect an entire proposal and is not acceptable.

iv. Cleveland Area Business Code

Requirements During the performance of this Agreement, the Contractor shall comply

with all applicable requirements of the Cleveland Area Business Code, Chapter 187 of

the Codified Ordinances of Cleveland, Ohio, 1976 (“C.O.”). Any Regulations

promulgated under the Code, which Code and Regulations are incorporated into and


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made part of this RFP by this reference as fully as if rewritten in it or attached.

Specifically, compliance under any resulting agreement shall include, but not be limited

to, the Contractor:

Compliance with its proposal representations regarding CSB, MBE, and/or FBE

participation in the performance of the Agreement;

Compliance and cooperation with Project Monitors, whether from the Mayor’s Office

of Equal Opportunity (the “OEO”) or the contracting department;

Accurate, complete, and on-time submission of all reports, forms, and documents

including, but not limited to, employment reports, certified payrolls, monitoring forms,

and other information the Director of the OEO may require, whether in printed or

electronic form, to ascertain and verify Contractor’s compliance; and

Attendance at and participation in all required project meetings, including OEO

compliance meetings and progress meetings called by the contracting department

director(s) at critical intervals during the contract services' performance

Failure to Comply When determining the contractor’s future eligibility for a City

contract, the City shall consider a contractor’s failure to comply with its proposal's

representations and the requirements under the Code as a failure to perform a

contract faithfully.

a. Under the Cleveland Area Business Code, the City of Cleveland is firmly committed

to assisting Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs), Female Business Enterprises

(FBEs), and Cleveland- area small businesses (CSBs) by providing and enhancing

economic opportunities to participate in City contracts. The successful proposer for a

contract will be a firm that shares that commitment. Accordingly, a proposer is strongly

encouraged to utilize the services of qualified MBE/FBE/CSB sub-consultants that are

certified by the Mayor’s Office of Equal Opportunity (the “OEO”) in its proposal.

b. The standard subcontracting goal for professional services contracts is 10%

Cleveland Area Small Business (“CSB”) subcontractor participation. Please review the

attached Office of Equal Opportunity documents to ascertain the goal for the proposed

contract. Proposers are required to make a good-faith effort to subcontract portions of

the work to certified Minority Business Enterprise (“MBE”), Female Business


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Enterprise (“FBE”), and CSB firms, consistent with the subcontracting goal(s)

applicable to this RFP.

.

c. To document its good-faith effort to utilize certified MBE, FBE, and CSB sub-

consultants, each proposer must complete Schedules 1 through 4 found in the

Cleveland Area Business Code - Notice to Bidders and Schedules. These schedules

identify the proposer’s proposed use of MBE, FBE, and CSB sub-consultants on the

project, which evidences the proposer’s good-faith effort to obtain the participation of

certified sub-consultants. The proposer shall submit the completed forms with its

proposal, and they will be forwarded to the City’s Office of Equal Opportunity for

evaluation. Failure to submit complete schedules may result in the rejection of a

proposal

Proposers may obtain a listing of firms certified by the OEO as CSBs, MBEs, and

FBEs by checking the City’s website at http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us. On the home

page, select the “Office of Equal Opportunity” from the drop-down menu of City

departments. You will find a selection in the left-hand column for “CSB/MBE/FBE

Registry” on the Office of Equal Opportunity page.

Proposers are responsible for obtaining the most current list and contacting potential

CSB/MBE/FBE sub-consultants. The City assumes no responsibility for matching

prime consultants with qualified, certified MBE, FBE, and/or CSB sub-consultants.

The City Office of Equal Opportunity will monitor the participation of MBE, FBE, and/or

CSB sub-consultants throughout the engagement or project. The successful proposer,

as the contractor, will be responsible for providing the OEO with all information

necessary to facilitate this monitoring.

The Cleveland Area Business Code, any Regulations promulgated under the Code,

and the OEO Notice to Bidders & Schedules are, by this reference, incorporated in

and made part of this solicitation and any resulting contract as fully as if written in it or

attached.

d. The successful proposer, as the contractor, will be required to comply with all terms,

http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/


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conditions, and requirements imposed on a “contractor” in the following Equal

Opportunity Clause, Section 187.22(b) of the Cleveland Codified Ordinances, and

shall make the Clause part of every subcontractor agreement entered into for services

or goods and binding on all persons and firms with which the proposer may deal, as

follows: No Contractor shall discriminate against any employee or applicant for

employment because of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin,

age, disability, ethnic group or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. Contractors

shall take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that

employees are treated during employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex,

sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, ethnic group, or Vietnam-era or

disabled veteran status. As used in this chapter, “treated” means and includes without

limitation the following: recruited whether by advertising or other means;

compensated, whether in the form of rates of pay or other forms of compensation;

selected for training, including apprenticeship, promoted, upgraded, demoted,

transferred, laid off and terminated. Contractors shall post in conspicuous places

available to employees and applicants for employment, notices to be provided by the

hiring representative of contractors setting forth this nondiscrimination clause's

provisions.

v. Term of the Proposal’s Effectiveness.

By submitting a proposal, the proposer agrees that its proposal will remain effective

and eligible for acceptance by the City until the earlier execution of a final contract or

180 calendar days after the proposal submission deadline (the “Proposal Expiration

Date”).

vi. Execution of a Contract.

The successful proposer shall, within ten (10) business days after receipt of a contract

prepared by the City Director of Law, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays,

execute and return the contract to the City together with evidence of proper insurance

and intent to conform to all requirements of the contract. Attached hereto or which are

a part hereof and all applicable federal, state, and local laws and ordinances before

or at the time of execution of the contract.


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vii. Short-listing

The City reserves the right to select a limited number (a “shortlist”) of proposers to

make an oral presentation of their qualifications, proposed services, and capabilities.

The City will notify the proposers selected for oral presentations in writing.

viii. Proposer’s Familiarity with RFP; Responsibility for Proposal

By submission of a proposal, the proposer acknowledges that it is aware of and

understands all requirements, provisions, and conditions in and of this RFP and that

its failure to become familiar with all the requirements, provisions, conditions, and

information either in this RFP or disseminated either at a pre-proposal conference or

by addendum issued before the proposal submission deadline, and all circumstances

and conditions affecting the performance of the services to be rendered by the

successful proposer will not relieve it from responsibility for all parts of its Proposal

and, if selected for the contract, its complete performance of the contract in

compliance with its terms. Proposer acknowledges that the City has no responsibility

for any conclusions or interpretations made by proposers based on information made

available by the City. The City does not guarantee the accuracy of any information

provided. The proposer expressly waives any right to a claim against the City arising

from or based upon any incorrect, inaccurate, or incomplete information or information

not otherwise conforming to represented or actual conditions.

ix. Interpretation

The City is not responsible for any explanation, clarification, interpretation,

representation, or approval made concerning this RFP or a Proposal or given in any

manner, except by written addendum. The City will mail, e-mail, or otherwise deliver

one copy of each addendum issued, if any, to each individual or firm that requested

and received an RFP. Any addendum is a part of and incorporated in this RFP as fully

as if initially written herein.


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10. OFFICE OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITY (OEO) FORMS

Submit the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) Schedules. These schedules are contained

within the document “Notice to Bidders and Schedules,” which are included in Appendix D

and can also be found on the City of Cleveland website in the OEO section.

The schedules shall be fully completed and designed to meet or exceed the participation

goal of 10%.

Each CSB firm should complete and sign the Statement of Intent to perform as a sub-

consultant (Schedule 3).

Required City Forms

Proposer shall complete, execute, and return with its fee proposal the following documents,

blank copies of which are included in Appendix D. They can also be found on-line on the

City of Cleveland website. City of Cleveland OEO Forms

The Office of Equal Opportunity Notice to Bidders and Schedules;

Federal Form W-9 including Taxpayer Identification Number;

Non-Competitive Bid Contract Statement for Calendar Year 2020

Northern Ireland Fair Employment Practices Disclosure.

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11. PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND SELECTION

Information on fees, hours, level of effort, or the like for this project shall exist exclusively in

the Fee Proposal.

Proposals shall be evaluated based on the following criteria (not listed in order of importance):

Proposer experience and technical strengths

Proven successful past performance on similar engagements

Approach to recruiting, selecting, assigning, and monitoring staff

CSB participation and utilization and qualifications of sub-consultants

Compliance with proposal conditions and requirements, suitability of resumes

submitted

Fees will not be considered in the technical evaluation. Proposals shall be evaluated

first on qualifications and technical merit. Once rankings are established, the fee

submittals shall be considered

A firm’s involvement in any current litigation with the City may be considered during proposal

evaluation.

The ratings are not intended or to be interpreted as a reflection of a proposer’s professional

abilities. Instead, they reflect the City’s best attempt to quantify each proposer’s ability to

provide the services sought by the City and to meet the specific requirements of this RFP,for

comparison purposes.

Disqualification of a Proposer/Proposal: The City does not intend by this RFP to prohibit or

discourage submission of a proposal that is based upon a proposer’s trade experience

concerning the nature or scope of work, services, or product(s) described in this RFP or to

prescribe how its services are to be performed or rendered.

The City will not be obligated to accept, however, significant deviations from the work or


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services sought by this RFP, including terms inconsistent with or substantially varying from the

services or the financial and operational requirements of the RFP, as determined solely by the

City. The City reserves the right to reject any proposal that does not furnish or is unresponsive

to the information required or requested herein. The City reserves the right to reject any

proposal or to waive or to accept any deviation from this RFP or in any step of the proposal

submission or evaluation process to approve the award of the contract considered in the City’s

best interest, as determined in the City’s sole discretion.

Although the City prefers that each proposer submit only one proposal including all alternatives

to the proposal that the proposer desires the City to consider, it will accept proposals from

different business entities or combinations having one or more members in interest in common

with another proposer. The City may reject one or more proposals if it has reason to believe

that proposers have colluded to conceal one or more parties' interest in a proposal and will not

consider a future proposal from a participant in the collusion. Also, the City will not accept a

proposal form or approve a contract to any proposer that is in default as surety or otherwise

upon an obligation to the City or has failed to perform faithfully any previous agreement with

the City, or is currently in default under any agreement with the City.

The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals. Failure by a proposer to respond

thoroughly and entirely to all information and document requests in this RFP may result in

rejection of its proposal. Further, the City reserves the right to independently investigate the

financial status, qualifications, experience, and performance history.

The City reserves the right to cancel the approval or authorization of a contract award, with or

without cause, at any time before it executes a contract.


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12. AGREEMENT PROCESS

The Vendor whose proposal is found to be the “Most Advantageous” to the City will be selected

and offered the opportunity to agree with the City. The scope, terms, and conditions of that

Agreement shall be in conformance with the terms, conditions, and specifications described in

this RFP, and the proposal submitted by the Vendor shall become part of the Agreement with

the City.

The selected Vendor must be prepared to begin contract negotiations immediately upon

notification of selection. If the Vendor is not able to begin contract negotiations, the City may

disqualify the Vendor. The City reserves the right to negotiate the contract to include any

portion or portions of the proposal.

The City shall not be responsible for any vendor costs incurred concerning the proposal's

preparation, travel to any meetings, or any other Vendor costs associated with proposal

preparation.

The City of Cleveland’s Law Department will prepare the contract. Vendor responses must

identify a designated contact, authorized to negotiate the Law Department's final terms and

conditions. It should be noted that the Law Department uses the City of Cleveland to prepared

contract forms and not standard vendor contract forms.


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13. TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The following terms and conditions, substantially in the form contained herein, shall be included

in the City's agreement and the successful respondent. Please carefully review these terms

and conditions. No specific response to this section is required.

Term

The term of this Agreement shall begin on the effective date of this Agreement and, unless

sooner canceled per the terms of the Agreement, shall terminate upon completion of and

approval by the City of all work to be performed.

Cancellation

The City may cancel this agreement at any time upon written notice to the Consultant.

Independent Contractor

The consultant and the City agree that the Consultant is an independent contractor and not an

employee of the City and further agrees that the Consultant shall be considered as such for all

purposes. As such, Consultants shall retain sole financial responsibility for all taxes due to

federal, state, or local governments or agencies on account of themselves, their employees,

representatives, or agents.

Equal Opportunity, MBE/FBE

The Consultant shall comply with all terms, conditions, and requirements imposed on a

“Contractor” in the Equal Opportunity Clause, Section 187.22(b) of the Cleveland Codified

Ordinances, (Attachment F) and shall make the Clause part of every subcontractor agreement

entered into for services or goods and binding on all persons and firms with which the proposer

may deal, as follows: No Contractor shall discriminate against any employee or applicant for

employment because of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age,

disability, ethnic group or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. Contractors shall take

affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated

during employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national

origin, age, disability, ethnic group, or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. As used in this

chapter, “treated” means and includes without limitation the following: recruited whether by


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advertising or other means; compensated, whether in the form of rates of pay or other forms

of compensation; selected for training, including apprenticeship, promoted, upgraded,

demoted, transferred, laid off and terminated. Contractors shall post in conspicuous places

available to employees and applicants for employment, notices to be provided by the hiring

representative of Contractors setting forth this nondiscrimination clause's provisions.

A copy of this Clause shall be made a part of every subcontractor agreement entered into for

goods or services, and shall be binding on all persons, firms, and corporations with whom the

Contractor may deal.

Within 60 calendar days after entering into a contract, the successful Proposer, as Contractor,

shall file a written affirmative action program with the OEO containing standards and

procedures and representations assuring that the Contractor affords all qualified employees

and applicants for employment equal opportunities in the Contractor’s recruitment, selection,

and advancement processes. The forms can be found at City of Cleveland OEO Forms

Cleveland Area Business Code

During this contract's performance, the Consultant shall comply with all applicable

requirements of the Cleveland Area Business Code, Chapter 187, and 187a. Of the Codified

Ordinances of Cleveland, Ohio, 1976 (“C.O.”), and any Regulations promulgated under the

Code, which Code and Regulations are incorporated into and made part of this RFP by this

reference as fully as if rewritten in it or attached. There is no subcontractor participation goal

for this contract.

Subcontracts and Assignments

Consultant shall not subcontract, nor shall any subcontractor commence performance of any

part of the work or services included in this Agreement without the City's prior written consent.

Subcontracting, if permitted, shall not relieve the Consultant of any of its obligations under this

Agreement.

Consultant shall be and remain solely responsible to the City for the acts or faults of any such

subcontractor and such subcontractor's officers, agents, and employees. Each of them shall,

for this purpose, be deemed to be an agent or employee of Consultant to the extent of its

subcontract. Consultant and any subcontractor shall jointly and severally agree that the City of




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Cleveland is not obligated to pay or to be liable for the payment of any sums due to any

subcontractor.

Assignment

Consultant shall not assign any interest in this Agreement, and shall not transfer any interest

in the same, whether by assignment or notation, without the prior written consent of the City.

Confidentiality

In rendering the Services to be performed according to this Agreement, Consultant agrees to

treat and maintain confidential information and data as the City’s confidential property and from

the date hereof and agrees not to divulge it to any third party at any time or use it for

Consultant’s benefit or otherwise, except as such use or disclosure may be required in

connection with the performance of the Services or may be consented to, in writing by the City.

Compliance with Laws and Policies

This Agreement is subject to, and Consultant shall comply with, all statutes, ordinances,

regulations, and rules of the Federal government, the State of Ohio, the County of Cuyahoga,

and the City of Cleveland.

Indemnification and Insurance

Consultant shall indemnify and hold harmless the City and its respective officers, agents, and

employees from and against all losses, damages, expenses, suits or claims, liabilities, and

costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, that may be based upon any negligent error or

omission by Consultant or any injury to persons or property arising out of any error, omission

or negligent act of Consultant or its sub-consultant. Consultant shall, at its own expense,

defend the City in all litigation, pay all attorney's fees, damages, court costs, and other

expenses arising out of such litigation or claims incurred in connection therewith and shall, at

its own expense, pay all claims and related expenses and satisfy and cause to be discharged

such judgments as may be obtained against the City, or any of its officers, agents or

employees, arising out of such litigation. Such indemnification shall survive the termination of

this Agreement.


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State Industrial Compensation

Consultant shall be required at all times during the term of this Agreement, if required by law,

to subscribe to and comply with the Workers' Compensation Laws of the State of Ohio and pay

such premiums as may be required thereunder and to save the City harmless from all liability

from or under said act. Consultant shall also furnish, if applicable, upon the request of the City,

a copy of the official certificate or receipt showing the payments referred to herein.

Social Security Act

Consultant shall be and remain an independent contractor concerning all services performed

hereunder and agrees to and does hereby accept full and exclusive liability for the payment of

all contributions or taxes for social security, unemployment benefits, pensions and annuities

now or hereafter imposed under any state or federal laws which are measured by the wages,

salaries or other remuneration paid to persons employed by Consultant on work performed

under the terms of this Agreement and further agrees to obey all lawful rules and regulations

and to meet all lawful requirements which are now or hereafter may be issued or promulgated

under said respective laws by any duly authorized state or federal officials and said Consultant

also agrees to indemnify and save harmless the City of Cleveland from any such contributions

or taxes or liability therefore.

Interest of Consultant

Consultant covenants that it has no interest and shall not acquire any interest, direct or indirect,

which would conflict in any manner or degree with the performance of services required to be

performed under this Agreement. Consultant further covenants that no person having any such

interest shall be employed in the performance of this Agreement.

Defaults and Remedies

A. Consultant shall be in default of this Agreement upon the happening of any of the

following events:

1. The consultant fails to observe or perform any of the covenants or agreements

to be observed or performed hereunder. Such failure continues for five (5) days

after written notice thereof is given to the Consultant by the City.

2. The filing, execution, or occurrence of: (i) a petition or other proceeding by, or a


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finding against, Consultant for its dissolution, reorganization or liquidation; (ii) a

petition in bankruptcy by Consultant; (iii) an adjudication of Consultant as

bankrupt or insolvent; (iv) an assignment or petition for the assignment for the

benefit of creditors.

3. Consultant abandons or discontinues its operations for the City except when

such abandonment or discontinuance is caused by fire, earthquake, war, strike,

or other calamities beyond its control.

B. Upon the happening of any one or more of the events as outlined in Paragraph A of this

Article, or upon any other default or breach of this Agreement, the Finance Director may,

at her option, exercise concurrently or successively any one or more of the following

rights and remedies:

1. Enjoin any breach or threatened breach by Consultant of any covenants,

agreements, terms provisions, or conditions hereof.

2. Sue for the performance of any obligation, promise, or agreement devolving upon

Consultant for performance or damages for the nonperformance thereof, all

without terminating this Agreement.

3. Terminate this Agreement.

C. All rights and remedies granted to the City herein and any other rights and remedies

that the City may have at law and equity are hereby declared to be cumulative and not

exclusive. The fact that the City may have exercised any remedy without terminating

this Agreement shall not impair the City's rights after that to terminate or to exercise any

other remedy herein granted or to which it may be otherwise entitled.


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14. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY REQUIREMENTS

During the performance of this Agreement, Contractor shall comply with all applicable

requirements of the Cleveland Area Business Code, Chapter 187 of the Codified Ordinances

of Cleveland, Ohio, 1976 (“C.O.”). Any Regulations promulgated under the Code, which Code

and Regulations are incorporated into and made part of this RFP by this reference as fully as

if rewritten in it or attached. Specifically, compliance under any resulting agreement shall

include, but not be limited to, the Contractors:

Compliance with its proposal representations regarding CSB, MBE, and/or FBE

participation in the performance of the Agreement;

Compliance and cooperation with Project Monitors, whether from the Mayor’s Office of

Equal Opportunity (the “OEO”) or the contracting department;

Accurate, complete, and on-time submission of all reports, forms, and documents

including, but not limited to, employment reports, certified payrolls, monitoring forms,

and other information the Director of the OEO may require, whether in printed or

electronic form, to ascertain and verify Contractor’s compliance; and

Attendance at and participation in all required project meetings, including OEO

compliance meetings, and progress meetings called by the contracting department

director(s) at critical intervals during the contract services (e.g., 25% completion, 50%

completion, 75% completion).

Failure to Comply- When determining the contractor’s future eligibility for a City contract,

the City shall consider a contractor’s failure to comply with its proposal's representations

and the requirements under the Code as a failure to perform a contract faithfully.


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Under the Cleveland Area Business Code, the City of Cleveland is firmly committed to

assisting Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs), Female Business Enterprises (FBEs),

and Cleveland- area small businesses (CSBs) by providing and enhancing economic

opportunities to participate in City contracts. The successful proposer for a contract will

be a firm that shares that commitment. Accordingly, a proposer is strongly encouraged

to utilize the services of qualified MBE/FBE/CSB sub-consultants that are certified by

the Mayor’s Office of Equal Opportunity (the “OEO”) in its proposal.

The standard subcontracting goal for professional services contracts is 10% Cleveland

Area Small Business (“CSB”) subcontractor participation. Please review the attached

Office of Equal Opportunity documents to ascertain the goal for the proposed contract.

Proposers are required to make a good-faith effort to subcontract portions of the work

to certified Minority Business Enterprise (“MBE”), Female Business Enterprise (“FBE”),

and CSB firms, consistent with the subcontracting goal(s) applicable to this RFP.

To document its good-faith effort to utilize certified MBE, FBE, and CSB sub-

consultants, each proposer must complete Schedules 1 through 4 found in the

Cleveland Area Business Code - Notice to Bidders and Schedules. These schedules

identify the Proposer’s proposed use of MBE, FBE, and CSB sub-consultants on the

project, which evidences the proposer’s good-faith effort to obtain the participation of

certified sub-consultants. The Proposer shall submit the completed forms with its

proposal, and they will be forwarded to the City’s Office of Equal Opportunity for

evaluation. Failure to submit complete schedules may result in the rejection of a

proposal

Proposers may obtain a listing of firms certified by the OEO as CSBs, MBEs, and FBEs

by checking the City’s website at proposers responsible for obtaining the most current

list and contacting potential CSB/MBE/FBE sub-consultants. The City assumes no

responsibility for matching prime consultants with qualified, certified MBE, FBE, and/or

CSB sub-consultants.

The City Office of Equal Opportunity will monitor the participation of MBE, FBE, and/or

CSB sub-consultants throughout the engagement or project. The successful proposer,

as the contractor, will be responsible for providing the OEO with all information


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necessary to facilitate this monitoring.

The Cleveland Area Business Code, any Regulations promulgated under the Code, and

the OEO Notice to Bidders & Schedules are, by this reference, incorporated in and

made part of this solicitation and any resulting contract as fully as if written in it or

attached.

The successful proposer, as the contractor, will be required to comply with all terms,

conditions, and requirements imposed on a “contractor” in the following Equal

Opportunity Clause, Section 187.22(b) of the Cleveland Codified Ordinances, and shall

make the Clause part of every subcontractor agreement entered into for services or

goods and binding on all persons and firms with which the proposer may deal, as

follows: No Contractor shall discriminate against any employee or applicant for


age, disability, ethnic group or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. Contractors shall

take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are

treated during employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual

orientation, national origin, age, disability, ethnic group, or Vietnam-era or disabled

veteran status. As used in this chapter, “treated” means and includes without limitation

the following: recruited whether by advertising or other means; compensated, whether

in the form of rates of pay or other forms of compensation; selected for training, including

apprenticeship, promoted, upgraded, demoted, transferred, laid off and terminated.

Contractors shall post in conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for

employment, notices to be provided by the hiring representative of contractors setting

forth this nondiscrimination clause's provisions.

Within 60 calendar days after entering into a contract, the successful Proposer, as

Contractor, shall file a written affirmative action program with the OEO containing

standards and procedures and representations assuring that the Contractor affords all

qualified employees and applicants for employment equal opportunities in the

Contractor’s recruitment, selection, and advancement processes.


15. CONSTRUCTION OF AGREEMENT

A. The validity, interpretation, construction, and performance of this Agreement shall be

following the laws of the State of Ohio.

B. This Agreement and the agreement between the City of Cleveland sets forth the entire

understanding of the parties and supersedes all prior agreements, arrangements, and

understandings, oral or written, of any nature whatsoever between the parties regarding

the subject matter hereof. The waiver of any breach of any term of this Agreement does

not waive any subsequent breach of that or any other term of this Agreement.

C. No modifications or amendments to this Agreement will be valid unless in writing and

signed by each party hereto.

D. All terms and words used in this Agreement, regardless of the number and gender in

which they are used, shall be deemed and construed to include any other number,

singular or plural, and any other gender, masculine or feminine or neuter, as the context

or sense of this Agreement or any paragraph or clause herein may require, the same

as if such words have been fully and properly written in the number and gender.

E. The consultant agrees that no representation or warranties of any type shall be binding

upon the City unless expressly authorized in writing herein.

F. The headings of sections and paragraphs to the extent used herein are used for

reference only, and in no way define, limit or describe the scope or intent of any

provisions hereof.

G. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall

be deemed original when so executed and delivered. Still, such counterparts together

shall constitute the same instrument.

H. The following documents attached hereto are hereby incorporated with and made a


part of this Agreement:

1. Attachment “A,” Equal Opportunity Clause.

2. Attachment “B,” Definitions.

3. Attachment “C” Forms.

4. Attachment “D,” Proposal Checklist.

16. ATTACHMENTS

Attachment “A”

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY CLAUSE

(Section 187.22(b) C.O.)

Each Contract also shall contain the following equal opportunity clause:

“During the performance of this contract, the contractor agrees as follows:

(1) The contractor shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment

because of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability,

ethnic group, or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. The contractor shall take

affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated

during employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national

origin, age, disability, ethnic group, or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. As used in

this chapter, "treated" means and includes without limitation the following: recruited,

whether by advertising or other means; compensated, whether in the form of rates of pay

or other forms of compensation; selected for training, including apprenticeship, promoted,

upgraded, demoted, downgraded, transferred, laid off and terminated. The contractor

agrees to and shall post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for

employment, notices to be provided by the hiring representatives of the contractor setting

forth the provisions of this nondiscrimination clause.

(2) In all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the

contractor, the contractor will state that the contractor is an equal opportunity employer.

(3) The contractor shall send to each labor union or representative of workers with which he


has a collective bargaining agreement or another contract, or understanding, a notice

advising the labor union or worker's representative of the contractor's commitments under

the equal opportunity clause, and shall post copies of the notice in conspicuous places

available to employees and applicants for employment.

(4) It is the City's policy that local businesses, minority-owned businesses, and female-owned

businesses shall have every practicable opportunity to participate in the performance of

contracts awarded by the City subject to the applicable provisions of the Cleveland Area

Business Code.

(5) The contractor shall permit access by the Director or his or her designated representative

to any relevant and pertinent reports and documents to verify compliance with the

Cleveland Area Business Code and with the Regulations. All such materials provided to

the Director or designee by the contractor shall be considered confidential.

(6) The contractor will not obstruct or hinder the Director or designee in fulfilling the duties

and responsibilities imposed by the Cleveland Area Business Code.

(7) The contractor agrees that each subcontract will include this Equal Opportunity Clause.

The contractor will notify each subcontractor, material supplier, and supplier that the

subcontractor must agree to comply with and be subject to all applicable provisions of the

Cleveland Area Business Code. The contractor shall take any appropriate action

concerning any subcontractor as a means of enforcing the provisions of the Code.”

Attachment “B”

Definitions per A-87:

1. "Approval or authorization of the awarding or cognizant Federal agency" means

documentation evidencing consent before incurring a specific cost. If such costs are

specifically identified in a Federal award document, the document's approval

constitutes approval of the costs. If the costs are covered by a State/local-wide cost

allocation plan or an indirect cost proposal, the plan's approval constitutes the

approval.

2. "Award" means grants, cost-reimbursement contracts, and other agreements between


a State, local and Indian tribal government and the Federal Government.

3. "Awarding agency" means (a) concerning a grant, cooperative agreement, or cost-

reimbursement contract, the Federal agency, and (b) concerning a sub-award, the

party that awarded the sub-award.

4. "Central service cost allocation plan" means the documentation identifying,

accumulating, and allocating or developing billing rates based on the allowable costs

of services provided by a governmental unit on a centralized basis to its departments

and agencies. The costs of these services may be allocated or billed to users.

5. "Claim" means a written demand or written assertion by the governmental unit or

grantor seeking, as a matter of right, the payment of money in a sum certain, the

adjustment or interpretation of award terms, or other relief arising under or relating to

the award. A voucher, invoice, or another routine request for payment that is not a

dispute when submitted is not a claim. Appeals, such as those filed by a governmental

unit in response to questioned audit costs, are not considered claims until the Federal

awarding agency makes a final management decision.

6. "Cognizant agency" means the Federal agency responsible for reviewing, negotiating,

and approving cost allocation plans or indirect cost proposals developed under this

Circular on behalf of all Federal agencies. OMB publishes a listing of cognizant

agencies.

7. "Common Rule" means the "Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and

Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments. Final Rule" originally

issued at 53 FR 8034-8103 (March 11, 1988). Other common rules will be referred to

by their specific titles.

8. "Contract" means a mutually binding legal relationship obligating the seller to furnish

the supplies or services (including construction) and the buyer to pay for them. It

includes all types of commitments that obligate the government to an expenditure of

appropriated funds and that, except as otherwise authorized, are in writing. In addition

to bilateral instruments, contracts include (but are not limited to): awards and notices

of awards, job orders or task orders issued under necessary ordering


agreements, letter contracts, purchase orders, under which the contract becomes

effective by written acceptance or performance, and bilateral contract modifications.

9. "Cost" means an amount as determined on a cash, accrual, or another basis

acceptable to the Federal awarding or cognizant agency.

10. "Governmental unit" means the entire State, local, or federally-recognized Indian tribal

government, including any component thereof.

11. "Grantee department or agency" means the component of a State, local, or federally-

recognized Indian tribal government that is responsible for the performance or

administration of all or some part of a Federal award.

12. "Indirect cost rate proposal" means the documentation prepared by a governmental

unit or component thereof to substantiate its request for the establishment of an

indirect cost rate as described in Attachment E of the OMB Circular A-87. Indirect

costs are those: (a) incurred for a common or joint purpose benefiting more than one

cost objective, and (b) not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically

benefited, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved. The term "indirect

costs," as used herein, applies to costs of this type originating in the grantee

department, as well as those incurred by other departments in supplying goods,

services, and facilities. To facilitate equitable distribution of indirect expenses to the

cost objectives served, it may be necessary to establish some pools of indirect costs

within a governmental unit department or in other agencies providing services to a

governmental unit department. Indirect cost pools should be distributed to benefited

cost objectives on bases that will produce an equitable result in consideration of

relative benefits derived.

13. "Local government" means a county, municipality, city, town, township, local public

authority, school district, special district, intrastate district, the council of governments

(whether or not incorporated as a non-profit corporation under state law), any other

regional or interstate government entity, or any agency or instrumentality of a local

government.


14. "Public assistance cost allocation plan" means a narrative description of the

procedures that will be used in identifying, measuring, and allocating all administrative

costs to all of the programs administered or supervised by State public assistance

agencies as described in Attachment D of this Circular.

15. "State" means any of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia,

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States,

or any agency or instrumentality of a State exclusive of local governments.

OBM Circular A-87

Attachment “C,” Forms

Office of Equal Opportunity

o Schedule 1: Project Contact Information Form

o Schedule 2: Schedule of Subcontractor Participation

o Schedule 3: Statement of Intent to Perform as a Subcontract

o Schedule 4: CSB/MBE/FBE Subcontractor Unavailability/

Impracticality Certification

Federal Form W-9 including Taxpayer Identification Number;

Non-Competitive Bid Contract Statement

Northern Ireland Fair Labor Practices Affidavit

Attachment “D,” Proposal Checklist

Include this proposal checklist with your submission to ensure that you have completed

all required portions of the proposal. Incomplete submissions may be disqualified.


PROPOSAL CHECKLIST

(Complete and Include with Proposal Submission)

Item Description Form Included?

(Y/N)

Management Letter N/A

Vendor Background Information See Attachment E

Vendor Client Reference Form See attachment F

Staffing Plan (Certifications, Resumes)

Fee Proposal Template See Attachment G

Schedule 1 Project Contact Information

Form

See Attachment C – OEO Form

Schedule 2 Schedule of Subcontractor

Participation


Schedule 3 Statement of Intent to Perform

as a Subcontractor


Schedule 4 CSB/MBE/FBE Subcontractor

Unavailability/Impracticality Certification


Northern Ireland Fair Employment

Practices Disclosure

See Attachment C

Non-Competitive Bid Contract Statement

for

See Attachment C

W-9 Request for Federal Taxpayer

Identification

See Attachment C

Completed Proposal Checklist Attachment D (This Form)

Attachment “E” – Vendor Background Information

Information Requested Vendor Response, Comments or Explanation

OVERVIEW

1 Vendor Name

2 Address

3 Telephone Number

4 Contact Person

5 E-Mail Address

6 Parent Company (If Applicable)

7 Address

8 Telephone Number

9 Provide information about any local branch offices or support centers that might

serve an account in Cleveland, OH, including the number of employee and type

of services provided

10 Provide the name of each principal

11 Provide the year the company was established and any former firm names

12 Provide the type of company (public or private)

13 Provide the financial statements and annual report for the past three years Not required unless shortlisted

14 Provide the state and type of incorporation

15 Provide information on related services offered by the company

PERSONNEL

16 Provide the total number of FTEs in the company

17 Provide average years of experience of professional staff

18 Estimated number of resources that would be dedicated to the City for the

duration of the support contract

IT CONSULTING SERVICES SUPPORT HISTORY

19 Number of year experience the company has been in staffing support

20 Number of Public Sector/Municipal clients (specify clients)


21 Number of clients in the Greater Cleveland area (specify clients)

PENDING LITIGATION

22 The number of Pending Litigations that the company has had in the past five

years.

Please attach a separate document with the details of each situation (client

name, date, and description/cause)

23 Some situations where the company has been subject to liquidated damages in

the past five years. Please attach a separate document with the details of each

situation (client name, imposed amount, imposed date, collected amount, date

collected, description/cause)

Attachment “F” – Vendor Client References

VENDOR CLIENT REFERENCE #1


Proposing Vendor Name

Reference Company/Organization Name

Reference Address

Reference Contact Name

Contact’s Position

Contact’s Telephone Number

Type of Company/Organization (Industry)

Number of Employees

Services Performed

Sub-contractors used

Identify any vendor staff that worked on this reference

company's project that is proposed for City

Original Cost Estimates

Actual Final Costs

Comments





Reference Address





Number of Employees

Services Performed





Actual Final Costs

Comments

Attachment “G”– Fee Proposal Template

Table 1.

SUPPORT/SERVICE

CATEGORY

SUPPORT STAFF BILLING RATE

(HR)

Comments

Management

Services/Technical

Support Category

Consultant Level 1 $-


Consultant Level 3

Subject Matter Expert Level 1 $-


Network & IT Infrastructure

Support



Consultant Level 3



Application Services

Support Category



Consultant Level 3

SUPPORT/SERVICE

CATEGORY

SUPPORT STAFF BILLING RATE

(HR)

Comments



Professional Services

Support Category



Consultant Level 3



17. NOTICE TO BIDDERS AND OEO SCHEDULES

MAYOR’S OFFICE OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

CLEVELAND AREA BUSINESS CODE

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

&

OEO SCHEDULES

City of Cleveland

Frank G. Jackson, Mayor

Natoya J. Walker Minor, Director


EQUAL OPPORTUNITY CLAUSE

(Section 187.22(b) C.O.)

Each Contract also shall contain the following equal opportunity clause:

“During the performance of this contract, the contractor agrees as follows:

(1) The contractor shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for


age, disability, ethnic group, or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. The

contractor shall take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and

that employees are treated during employment without regard to race, religion,

color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, ethnic group, or

Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. As used in this chapter, "treated" means

and includes without limitation the following: recruited, whether by advertising or

other means; compensated, whether in the form of rates of pay or other forms of

compensation; selected for training, including apprenticeship, promoted, upgraded,

demoted, downgraded, transferred, laid off and terminated. The contractor agrees

to and shall post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for

employment, notices to be provided by the hiring representatives of the contractor

setting forth the provisions of this nondiscrimination clause.

(2) In all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the

contractor, the contractor will state that the contractor is an equal opportunity

employer.

(3) The contractor shall send to each labor union or representative of workers with

which he has a collective bargaining agreement or another contract, or

understanding, a notice advising the labor union or worker's representative of the

contractor's commitments under the equal opportunity clause, and shall post copies

of the notice in conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for

employment.

(4) It is the City's policy that local businesses, minority-owned businesses, and

female-owned businesses shall have every practicable opportunity to participate in

the performance of contracts awarded by the City subject to the applicable

provisions of the Cleveland Area Business Code.

(5) The contractor shall permit access by the Director or his or her designated

representative to any relevant and pertinent reports and documents to verify

compliance with the Cleveland Area Business Code and with the Regulations. All

such materials provided to the Director or designee by the contractor shall be

considered confidential.

(6) The contractor will not obstruct or hinder the Director or designee in fulfilling the

duties and responsibilities imposed by the Cleveland Area Business Code.

(7) The contractor agrees that each subcontract will include this Equal Opportunity

Clause. The contractor will notify each subcontractor, material supplier, and

supplier that the subcontractor must agree to comply with and be subject to all

applicable provisions of the Cleveland Area Business Code. The contractor shall

take any appropriate action concerning any subcontractor as a means of

enforcing the provisions of the Code.”

Revision Date: July 1, 2013

City of Cleveland

Mayor’s Office of Equal Opportunity

Cleveland Area Business Code

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

1. Introduction:

The Cleveland Area Business Code contained in Chapter 187 of the Codified Ordinances

of Cleveland, Ohio 1976, was enacted to increase the participation of minority-owned

business enterprises, female-owned business enterprises, and local small business

enterprises in the City of Cleveland contracting. The Code also ensures that Contractors

doing business with the City do not use discriminatory employment practices. Failure to

comply with the Cleveland Area Business Code or with representations made on the

attached Schedules may result in rejection of part or all of the contract's bid and/or

cancellation.

2. Definitions:

As used in this Notice to Bidders and the attached OEO Schedules, the following words,

phrases, and terms shall be defined as set forth below:

(a) “Bidder” means a Person offering to contract with the City in response to an

invitation to bid.

(b) “Bid Discount” means the application of a percentage discount to the total amount

of a bid submitted by a Bidder for a Contract solely for bid comparisons when

evaluating the lowest and best bid, or lowest responsible bid. The use of a Bid

Discount for bid comparison does not alter the total amount of the bid submitted

by a Bidder or the Contract executed based on a bid.

(c) “Business Enterprise” means a firm, sole proprietorship, partnership, association,

corporation, company, or other business entity of any kind including, but not limited

to, a limited liability corporation, incorporated professional association, joint

venture, estate, or trust.


(d) “City” means the City of Cleveland, Ohio.

(e) “City of Cleveland Small Business” or “CCSB” means a CSB with its principal office

located physically within the municipal boundaries of the City.

(f) “Cleveland Area Small Business” or “CSB” means a Business Enterprise certified

under division (a) of Section 187.03.

(g) “Cleveland Contracting Market” or “Contracting Market” means the geographic

market area consisting of Cuyahoga County, Geauga County, Lake County, Lorain

County, Medina County, Portage County, and Summit County, Ohio, or

the geographic market area identified in a disparity study or otherwise as

provided in Section 187.28.

(h) “Contract” means a binding agreement executed on or after the effective date of

this Cleveland Area Business Code by which the City either grants a privilege or is

committed to expend or does expend its funds or other resources, or confers a

benefit having monetary value, including, but not limited to, a grant, loan, interest

in real or personal property, or tax incentive in any form for or in connection with

any work, project, or public purpose.

(i) “Contracting Department” includes any administrative department under charge of

the Mayor or any office, board, or commission treated or construed as a

department of City government for any purpose under the Charter or ordinances

of the City for the benefit or program of which the City enters into a particular

Contract.

(j) “Contractor” means a separate or distinguishable Business Enterprise employing

one or more persons and participating in the performance of a contract, including

but not limited to CSBs, MBEs, and FBEs where applicable, and shall include a

party in privity with a Contractor for implementation of a Contract.


(k) “Director” means the Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity.

(l) “Evaluation Credit” means a predetermined number of points in the evaluation of

proposals submitted by a Bidder for a Contract to be added solely for proposal

comparison when evaluating competing proposals. The use of Evaluation Credits

does not alter the amount of the proposal submitted by a Bidder or the Contract

executed based on the proposal.

(m) “Female” includes only a United States citizen or lawful, a permanent resident who

is a female gender member.

(n) "Female Business Enterprise" or "FBE" means a Business Enterprise owned,

operated, and controlled by one or more Females who have 51% ownership. The

one or more Females must have operational and managerial Control, interest in

the capital, and earnings commensurate with the percentage of female ownership.

To qualify as a Female Business Enterprise, the Business Enterprise shall be

located and doing business in the Cleveland Contracting Market.

(o) “Local Contracting Market” or “Contracting Market” means the geographic market

area consisting of Cuyahoga County, Geauga County, Lake County, Lorain

County, and Medina County, Ohio; provided, however, that concerning growers or

producers of food only, the geographic market area also shall include: Erie County,

Huron County, Richland County, Ashland County, Wayne County, Holmes County,

Stark County, Summit County, Portage County, and Tuscarawas County.

(p) “Local Producer” means a Person that:

(1) has its principal office (headquarters) located physically in the Local

Contracting Market and whose highest executive officers and highest level

managers maintain their offices and perform their respective executive and

managerial functions and duties in the Local Contracting Market; and

(2) A. grows food or fabricates goods, whether or not finished, from organic or

raw materials;

B. processes goods, materials, food, or other products to increase their


commercial value by not less than 50%;

C. supplies goods by performing a Commercially Useful Function; or

D. provides, by its qualified full-time employees, maintenance, repair,

personal, or professional services.

(q) “Local-Food Purchaser” means a Business Enterprise that, in implementation of

its City contract, purchases Local Food in an amount comprising not less than

twenty percent (20%) of the Business Enterprise's City Contract amount.

(r) “Local Sustainable Business” means a Business Enterprise that:

(1) has its principal office (headquarters) located physically in the Local

Contracting Market and whose highest executive officers and highest level

managers maintain their offices and perform their respective executive and

managerial functions and duties in the Local Contracting Market; and

(2) Has established sustainability goals for it and is a member of or signatory to a

nationally-recognized sustainability program. Goals and programs have been

determined acceptable by the City Chief of Sustainability or other officers

designated by the Mayor.

(s) "Minority Business Enterprise" or "MBE" means a Business Enterprise owned,

operated, and controlled by one or more Minority Persons who have at least 51%

ownership. The Minority Person(s) must have operational and managerial Control,

interest in the capital, and earnings commensurate with ownership percentage. To

qualify as a Minority Business Enterprise, the enterprise shall be located and doing

business in the Cleveland Contracting Market.

(t) “OEO” means the Office of Equal Opportunity of the City of Cleveland.

(u) “Proposer” means any Person proposing to contract with the City in response to a

request for proposals or other similar solicitation.

(v) “Regional Cleveland Area Small Business” or “RCSB” means a CSB with its

principal office located physically within the territorial boundaries of Cuyahoga


County but outside the municipal boundaries of the City.

(w) “Regulation” or “Regulations” means and includes the regulations implementing

this Code and promulgated by the Director of Equal Opportunity under division

(b) (6) of Section 123.08 of these Codified Ordinances.

(x) “Small Business Enterprise” or “SBE” means a Business Enterprise that meets the

established economic criteria for an SBE and is owned, operated, and controlled

by one or more persons who meet the economic criteria for SBE ownership

established by the Director in the Regulations.

3. Required OEO Schedules:

The following documents must be completed, signed, and submitted as part of the

Contractor’s bid or proposal for any City of Cleveland contract over $50,000.00. Failure to

submit all OEO Schedules may result in the rejection of a bid.

Schedule 1: PROJECT CONTACT INFORMATION FORM

Schedule 1, the PROJECT CONTACT INFORMATION FORM, provides the Office of

Equal Opportunity with the necessary contact information to conduct its monitoring

responsibilities. Each Bidder or Proposer shall complete, sign, and submit Schedule 1

and include it with its bid or proposal.

Schedule 2: SCHEDULE OF SUBCONTRACTOR PARTICIPATION

Schedule 2, the SCHEDULE OF SUBCONTRACTOR PARTICIPATION, identifies all

subcontractors the Bidder or Proposer intends to use on the project. Each Bidder or

Proposer must complete, sign, and submit Schedule 2 and include it with its bid or

proposal. Bidders or Proposers shall list all prospective subcontractors, including all CSB,

MBE, and/or FBE subcontractors, that will participate in the contract, and all requested

contact information. Bidders or Proposers shall include the contract specification item

number(s) on which the subcontractor will participate in Part 1, the scope or


supplies/materials that the subcontractor will be responsible for will be documented on Part

2, with the corresponding l dollar amount for the subcontract on Part 3. The total dollar

amount in Part 3 must be an actual dollar amount, and should not be a range of values or

a percentage of the contract.

Schedule 3: STATEMENT OF INTENT TO PERFORM AS A SUBCONTRACTOR

Schedule 3, the STATEMENT OF INTENT TO PERFORM AS A SUBCONTRACTOR,

verifies that the certified CSB, MBE, and/or FBE subcontractors listed on Schedule 2 have

agreed to work with the Bidder or Proposer on the project and that the two parties have

agreed on general contract terms. Each certified CSB, MBE, and/or FBE listed as a

prospective subcontractor on Schedule 2 shall complete, sign and return Schedule 3 to the

Bidder or Proposer, and the Bidder or Proposer shall include the completed Schedule 3

with the bid or proposal. Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 on each Schedule 3 must correspond

with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, respectively, on Schedule 2 for the appropriate

subcontractor.

No CSB, MBE, or FBE participation credit will be considered for a certified CSB, MBE,

and/or FBE subcontractor listed on Schedule 2 that does not have a corresponding,

accurate Schedule 3 included in the bid or proposal.

If an MBE or FBE plans to re-subcontract any of its work, it must indicate that on Schedule

3. Any work re-subcontracted to a non-certified subcontractor will reduce the Bidder or

Proposer’s participation credit to the extent of the re-subcontracting.

Schedule 4: CSB/MBE/FBE UNAVAILABILITY/IMPRACTICALITY CERTIFICATION

Schedule 4, CSB/MBE/FBE UNAVAILABILITY/IMPRACTICALITY CERTIFICATION,

allows the Bidder or Proposer to document its good faith effort to achieve the CSB, MBE,

and/or FBE subcontracting goals identified for the project in the bid documents. If a Bidder

or Proposer has met or exceeded the project's subcontracting goals, the Bidder or Proposer

shall indicate this in Section A of Schedule 4. If the Bidder or Proposer has not met the

project's subcontracting goals, the Bidder or Proposer will indicate this in Section A of

Schedule 4 and complete Section B.


Section B of Schedule 4 allows the Bidder or Proposer to document its efforts to solicit

certified subcontractor participation for the project, thereby meeting the bid's good faith

effort requirement. Section B also allows the Bidder or Proposer to attach a written

document explaining why subcontracting to the goals included in the bid or proposal

documents is impossible or impractical due to the nature of the work, service, or product

contracted by the bid or proposal. Contractors are obligated to demonstrate their good faith

effort to meet the subcontracting goals for the contract, and failure to do so will result in the

rejection of the bid or proposal.

Failure to submit and accurately complete OEO Schedules 1, 2, 3, and 4 may result in the

rejection of all or part of the bid or proposal. Submission of incomplete, inaccurate, or

inconsistent data in the Schedules may lead to a formal investigation, decertification of the

Bidder or Proposer, decertification of the subcontractor, and/or a rejection of all or part of

the bid. The City of Cleveland reserves the right to waive any informality or immaterial

irregularity and reserves the right to reject any or all bids.

4. Equal Employment Certification:

No Contractor shall discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment

because of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability,

ethnic group, or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. Contractors shall take affirmative

action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during

employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin,

age, disability, ethnic group, or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status. As used in this

chapter, “treated” means and includes without limitation the following: recruited whether

by advertising or other means; compensated, whether in the form of rates of pay or other

forms of compensation; selected for training, including apprenticeship, promoted,

upgraded, demoted, transferred, laid off and terminated. Contractors shall post in

conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for employment, notices to be

provided by the hiring representative of contractors setting forth this nondiscrimination

clause's provisions.


Within 60 days after entering into a Contract, each Contractor shall file a written

affirmative action program containing standards and procedures ensuring that the

contractor affords all qualified employees and applicants for employment equal

opportunities in the contractor’s recruitment, selection, and advancement processes.

Each contractor’s affirmative action program shall contain the following components:

(1) A diagnostic component includes quantitative analyses comparing the

composition of the Contractor’s workforce to the composition of the

Cleveland Contracting Market employment pool according to the most

current census data available, grouped by EEO occupations.

(2) Each affirmative action program shall contain placement goals as follows:

(i) For each non-construction contract, placement goals equal the

availability percentage for women or minorities where the percentage

of women or minorities employed by the contractor in a particular job

group is less than would reasonably be expected given their

percentage availabilities in the corresponding Cleveland Contracting

Market employment pool. Placement goals are objective targets

reasonably attainable by applying a good-faith effort to implement all

aspects of the affirmative action program; they are not inflexible

quotas. Placement goals do not authorize or require a Contractor to

grant a preference to any individual or adversely affect an individual’s

employment status for an unlawful discriminatory reason.

(ii) For each construction contract, establish placement goals for

minorities and women for each trade involved in the contract's

performance equal to the goals set by the Director. Placement goals

are objective targets reasonably attainable by applying a good-faith

effort to implement all aspects of the affirmative action program; they

are not inflexible quotas. Placement goals do not authorize or require

a contractor to grant a preference to any individual or adversely affect


an individual’s employment status for an unlawful discriminatory

reason.

(3) Identification of problem areas through analysis of the contractor’s

employment process determines if it affords or incorporates, or contains

impediments to equal employment opportunities.

(4) Action-oriented programs consisting of practical steps the contractor will

implement to address any identified problem areas or the underutilization of

women or minorities concerning their availability in the relevant labor pool.

(5) Internal auditing and reporting systems that monitor and examine the impact

the contractor’s employment decisions and compensation systems have on

women and minorities and their progress toward achieving a workforce that

would be expected in the absence of discrimination.

(6) The contractor will implement policies, practices, and procedures to ensure

that all qualified applicants and employees enjoy equal opportunity in

recruitment, selection, advancement, and every other term and privilege

associated with employment.

(7) Any additional requirements the Administrator may require through the

Regulations or on a case-by-case review of a contractor’s proposed

affirmative action program.

Suppose 60 days after entering into a Contract, a contractor has not filed an affirmative

action program, has deviated substantially from an approved affirmative action program,

or has discriminated against any employee or applicant for employment because of race.

In that case, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, ethnic

group or Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status, the Office of Equal Opportunity may take

immediate enforcement action.


5. CSB Certification:

Each Bidder, Proposer, or subcontractor representing itself as a Cleveland Area Small

Business (CSB) in the OEO Schedules shall be certified with the Office of Equal

Opportunity as a CSB before the bid opening. Certification applications must be

completed online through the City’s Certification and Compliance Monitoring System at

https://cleveland.diversitycompliance.com/.

There are two classifications of CSBs:

A City of Cleveland Small Business (CCSB) is a CSB headquartered within the

City of Cleveland.

A Regional Cleveland Small Business (RCSB) is a CSB headquartered within

Cuyahoga County, but not within the City itself.

A business is eligible for certification as a Cleveland Area Small Business (CSB) if it

meets the following criteria:

(1) It is a Small Business Enterprise;

(2) It has its principal office located physically in Cuyahoga County; and

(3) Its chief executive officer and highest level managers maintain their offices

and perform their managerial functions in the Cleveland Contracting Market.

A business qualifies as a Small Business Enterprise if it meets size requirements of the

US Small Business Administration or separate economic criteria as established by the

Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity in the Regulations. You can find the current

SBA size standards here: http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-size-standards

6. CSB Contract Participation

To promote the participation of Cleveland-area Small Businesses (CSBs) in City contracts,

https://cleveland.diversitycompliance.com/

http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-size-standards


each Contracting Department of the City will use its best efforts to contract with CSB

Bidders and Proposers, and Bidders and Proposers that have committed to subcontracting

with certified CSBs.

Where other, project-specific goals have not been set in the bid or proposal documents,

the standard CSB subcontractor participation goals are:

Construction Contracts: 30% CSB Subcontractor Participation

Professional Services Contracts: 10% CSB Subcontractor Participation

All Other Contracts: 20% CSB Subcontractor Participation

In consultation with the Director, the Contracting Departments may increase or decrease

these participation goals for a particular contract. When the goals are changed, the change

will be noted in the bid or proposal documents.

Each Bidder or Proposer shall make a good faith effort to subcontract with certified CSBs

inconsistent with the goals prescribed in the bid or proposal documents.

7. MBE/FBE Certification:

Each Bidder, Proposer, or subcontractor representing itself as a Minority Business

Enterprise (MBE) or Female Business Enterprise (FBE) in the OEO Schedules shall be

certified with the Office of Equal Opportunity as an MBE and/or FBE before the bid opening.

Certification applications must be completed online through the City’s Certification

and Compliance Monitoring System at


A business is eligible for certification as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) if:

(1) The Business Enterprise is owned, operated, and controlled by one or more

Minority Persons who have at least 51% ownership;

(2) The Minority Persons who own the Business Enterprise have operational



and managerial control, interest in the capital, and earnings commensurate

with the percentage of ownership; and

(3) The Business Enterprise is located and doing business in the Cleveland

Contracting Market.

A business is eligible for certification as a Female Business Enterprise (FBE) if:

(1) The Business Enterprise is owned, operated, and controlled by one or more

Females who have at least 51% ownership;

(2) The Female owners have operational and managerial control, interest in the

capital, and earnings commensurate with the percentage of ownership; and

(3) The Business Enterprise is located and doing business in the Cleveland

Contracting Market.

8. MBE and FBE Contract Participation

The City of Cleveland is firmly committed to assisting Minority Business Enterprises

(MBEs) and Female Business Enterprises (FBEs) through its contracting activities, and

the City intends to Contract with firms that share that commitment. Under this policy, each

Contracting Department will use its best efforts to promote MBEs and FBEs as both prime

contractors and subcontractors in all City Contracts. In turn, Bidders and Proposers shall

make every effort to use MBEs and FBEs as subcontractors where available and practical.

Some City contracts will have specific MBE and/or FBE subcontractor participation goals.

These goals will be expressly stated in the Invitation to Bid (ITB) or Request for

Proposal (RFP) in each contract where the goals are applicable. When specific MBE

and/or FBE goals are outlined in the ITB or RFP, the Bidder or Proposer shall make a

good faith effort to meet them.

When there are specific MBE and/or FBE goals on a City contract, those goals will be

considered in place of an equivalent portion of the CSB goals for the contract. Please

review the bid or proposal documents for the final MBE, FBE, and/or CSB subcontracting

goals for the project.


9. MBE/FBE Bid Discounts:

Contracting Departments may apply a Bid Discount of five percent (5%) forbids received

from certified MBE and FBE Bidders to remediate past or present discrimination, where

the City has developed or obtained a legally sufficient basis in evidence to demonstrate

past or present discrimination. The CSB/MBE/FBE Registry denotes which MBEs and

FBEs are eligible for Bid Discounts.

10. MBE/FBE Evaluation Credits:

Contracting Departments may apply an Evaluation Credit of five percent (5%) of the total

points awarded for proposals received from MBE and FBE Proposers to remediate past

or present discrimination, where evidence of contracting disparity has been adequately

demonstrated.

11. MBE/FBE Subcontracting Bid Discounts and Additional Retainage:

Contracting departments may apply a bid discount for bids received for public

improvement contracts in the amount of five percent (5%) of the portion of the total

amount of the goods, labor, and materials that the bidder represents it will subcontract to

one or more MBEs and FBEs, where the City has developed or obtained a legally

sufficient basis in evidence to demonstrate past or present discrimination.

Suppose a Contracting Department applies the MBE/FBE subcontracting Bid Discount to

a Bidder bid that would not have otherwise been the lowest. The Bidder is awarded the

Public Improvement Contract. In that case, the City shall retain as Additional Retainage

an amount equal to the total dollar amount by which the bid was adjusted for bid

comparison in addition to the contract retainage required under Section 185.41 of the

Codified Ordinances of the City of Cleveland. This retainage's release shall be managed

under the provisions established in Section 187.05(e) of the Codified Ordinances.

12. CSB Bid Discounts:


Suppose a Contracting Department does not apply an MBE or FBE Bid Discount to one

or more bids to award a contract. In that case, the Contracting Department may apply a

Bid Discount in the following amounts for bids received from CSB prime contractors:

A Bid Discount of five percent (5%) for bids received from CCSBs.

A Bid Discount of five percent (5%) for bids received from RCSBs, provided no bids are

received from CCSBs.

13. CSB Evaluation Credits:

Suppose a Contracting Department does not apply an MBE or FBE Evaluation Credit to

one or more proposals for a contract award. In that case, the Contracting Department

may apply Evaluation Credits as follows for proposals received from CSB prime

contractors:

(1) An Evaluation Credit of five percent (5%) of the total points awarded for

proposals received from CCSBs.

(2) An Evaluation Credit of five percent (5%) of the total points awarded for

proposals received from RCSBs, provided no proposals are received from CCSBs.

14. CSB Subcontracting Bid Discounts and Additional Retainage:

Contracting Departments may apply a Bid Discount to bids received for a Public

Improvement Contract in the amount of five percent (5%) of the portion of the total amount

of labor and materials that the Bidder represents subcontract to one or more CSBs. This

provision does not apply, however, if a Bid Discount has been applied for MBE or FBE

subcontractor participation,

If a Contracting Department applies the CSB subcontracting Bid Discount to the bid of a

Bidder that would not have otherwise been the lowest and the Bidder is awarded the

Public Improvement Contract, the City shall retain as Additional Retainage an amount

equal to the total dollar amount by which the bid was adjusted for bid comparison in

addition to the retainage required under Section 185.41 of the Codified Ordinances. This


retainage's release shall be managed under the provisions established in Section

187.03(d) of the Codified Ordinances.

15. LPE and SUBE Certification:

A Bidder or Proposer may qualify as a Local Producer, a Local-Food Purchaser, or a

Local Sustainable Business under the Local Producer, Local-Food Purchaser, and

Sustainable Business Preference Code, Chapter 187A of the Codified Ordinances of the

City of Cleveland. Each Bidder or Proposer representing itself as a Local Producer (LPE),

or a Local Sustainable Business (SUBE) shall be certified with the Office of Equal

Opportunity before the bid opening. Certification applications must be completed online

through the City’s Certification and Compliance Monitoring System at


16. LPE and SUBE Bid Discounts:

The Contracting Department shall apply a Bid Discount in the following amounts for bids

received from LPE and/or SUBE prime contractors:

A Bid Discount of two percent (2%) for bids received from LPEs.

A Bid Discount of two percent (2%) for bids received from SUBEs.

17. LPE and SUBE Evaluation Credits:

The Contracting Department shall apply for an Evaluation Credit in the following

amounts for proposals received from LPE and/or SUBE prime contractors:

An Evaluation Credit of two percent (2%) for proposals received from LPEs.

An Evaluation Credit of two percent (2%) for proposals received from SUBEs.



18. Maximum Annual Subcontracting Program Benefit:

To encourage wide participation in the CSB, MBE, and FBE subcontracting programs,

the City of Cleveland has a policy that may limit the amount of subcontracting credit that

a single CSB, MBE, and/or FBE subcontractor can provide in a single year. When the

CSB, MBE, and/or FBE subcontractor has reached this maximum subcontracting dollar

value, its participation in future contracts will not be counted towards a Bidder or

Proposer’s CSB, MBE, and/or FBE participation goals.

The Director may apply the credit toward the CSB, MBE, and/or FBE subcontractor

participation goals upon written request of a Bidder or Proposer attesting that no other

certified CSBs, MBEs, or FBEs are available to perform the work or supply the materials

required for the Contract, or in an emergency, or for such other reasons that the Director

determines to require the use of that CSB, MBE or FBE.

Nothing prohibits a Bidder or Proposer from subcontracting to a CSB, MBE, or FBE that

has reached the cap, or prohibits the CSB, MBE, or FBE from performing work supplying

materials under any contract. But that participation will not count towards the Bidder or

Proposer’s subcontracting goals.

19. CSB/MBE/FBE Manufacturer and Supplier Participation:

Under the Cleveland Area Business Code, the entire amount of expenditures to certified

CSB, MBE, or FBE manufacturers will be counted towards CSB, MBE, or FBE

participation goals on the contract. A manufacturer is an enterprise that produces goods

from raw materials or adds value by substantially altering them before resale.

Sixty percent (60%) of expenditures to certified CSB, MBE, or FBE suppliers that are not

manufacturers will be counted towards CSB, MBE, or FBE participation goals on the

contract, provided that the CSB, MBE, or FBE supplier performs a commercially useful

function in the supply process. A business enterprise is a supplier performing a

commercially useful function in the supply process” when it:

(1) Assumes the actual and contractual responsibility for furnishing the supplies or


materials; and

(2) Is recognized as a supplier, distributor, or reseller by the manufacturer or

producer of the contracted supplies and materials; and

(3) Owns or leases a warehouse, yard, building or other facilities or uses such as

means as are customary in the industry to maintain an inventory of or supply

such supplies or materials from which it supplies its customers; and

(4) Distributes, delivers, and/or services products primarily with its staff and/or

equipment.

Suppose a CSB, MBE, or FBE supplier is not a manufacturer and is not performing a

commercially useful function in the supply process. In that case, the supplier’s

participation will not be counted towards the CSB, MBE, or FBE participation on the

contract.

20. Joint Ventures:

The participation of CSBs, MBEs, and FBEs in joint ventures is encouraged. To receive

credit for CSB, MBE, and/or FBE participation in a joint venture, the joint venture must be

certified by the Office of Equal Opportunity. The CSB/MBE/FBE, Joint Venture

Certification Application, is available from the Office of Equal Opportunity, and joint venture

certification applications must be received by the Office of Equal Opportunity no later than

ten days before the bid opening.

21. Use of General Contractors as Subcontractors for CSB/ MBE/FBE

Prohibited:

Consistent with the U.S. Bureau of Census Standard Industrial Classifications, the City

considers that a "general contractor" assumes responsibility for an entire construction

contract. However, it may subcontract part or all of the actual work to special trades or

other contractors. The City does not consider that certification as a "general contractor"

assumes or includes certification for any other trade or work. To qualify as a CSB, MBE,

or FBE Subcontractor, the CSB, MBE, or FBE must be certified for the specific type of work

indicated on Schedule 1, the Schedule of Subcontractor Participation.


22. Subcontractor Participation Compliance Monitoring

Once a contract is awarded through the bid or proposal process, the winning contractor is

obligated to use the certified CSB, MBE, or FBE subcontractors listed on the OEO

Schedules and the same participation amount indicated in the OEO Schedules. OEO will

monitor this subcontractor's participation throughout the contract to ensure that the listed

subcontractors perform work on the project and adequately compensated for that work.

The City of Cleveland uses a web-based contractor certification and contract compliance

monitoring system, colloquially known as B2Gnow, to monitor compliance on City

contracts. Contractors can access the system at

http://cleveland.diversitycompliance.com, or through a link on the Office of Equal

Opportunity’s website at http://city.cleveland.oh.us/oeo.

Each month during the contract, the prime contractor (or direct contract-holder with the

City) will report payments to ALL subcontractors through the B2Gnow system. This monthly

reporting information includes total payment in dollars made to the subcontractor, record of

invoices satisfied, a record of checks or other payment methods used to satisfy invoices,

payment dates, and any additional information required by OEO to verify payment to

subcontractors. The prime contractor will enter this payment information into the B2Gnow

system, and the subcontractors will verify this payment information in the system.

OEO offers regular training sessions in the use of the B2Gnow system. Please contact

OEO at 216-664-4152 to schedule training. Online training options are also available

through the B2Gnow system.

Please note that the B2Gnow system's use requires an email account and access to a

personal computer with internet connectivity. This requirement applies to both prime

contractors and subcontractors. The City will provide access to a computer and internet

connection at Cleveland City Hall, upon appointment, for those contractors who do not

otherwise have access to the required technology.

Community Benefit Policies:

http://cleveland.diversitycompliance.com/

http://city.cleveland.oh.us/oeo


CODIFIED ORDINANCE 123 PREVAILING WAGE

CODIFIED ORDINANCE 187 CLEVELAND SMALL BUSINESS

CODIFIED ORDINANCE 187A LOCAL PRODUCER SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT

CODIFIED ORDINANCE 188 CLEVELAND RESIDENT EMPLOYMENT

LAW

CODIFIED ORDINANCE 189 LIVING WAGE

Green Building Standards, Office of Sustainability

Questions about the certification process or the OEO Schedules should be directed to the

Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) at (216) 664-4152.

City of Cleveland


Schedules Checklist

This checklist will guide you through the Office of Equal Opportunity Schedules that must be

completed and submitted as part of your bid or proposal.

Schedule 1: Project Contact Information Form

□ is all requested contact information included?

□ Is the form complete and signed?

Schedule 2: Schedule of Subcontractor Participation

□ did you specify the total dollar amounts for each subcontract?

□ Did you verify that each subcontractor is certified for the type of work to be performed?


Schedule 3: Statement of Intent to Perform as a Subcontractor

□ did the subcontractor specify the total dollar amount of the subcontract?

□ If applicable, has the re-subcontracting section been completed?

□ Is the form completed and signed by the subcontractor?

Schedule 4: CSB/MBE/FBE Subcontractor Unavailability/Impracticality Certification

□ Did you list all companies you have contacted? (If additional space is needed, attach a

separate sheet)

□ If you claim that subcontracting is not available or practical on this contract, have you

explained on a separate attached sheet?


□

City of Cleveland OEO Forms



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