Elections_Mailing_Service.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

ELECTIONS MAILING SERVICE

(NO. 2021.055P)

FOR

Washington County, Oregon

RELEASE DATE: April 8, 2021 DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: April 23, 2021

RESPONSE DEADLINE: April 30, 2021, 4:00 pm

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO:

https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/washington-county-or

Elections Mailing Service

I. Request for Proposals II. Introduction

III. Instructions to Proposers IV. Project Details/Scope of Work V. Evaluation and Award Process

VI. Evaluation Criteria VII. Terms and Conditions

VIII. Vendor Submissions

Attachments:

A - 2020 PP SERVICES CONTRACT SAMPLE

B - Attachment C - INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY FORM PP

Elections Mailing Service

I. REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

(No. 2021.055P)

Washington County, Oregon is requesting proposals from qualified firms to provide Elections Mailing Service.

Proposals must be received by 4:00 pm Friday, April 30, 2021.

The County may reject any proposal not in compliance with all prescribed public bidding procedures and requirements and may reject for good cause any or all proposals upon a finding by the County it is in the public interest to do so.

A copy of the Request for Proposal document is posted on ProcureNow. Proposal documents can be viewed and downloaded from the site. The County’s electronic solicitation portal can also be accessed at www.washcopurch.com. Proposer is responsible for checking the site for any addendums before submitting their proposals.

The Washington County Board of Commissioners reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive any and all informalities in the best interest of the County.

Suzi Fulcher, Purchasing Manager

Published: Thursday, April 8, 2021 ORPIN http://www.washcopurch.com/

Elections Mailing Service

II. INTRODUCTION

The following instructions/terms and conditions apply to all solicitations to provide either goods or services to Washington County.

II.A Summary

The Washington County Department of Assessment and Taxation/Elections Division is responsible for all elections. The number of ballots processed could be as high as three hundred eighty thousand (380,000) or as low as one thousand (1,000).

Contractor to provide contract mailing services and/or printing services as required by the County for elections.

II.B Background

Washington County is a suburban county located on the western edge of Portland, Oregon. Its boundaries extend from the City of Portland to the coast range. The current population is approximately 600,000 people. There is a mix of urban, suburban and rural areas. The eastern half of the County is composed of service industries, light manufacturing, residential and commercial activity. It is relatively densely populated. The western half is primarily farms and private forest lands across rural settings, together with several smaller incorporated and unincorporated communities.

The County seat of government is located in Hillsboro, Oregon. The County has experienced substantial growth over the last fifty years principally in the electronics and high-tech industries.

Twenty percent of the entire state's population growth in the last five years has occurred in Washington County.

The County is a home rule county, governed by five elected Commissioners who appoint a County Administrator as the chief executive of the County. There are currently approximately 1950 employees in all areas of County government who are engaged in providing the multitude of services required by its member cities, businesses and general population.

Washington County is a suburban county located on the western edge of Portland, Oregon. Its boundaries extend from the City of Portland to the coast range. The current population is approximately 620,000 people. There is a mix of urban, suburban and rural areas. The eastern half of the County is composed of service industries, light manufacturing, residential and commercial activity. It is relatively densely populated. The western half is primarily farms and rural settings together with several smaller incorporated and unincorporated communities.

The County seat of government is in Hillsboro, Oregon, with the Elections Division located at 2925 NE Aloclek Dr., Ste 170, Hillsboro, Oregon. The County has experienced substantial growth

Elections Mailing Service over the last several years principally in the electronics and high-tech industries. Over half of the entire state's population growth in the last five years occurred in Washington County.

The County is a home-rule county, governed by five elected Commissioners who appoint a County Administrator as the chief executive of the County. There are currently approximately 2300 employees in all areas of County government who are engaged in providing the multitude of services required by its member cities, businesses, and general population.

II.C Contact Information

Suzi Fulcher Purchasing Manager 155 N First Ave MS 28 Hillsboro, OR 97124 Email: suzi_fulcher@co.washington.or.us Phone: (503) 846-8734

Department:

Assessment and Taxation

II.D Timeline

The County reserves the right to modify this schedule at the County's discretion. Proper notification of changes to the due date will be made to all parties that have received the proposal from ProcureNow.

Time is of the essence in getting the system installed, the above schedule will be adjusted accordingly should some tasks take less time than scheduled.

Date of Legal Advertisement April 8, 2021

Question Submission Deadline April 23, 2021, 4:00pm

Submittals Due April 30, 2021, 4:00pm

Evaluation Process Completed May 7, 2021

Contract Start Date June 1, 2021 mailto:suzi_fulcher@co.washington.or.us tel:(503)846-8734

Elections Mailing Service

III. INSTRUCTIONS TO PROPOSERS

III.A Precedence of Proposal Documents*

The order of precedence of documents is as follows:

1. Instructions to Proposers

2. Contract Terms & Conditions (from attached sample contract)

3. Terms and Conditions

4. Project Details/Scope of Work

III.B Communication

Communication regarding this solicitation between a potential or actual Proposer and any Washington County staff, other than Purchasing Division staff, is prohibited from the time the Request for Proposals (RFP) is advertised until the award of a contract to the proposer selected.

III.C Copies of Proposal Documents*

Documents obtained from sources (such as directly from other contractors) other than ProcureNow are not valid proposal documents. It is the proposer's responsibility to ensure they are following a particular project on ProcureNow in order to receive notification of all addenda as well as additional relevant information.

III.D Questions and Answers

Enter all questions regarding the meaning or intent of the solicitation into the questions area of the solicitation in ProcureNow.

III.E Specification Protest Process

Delivery: A proposer must deliver a protest of specifications to the County in writing no later than seven (7) calendar days prior to the proposal due date as follows:

Specification Protest Proposal#: 2021.055P Washington County Purchasing Division ATTN: Purchasing Manager 155 North First Avenue, Suite 270 MS 28 Hillsboro, Oregon 97124-3072

Content: A proposer’s written protest must include:

Elections Mailing Service

A detailed statement of the legal and factual grounds for the protest; description of the resulting prejudice to the proposer; and a statement of the form of relief requested or any proposed changes to the specifications.

County Response: The County may reject without consideration a proposer’s protest received after the deadline established for submitting protest. The County shall provide notice to the applicable proposer if it entirely rejects a protest. If the County agrees with the proposer’s protest, in whole or in part, the County shall either issue an addendum reflecting its determination or cancel the solicitation.

Extension of Closing: If the County receives a written protest from a proposer in accordance with this rule, the County may extend closing if the County determines an extension is necessary to consider the protest and to issue addenda, if any, to the solicitation document.

Judicial review of the County’s decision relating to a specification protest shall be in accordance with ORS 279B.405.

III.F Phone Proposals, Late Proposals or Modifications*

Late proposals or modifications of proposals will be handled in the following manner:

It is the sole responsibility of the Proposer to ensure the proposals are uploaded to the system by the specified time. They system will not allow Proposers to upload after this time and the proposal will not be considered.

Any modification of a proposal is subject to the same conditions set forth above.

Proposals will not be accepted via Phone, E-mail or FAX.

III.G Interpretations and Addenda

If necessary, interpretations or clarifications in response to questions will be issued by addenda.

Questions received after Friday, April 23, 2021 may not be answered unless the County determines, in its sole discretion, that it is in its best interests to do so. Oral and other interpretations or clarifications will be without legal effect.

Any amendment(s) to or error(s) in the RFP called to the attention of the County will be added to or corrected by written addendum and posted to ProcureNow. The County may also issue addenda to modify the proposal documents, as it deems advisable.

Receipt of addenda must be acknowledged.

Proposers shall be solely responsible to check for addenda, if any, from ProcureNow prior to submitting their proposals.

After opening proposals, the County may issue or electronically post an addendum to the request for proposals that modifies the criteria, rating process and procedure for any tier of competition before the start of the tier to which the addendum applies.

The County shall send an addendum that is issued by a method other than electronic posting to all proposers who are eligible to compete under the addendum. The County shall issue or post

Elections Mailing Service the addendum at least five days before the start of the subject tier of competition or as the County otherwise determines is adequate to allow eligible proposers to prepare for the competition in accordance with County rules.

III.H Guidelines for Proposal Submittal and Receipt

To be considered for this contract, each proposer must enter its complete proposal per the Vendor Submission Section to ProcureNow.

Proposals must be uploaded by 4:00 pm Friday, April 30, 2021. The system will not allow late uploads. Allow plenty of time to ensure your upload is successful. Slow or malfunctioning internet shall not be an acceptable reason for late submissions.

Proposers are required to submit any proposal forms furnished in this RFP document. Please retain a copy for your records.

Each submittal shall contain the following:

• Any proposal response forms listed in the Attachment Section.

• Responses, Certifications, or Agreements required in this solicitation.

• Proposers shall provide a copy of any contracts, licensing agreements, or other documents that the County will be asked to sign if they are the chosen contractor. These do not count against the page limit.

• Failure to submit any of the required items may be grounds for rejection of the proposal.

https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/washington-county-or/projects/8517?section=51668

Elections Mailing Service

IV. PROJECT DETAILS/SCOPE OF WORK

IV.A Purpose/Scope of Project

1. Contractor will obtain and store Postal Supplies from Post Office in preparation of Election mailing.

2. Contractor shall communicate with Elections Division prior to each Election mailing in order to prepare for the upcoming process.

3. The Elections Division will deliver or have delivered ballot materials to the Contractor for processing and/or upon coordination with contractor, approximately two to seven days before processing.

4. Contractor must verify the ballot supplies that are delivered with packing slip and inspect for any visible damages. Contractor must notify Elections Division within reasonable time after such delivery.

5. Contractor must provide a locked storage area, approved by the Elections Division,

6. Contractor will provide a work area for Elections Division prior to inserting for the inspection of materials.

7. Contractor may be required to insert materials into outer envelopes as directed, and address, bar code, and zip sort envelopes, and deliver to the Post Office in a timeline determined by Elections Division. Ballot processing may include:

1. Data processing

2. Addressing

3. Inserting

4. Staging

5. Delivery

8. All completed ballot packet materials are to be mailed from the Portland Main Post Office, 7007 NE Cornfoot Rd, Portland, OR 97218, and transported in a secure manner as directed by Elections Division.

9. Elections Division will inspect the facilities security, material handling machines and procedures any time ballots are present. County Election personnel may be on-site during ballot processing.

10. Contractor shall submit itemized invoices identifying items billed following each mailing for services. Invoices should be directed to the Elections Division at 2925 NE Aloclek Dr., Ste 170, Hillsboro, OR 97124.

Elections Mailing Service

11. Price per thousand charges shall include all other ancillary charges such as storage of envelopes, pick-up and delivery, and start-up costs, to be included on the Proposal Cost Form. The County will not pay any costs not clearly defined in the proposal.

12. All damaged Ballots must be returned to the Elections Division or shredded on-site.

IV.B Liquidated Damages: Vote-by-Mail

1. If an election or portion of an election is invalidated due to an error or omission by the Contractor, the complete cost of a new election or portion thereof will be the responsibility of the Contractor.

2. If an election or portion of an election is invalidated due to an error or omission by Washington County, the complete cost of a new election or portion thereof will be the responsibility of Washington County.

IV.C Supplies and Materials

1. Contractor will obtain the following from Post Office, prior to commencement of a job:

1. Tray tags, "Ballots Only", and political campaign tags.

2. General-purpose carriers (GPC's) or appropriate mail pallets.

3. Cardboard or corrugated plastic letter size mailing trays and sleeves or any postal materials required.

2. Elections Division will furnish the following:

1. Electronic media of voter file

2. Window envelopes #11

3. Return envelopes #10

4. Ballots

5. Voter's pamphlets

6. If applicable, informational inserts

7. Voter notification cards and voter confirmation cards

IV.D Organizational Meeting

The Elections Division may arrange a meeting, prior to the election preparation process with the Contractor to discuss quantities, scheduling and mailing arrangements.

IV.E Data Process

1. Voter data shall be delivered in a safe and secure environment.

Elections Mailing Service

2. Data shall be CASS certified; any non-CASS addresses shall be delivered to Elections Division for further investigation.

3. Data shall be utilizing the U PS Intelligent Mail Barcoding standards.

4. Data shall be sorted per instruction provided by the Elections Division prior to the election.

5. Data shall be validated by records received and records processed based on contractor's best practice.

IV.F Addressing Process

1. Contractor will inkjet (or better labeling process) voter name, address, date, precinct, style, and voter identification bar code and any additional information fields on #10 Return Envelopes for election ballot materials.

2. Above addressing shall be visible through #11 outgoing envelopes within USPS tolerance.

3. A sample must be provided to Elections Division and approved prior to each production.

4. Complete inkjet address must be OCR readable (sample inkjet addressed envelope must be pre-approved by the Post Office).

IV.G Inserting Process

1. Contractor may be required to insert up to six (6) inserts in a single pass. Inserts include:

1. One (1) return #10 envelope labeled.

2. One (1) web pos-i-chek "secrecy" #9 sleeve (optional)

3. One (1) or two (2) ballot sheet(s) (minimum 8.5"x 14" to maximum 8.5"x l 9")

4. One (1) or two (2) Voter's Pamphlets.

5. One (1) or two (2) informational sheet(s)

2. Contractor will provide machine operators and technical support; staff to remove and tray inserted envelopes from machines; staff to supply election supplies to the machines and to assist with staging.

3. Contractor shall have the ability to locate and remove damaged pieces during the inserting process.

4. Contractor shall have the ability to locate and remove a voided voter ID.

5. Outside #11 envelopes will require to be sealed and zip sorted.

6. Contractor must provide appropriate areas for machine inserting process with required supplies on hand.

Elections Mailing Service

IV.H Staging Process

Contractor will provide the following:

1. Provide a work area for staging and merging the vote-by-mail envelopes for small quantities mutually determined by Elections Division and Contractor prior to inserting process.

2. The capability to locate and remove any ballot ID from various stages of the proofs.

3. Zip, sort, strap, tag, weigh and label according to the USPS regulations. Notify the Elections Division of the time and date when ballots will be on-site at the USPS plant.

4. Arrange for in-plant postal verification if available.

5. Prepare copies of all required mailing documents/forms. Elections personnel shall approve all statement prior to the delivery to the USPS plant.

IV.I Delivery to the Post Office

Contractor will do the following:

1. Deliver the vote-by-mail envelopes to the USPS Plant. Delivery must be made in a manner and form agreed upon.

2. Provide proof of current CASS Certification to the Post Office at the time of delivery of the ballots for mailing.

The Elections Division staff may be present when the Post Office takes possession of the ballots.

IV.J Pricing

Pricing, per one thousand (1000), will be required on the following:

1. Inkjet setup & application

2. Data processing·& CASS certification

3. Folding

4. Inserting

5. Sorting, band, & tray

6. Pick-up and delivery of materials to Portland Post Office:

1. Cost per trip

2. Rate of pay and # of employees required per delivery

3. Average time to load and unload a delivery

4. Itemize# of vehicles used per delivery.

7. Storage costs per pallet per month

Elections Mailing Service

8. Tabbing

9. Start-up costs

10. Other costs defined

11. Indicate amount of time needed to sort 50,000 ballots with one-hour notification.

Indicate type and placement of bar code needed on return envelope.

IV.K Payments and Payment Terms

1. Payments shall be made upon submission of invoices per work performed.

2. Invoices must be broken out by each job.

3. Each invoice shall detail location, description of services provided, number of hours worked, and materials invoiced. If the work covered by the application for payment is incomplete or defective, the payment may be withheld or reduced until the work is complete.

4. Contractor shall invoice the County no later than thirty (30) days following completion of a work order.

5. The County will pay the approved invoice for payment within 30 days.

Elections Mailing Service

V. EVALUATION AND AWARD PROCESS

V.A Clarifications

The County reserves the right to obtain clarification at any point in regards to a proposal or to obtain additional information necessary to properly evaluate a proposal. Failure of a Proposer to respond to such a request for additional information or clarification could result in rejection of their proposal.

After evaluation, demonstrations, and or interviews have occurred, a single firm will be identified that is best able to provide the services to the County. The County reserves the sole right to determine the best Proposal. A notice of intent to award will be published and a recommendation will be presented to the County Administrator or Board of Commissioners for their consideration.

V.B Interviews

Top scoring proposers may be selected for interviews. If oral interview and/or facility visit (If deemed necessary) are determined to be necessary, the scores from the written proposals will be considered preliminary. Final scores will be determined based on the 30 points assigned to the interview process.

V.C References

The County reserves the right to check references only on the highest scoring proposers or depending on the scoring differential just the highest proposer.

Questionnaires may be sent to customer references by Washington County or contacted by telephone. Secondary references may also be contacted.

V.D Period Proposal Validity*

All proposals shall remain firm for a period of NO VALUE calendar-days after date specified for receipt of proposals.

V.E Acceptance, Rejection and Cancellation of Award*

Washington County reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals received as a result of this RFP and to negotiate with any qualified proposer(s) for all or part of the requested goods and services. All proposals become the property of the County.

This RFP does not commit the County to award a contract or to pay any costs incurred by respondents. Washington County reserves the right to cancel award of this contract at any time before execution of the contract if cancellation is deemed to be in the County's best interests. In

Elections Mailing Service no event shall the County have any liability for the cancellation of the award. All costs of the proposal process, interviews, contract negotiations, and related expenses are the responsibility of the proposer.

Acceptance of a proposal is subject to budget approval, appropriation and budgetary constraints.

V.F Award Recommendation*

The notice of intent to award will be posted on the ProcureNow website at least seven (7) days before the award of the contract. See PROTESTS AND JUDICIAL REVIEW OF CONTRACT AWARD below for protest of award.

The decision by the Board or the County Administrator to award the contract shall constitute the final decision of the County to award the contract.

V.G Inspection of Proposals

Subject to the provisions of the Oregon Public Records Law, all proposals received will be available for public inspection after the notice of intent to award has been published. Proposals will be provided via an electronic link.

Copies of material from proposal files may be obtained from the Washington County Purchasing Division upon payment of a charges based upon the current County Fee Schedule. Prepayment is required for providing materials from the proposal files.

V.H Protests and Judicial Review of Contract Award*

Purpose. The award by the Washington County Board of Commissioners of the contract shall constitute a final decision of the County to award the contract if no written protest of the award is filed. A proposer may protest the award of a contract, or the intent to award of a contract, whichever occurs first, if the conditions set forth in ORS 279B.410(1) are satisfied. A proposer must file a written protest with the County and exhaust all administrative remedies before seeking judicial review of the County's contract award decision.

Delivery. A proposer must deliver a written protest to the Washington County Purchasing Manager within seven (7) days after issuance of the notice of intent to award the contract.

Content of Protest. A proposer’s written protest shall specify the grounds for the protest to be considered pursuant to ORS 279B.410(2). Proposer may not protest the content of specifications in an award protest. Proposers may protest only deviations from laws rules, regulations, or procedures including procedures set out in this RFP. Disagreement with the scoring by the Selection Committee is not a basis for protest. Protests must specify the grounds for the appeal including the specific citation of law, rule, regulation, or procedure upon which the protest is based.

County Response. The County shall not consider a proposer’s contract award protest submitted after the timeline established for submitting such protest. The County shall issue a written disposition of the protest in a timely manner as set forth in ORS 279B.410(4). If the County

Elections Mailing Service upholds the protest, in whole or in part, the County may in its sole discretion either award the contract to the successful protestor or cancel the procurement or solicitation. The County shall not consider any protest against award based on the content of specifications.

Judicial Review. Judicial review of the Board’s or its designee’s decision relating to a contract award protest shall be in accordance with ORS 279B.415.

V.I Negotiation with Awarded Contractor(s)*

The County reserves the right to negotiate final contract terms with the awarded contractor to the fullest extent allowed by law and as in the best interest of the County.

V.J Contract Term

The term of the contract will be effective for the period through and including December 31, 2023, with an option to renew for an additional two – one year periods.

The maximum term of the contract will be five years.

The estimated annual expenditure for the contract is approximately $500,000.00. Actual expenditures may be more or less depending on actual requirements.

V.K Contractor's Responsibility*

It is understood that the specifications and other contract documents do not purport to control the method of performing the work, but only the requirements as to the nature of the completed work. The contractor assumes the entire responsibility for the method of performing the work. Suggestions as to the method included in the contract documents shall be deemed advisory only and the feasibility of such methods, or the lack thereof, shall not affect the contractor’s liability, or status as independent contractor, and contractor will remain responsible for the cost of all permits unless otherwise specified.

Elections Mailing Service

VI. EVALUATION CRITERIA

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SELECTION PROCESS

All proposals will be reviewed by staff based on the following criteria. Each evaluation criteria have been assigned points based on its relative value to the contract as a whole. The criteria and the associated points are listed in the table below:

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Qualifications and Experience List qualifications and experience of firm.

Identify key project personnel by name, title, work they will perform, and describe their relevant experience and percentage of each person’s time that will be committed to the project. The proposal shall include sections addressing the project team’s organization, personnel, experience, and capabilities.

0-5 Points 20 (15.4% of Total)

2. Project Management

• Outline your firm’s proposed project scope for the work, provide a proposed project schedule, including division of tasks, interim outputs (e.g.

schedule of drafts, meetings, progress reports, etc.).

• State your understanding of the issues affecting this contract and briefly describe how your firm will approach the project based on the information presented in this RFP. Outline your firm’s project management plan, including the approach to maintaining good communication and meeting deadlines.

• Indicate in your proposal the time necessary and describe the process for start-up after award and issuance of the Notice to Proceed to provide the required services.

• Provide a description of your quality control process and your records tracking methods.

• Describe work area / environment.

0-5 Points 35 (26.9% of Total)

3. Social Equity The County is committed to extending contracting opportunities to businesses that demonstrate social equity in the areas of workforce diversity, utilization of State of Oregon certified Minority, Women and Emerging Small Businesses (MWESBs), Service Disabled Veterans (SDVs), business practices, and health insurance and other benefits for employees. In order to promote economic

0-5 Points 20 (15.4% of Total)

Elections Mailing Service growth, the County seeks to maximize the participation of diverse consultants, partners, Proposers, and suppliers throughout the duration of the project.

• Describe in detail how your (agency/business/ organization) develops an internal diverse workforce. How do you approach recruitment, training, and development opportunities for service disable veterans, minorities, women, and people of color.

• Within the last 24 months, have you awarded contracts or conducted busines with State of Oregon certified Minority, Women, and Emerging Small Business – Service Disabled Veterans (MWESB-SDV) businesses?

4. Costs/Budget Provide overall costs (per 1000) for Ink Jet setup application, Data processing & CASS certification, Folding, Inserting, Sorting (band and tray), Delivery to Portland Post Office, Storage (by pallet), and Tabbing. Also, detail any additional costs or charges the County may be invoiced for. Utilize the Proposal Cost worksheet located in the Proposal Response Packet below.

0-5 Points 30 (23.1% of Total)

5. References Describe similar projects your firm has completed, with particular emphasis on jurisdictions with similarities to Washington County. List the firm name, address, contact person, and telephone number for three (3) such projects. References must be for services provided within the last five (5) years. List any contracts terminated for cause within the same time period and include the reason why.

0-5 Points 15 (11.5% of Total)

6. Environmental Considerations Please specify the environmental considerations in your organization’s sustainable business practices. These may include, but are not limited to a formal sustainability program and/or policies covering recycling measures;

energy and/or water conservation; and a green cleaning policy, or other actions that promote environmental conservation. Please be as specific as possible.

0-5 Points 10 (7.7% of Total)

Elections Mailing Service

VII. TERMS AND CONDITIONS

VII.A Laws and Regulations

1. The proposer is assumed to be familiar with all Federal, State, County or City laws or regulations, which in any manner affect those engaged or employed in the work or the materials or equipment used or which in any way affect the conduct of the work, and no pleas of misunderstanding will be considered on account of ignorance thereof. If the proposer shall discover any provision in these specifications or project information, plans or contract documents which is contrary to or inconsistent with any law or regulations, they shall report it to County in writing.

2. All work performed by the contractor shall be in compliance with all Federal, State, County and local laws, regulations and ordinances. Unless otherwise specified, the contractor shall be responsible for obtaining applicable permits and licenses.

VII.B Recycled Materials and Sustainable Products and Processes

1. Contractor is encouraged to use recycled and recyclable products to the maximum extent economically feasible during the performance of the Contract.

2. Washington County prefers materials or supplies manufactured from recycled materials if the recycled product is available, and it meets the requirements set forth in the Specifications.

3. Washington County supports and encourages the use of sustainable products by the Contractor. To contribute to a clean environment for present and future generations, Contractor shall utilize sustainable products to the maximum extent feasible during the performance of this Contract.

VII.C Proprietary Information, Ownership and Use of Documents

1. All documents submitted to the County shall become public records, subject to disclosure, unless otherwise protected pursuant to the Oregon Public Records Law.

2. The County is subject to the Oregon Public Records Law (ORS 192.410 to 192.505), which requires the County to disclose all records generated or received in the transaction of County business, except as expressly exempted in ORS 192.501, 192.502, or other applicable law.

Examples of exemptions that could be relevant include trade secrets (ORS 192.501 (2)) and computer programs (ORS 192.501(15)). The County will not disclose records submitted by a Proposer that are exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Law, subject to the following procedures and limitations:

3. The entire RFP cannot be marked confidential, nor, shall any pricing be marked confidential.

Elections Mailing Service

4. All pages containing the records exempt from disclosure shall be marked “confidential” and segregated in the following manner:

• It shall be clearly marked in bold and on each page of the confidential document.

• It shall be kept separate from the other RFP documents in a separate file upload.

• Where this specification conflicts with other formatting and response instruction specifications, this specification shall prevail.

5. Where such conflict occurs, the Proposer is instructed to respond with the following: “Refer to confidential information enclosed.” This statement shall be inserted in the place where the requested information was to have been placed.

6. Proposers who desire that additional information be treated as confidential must mark those pages as “confidential”, cite a specific statutory basis for the exemption, and the reasons why the public interest would be served by the confidentiality. Should a proposal be submitted as described in this section no portion of it can be held as confidential unless that portion is segregated as described above.

7. Notwithstanding the above procedures, the County reserves the right to disclose information that the County determines, in its sole discretion, is not exempt from disclosure or that the County is directed to disclose by the County’s Attorney, the District Attorney or a court of competent jurisdiction. Prior to disclosing such information, the County will notify the Proposer.

If the Proposer disagrees with the County’s decision, the County may, but is not required to enter into an agreement not to disclose the information so long as the Proposer bears the entire cost, including reasonable attorney’s fees, of any legal action, including any appeals, necessary to defend or support a no-disclosure decision.

VII.D Rights of the County

The County expressly reserves the following rights:

• To waive irregularities in the proposals submitted.

• To cancel the procurement or reject any proposals or portions thereof in accordance with ORS 279B.100.

• To base awards with due regard to quality of services, experience, compliance with specifications, proposal response, and other such factors as necessary in the circumstances.

• To make the award to any proposer whose proposal, in the opinion of management and the Board, is in the best interest of the County.

• To negotiate contract terms and conditions.

Elections Mailing Service

VII.E Qualifications/References/Responsible Proposer

1. Qualifications of proposers will be evaluated when determining the award. Proposers may be required to produce acceptable personal, business, and credit references and completed examples of previous work of a similar nature.

2. The County reserves the right to investigate references and to consider the past performance of any proposer with respect to its performance of similar projects, compliance with specifications and contractual obligations, its completion or delivery of services on schedule, and its lawful payment of employees and workers whether or not specifically listed by the proposer.

3. Before awarding a contract, the County shall determine that the apparent successful proposer has met the requirements of responsibility outlined in ORS 279B.110.

VII.F Social Equity

1. In order to promote economic growth, the County seeks to maximize the participation of diverse consultants, partners, contractors, and suppliers throughout the duration of the project.

2. Working in a way that promotes the empowerment of individuals, organizations, and communities most affected by inequities is a practical method of achieving equity. The County wants to integrate empowering equity strategies that allow for authentic voice to be heard and ultimately represented in decisions from this delivery of service.

3. The County values the community as a whole and calls out those providing and receiving services should have a positive economic impact from the delivery of services that is long term and positively changes our hierarchical systems to incorporate those who are most affected by inequities.

4. It is the County’s desire to create full and equal access to opportunities for all people that enable them to attain their full potential. We pay particular attention to the development of income and wealth for communities most affected by inequities.

VII.G County Rights

The County reserves the right to modify this schedule at the County's discretion. Proper notification of changes to the due date will be made to all parties that have received the proposal from ProcureNow.

VII.H Cooperative Purchasing

1. Pursuant to the intent of Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 279A.200, any publicly funded city, county, district, agency or similar entity shall have the authority to purchase specified goods/services directly from contractor under the terms and conditions of this contract.

2. The proposer agrees to extend identical pricing and services to other public agencies for the same terms.

Elections Mailing Service

3. Each contracting agency will execute a separate contract with the successful proposer for its requirements. Any ordering and billing shall take place directly between the proposer and such entity.

4. Any proposer, by written notification at the time of the proposal due date and time, may decline to extend the prices, services and terms of this proposal to any, and/or all other public agencies. There is no penalty for declining cooperative procurements.

VII.I Form of Contract

A copy of the standard personal service contract that the County expects the successful firm or individual to execute is attached. The contract will incorporate the terms and conditions from this RFP document and the successful proposer's response documents.

Firms taking exception to any of the contract terms should indicate the same by uploading in the Vendor Submission or their exceptions will be deemed waived.

VII.J Insurance Requirements

The insurance requirements for this contract are outlined in the Insurance Requirements Summary Form.

Elections Mailing Service

VIII. VENDOR SUBMISSIONS

VIII.A Electronic Submittal*

By electronically submitting this response the Supplier attests and certifies that:

1. Person completing this response represents that I am either authorized to bind the Supplier, or that I am submitting the Response on behalf of and at the direction of the Supplier's representative authorized to contractually bind the Supplier.

2. I represent that the Supplier or its applicable representative(s) has reviewed the information contained in this Solicitation Package and that the information submitted is accurate.

3. Respondent agrees that the action of electronically submitting its response constitutes:

a. an electronic signature on the responses, generally,

b. an agreement to conduct business electronically,

c. an electronic signature on any form or section specifically calling for a signature, and

d. an affirmative agreement to any statement contained in the solicitation that requires a definite confirmation or acknowledgement.

☐ Yes

☐ No *Response required

VIII.B Solicitation Requirements*

Proposer read through and confirm that you met all of the Solicitation requirements?

☐ Yes

☐ No *Response required

VIII.C Cooperative Purchasing*

Will the proposer extend pricing and terms to other public agencies?(there is no penalty for not agreeing to extend pricing)

☐ Yes

☐ No *Response required

Elections Mailing Service

VIII.D Resident Bidder **

The Bidder is a resident as defined in ORS 279A.120*?

*ORS 279A.120(1)(b) – Resident bidder means a bidder that has paid unemployment taxes or income taxes in this state during the 12 calendar months immediately preceding submission of the bid, has a business address in this state and has stated in the bid whether the vendor is a resident vendor. Nonresident vendor shall comply with the provisions of ORS 279A.120(3).

☐ Yes

☐ No *Response required

VIII.E Proposal Content

The proposal shall be prepared succinctly, providing a straight forward, concise description of the proposer’s ability to meet the requirements of the RFP. There should be no unnecessary attachments or exhibits.

Proposal should contain no more than 25 8.5" x 11", pages of written material describing the ability of the proposer to perform the work described. The minimum font shall be twelve (12) point single spaced, with the exception of captions.

VIII.E.1 PROPOSAL CONTENT*

Upload responses to questions and requests listed in the Evaluation Criteria Section, with the exception of cost which is to uploaded in the next section.

*Response required

VIII.E.2 Separate Cost Proposal*

Confirm that your fee proposal is not attached in your Proposal and is attached separately here.

*Response required

VIII.E.3 Confidential Information

Upload all pages or documents containing information exempt from disclosure per Section 7 Item 3.

VIII.E.4 Changes Requested to County Contract Standard Terms and Conditions

Upload any alterations requested to Washington County's contract standard terms and conditions per Section 7 Item 8.

VIII.E.5 Solicitation Awareness*

How did you hear about this opportunity?

Select all that apply

Elections Mailing Service

☐ ORPIN

☐ Link was emailed directly to me

☐ Washington County Website

☐ Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland Tribune or other printed media

☐ Twitter, Facebook or other social media

☐ Panning Center, Plan room, etc?

*Response required