Request for Bids - Newspaper Advertising

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Pacific Grove is soliciting bids for legal advertising. Questions may be referred to the City Clerk by telephoning (831) 648-3181 or by emailing cityclerk@cityofpacificgrove.org Purpose This solicitation invites bids for an annual contract or contracts for official publications, ordinances and other legal notices required to be published. The City may utilize one or more of said Official Newspapers for any legal publications. The newspaper or newspapers to which such a contract or contracts are awarded shall be known as an Official Newspaper of the City. Required Information Each bidder seeking to qualify as an Official Newspaper shall include with its bid a verifiable statement of both net paid circulation and net unpaid circulation of its newspaper within the City. The City shall take into consideration circulation, publication rates, frequency of publication and ability to

provide legally required advertising. Rates for publishing public notices shall not exceed the customary rates charged for publishing legal notices of a private character. Contract Term The contract term is one year. Independent Contractor The relationship between the successful bidder(s) and the City of Pacific Grove is understood and agreed to be as an independent contractor. A contract is not that of employment with the City of Pacific Grove. Final Contract Approval by the City The City retains the right to exercise its judgment concerning the selection of a proposal and the terms of any resultant contract and to determine which proposal best serves the interests of the City. The City makes the final decisions to award, or not award a contract. Notice to Bidders Regarding the Public Records Act Material submitted in response to this request for bids will be considered confidential and not available for release to the public or other bidders until after the RFB filing deadline. Responses to this request for bid shall become the exclusive property of the City. All such proposals submitted in response to this request for bid become a matter of public record. Any proprietary information contained in a proposal shall be identified as such. The City will not disclose proprietary information to the public, unless required by law; however, the City cannot guarantee that such information will be held confidential. Conflict of Interest No employee of an Official Newspaper shall be an employee of the City during his or her employer’s term as an Official Newspaper. Selection Timetable (Tentative) Verification of Information Any reasonable inquiry to determine the responsibility of a Bidder may be conducted. The submission of a proposal shall constitute permission by the Bidder for the City to verify all information contained therein. If the City deems it necessary, additional information may be requested from the Bidder. The unreasonable failure of the Bidder to promptly submit information in connection with such an inquiry, including but not limited to information regarding past performance, financial stability, and the ability to perform on schedule, may be grounds for determining the Bidder is non-responsive and may disqualify him/her from further consideration. Proposal Submission Bidder must submit one original proposal clearly identified as “Original Copy”. Proposals must be enclosed in a sealed envelope, clearly marked in the upper left hand corner with the name and address of the Bidder and bear the words: “Proposal for Publication of Legal Advertisements for the City of Pacific Grove” The proposal shall be delivered or mailed to: City of Pacific Grove Attn: City Clerk 300 Forest Avenue Pacific Grove, CA 93950 Proposals must be received at the address above no later than 5:00 pm on Monday, September 5, 2023. It is the sole responsibility of the submitting Bidder to ensure that his/her proposal is received by the submission deadline. Any proposals received after the submission deadline will be returned to the sender unopened. The City may reject any and all bids and may, in the event no acceptable bid is received, adopt any other legal method for legal publications.