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6.3D <br /> Page 1 <br /> REPORT <br /> To the Honorable Mayor and City Council <br /> From the City Attorney <br /> October 11, 2010 <br /> Subject <br /> Delegate authority to City Manager to expend public money and to suspend competitive <br /> bidding requirements during a local emergency <br /> Recommendation <br /> Adopt a Resolution Authorizing City Manager to Immediately Expend Public Money to <br /> Safeguard Life, Health, Property or Essential Public Services During Emergencies. <br /> Background <br /> The City Manager is the Director of Emergency Services. (Municipal Code section 10.5) <br /> As such, the City Manager has the power to proclaim the existence of a local emergency. <br /> Although circumstances may require that the City Manager respond with extreme urgency <br /> in an emergency in order to protect public safety and health, the City Manager's authority <br /> under the Charter to expend public money t address an emergency is not completely <br /> clear. In the absence of clear authority, the City Council must convene quickly to ratify an <br /> emergency and to authorize expenditure of public funds. However, it may not be in the <br /> public's best interest to await a convening of the City Council. Most recently, the City <br /> experienced a sewer main break and a plane crash into the same area which required the <br /> City to act very quickly. Recently, the City of San Bruno experienced a devastating gas <br /> explosion killing seven people and destroying or damaging some fifty-plus homes also <br /> requiring that the City immediately spend money and enter into contracts with various <br /> contractors and vendors to address the emergency. <br /> In order to clarify the City Manager's authority during a public emergency, the City Council <br /> may under state law delegate pre-authorize the City Manager to spend money and to waive <br /> competitive bidding,which would otherwise be required,when an emergency will not permit <br /> a delay. (Pub. Contr. Code section 22050)This delegation of authority is subject to periodic <br /> City Council review of the emergency and associated expenditures. While preserving the <br /> Council's oversight of the expenditure of public funds, delegating this authority to the City <br /> Manager will clarify the City Manager's power to respond immediately to local emergencies <br /> and to expend necessary resources without the necessity to immediately convene an <br /> emergency meeting of the City Council. <br /> III <br /> III <br /> III <br /> Ill <br /> III <br />