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<br /> believes he is an expert in this area but this is a simple issue, he is splitting hairs with respect
<br /> to certain meanings of words in our Code, that has no relevancy to his protest, this is a simple
<br /> case. He went over some of the arguments that Mr. De Armas raised: he'indicated that his
<br /> client is the lowest responsible bidder, and that is undisputed, that is incorrect, they were not
<br /> the lowest responsible bidder, they were merely the lowest bidder. He indicated that the City
<br /> had ranked bidders, we did not have a ranking system, we select based On qualifications,
<br /> based on our needs.
<br /> Ms. Dickens asked how does the City Manager arrive on his recommendation that he is going
<br /> to make to the City Commission? City Attorney Ottinot said that in our Code, the City
<br /> Manager basically has a list of factors that he looks at, prior experience with a municipality,
<br /> capacity and skill to do the job, also any prior violations of Code committed by the contractor,
<br /> and the City Manager also utilizes outside consultant for fact-finding purposes, the engineer
<br /> who was the engineer for the project, was hired to basically conduct fact-finding research and
<br /> provide the City Manager with information that he can make an informed decision based on
<br /> important factors that are included in the City Code. From the City Managers experience, his
<br /> recommendation is based on his professional judgment however, the City Commission if they
<br /> notice any issues in terms of City Manager's decision being arbitrary or capricious, the City
<br /> Commission can always reverse the City Manager, and in this case that didn't happen. The
<br /> City Manager's professional judgment was accepted by the City Commission because his
<br /> decision was consistent with the City Code, and also, the protester Counsel raised the issue
<br /> about undisclosed criteria. Our bid instructions were pretty clear, we disclosed all relevant
<br /> information, the issue with respect to the 40% criteria was listed, it was noticed,we had a pre-
<br /> bid conference, in fact, if you reviewed the bid protest letter filed by the protester, that issue
<br /> wasn't even raised, this is a new argument being raised today. Also, the protester's attorney
<br /> cited numerous cases outside of Florida, these cases are not relevant, it is not a precedent for
<br /> this court to follow, also, the City of Sweetwater case, the major difference between that case
<br /> and this case, that decision was made by a Mayor as a strong mayor, where politics is
<br /> obviously in play, in this decision, politics is not at play. This is a professional Manager that
<br /> was hired by the City Commission, who made a professional decision based on relevant facts,
<br /> and that is a simple case, this is not a difficult case, the City's decision is consistent with the
<br /> law and consistent with our Code.
<br /> Trans Construction
<br /> Alfredo De Armas addressed the little dig that he fancies himself an expert, we owe no
<br /> deference to the City of Sunny Isles Beach and its interpretation of legal words, this is not a
<br /> technical review that they are contesting, they are simply looking at interpretation of legal
<br /> language. Expertise is not required and there is absolutely no deference to the City's
<br /> interpretation. He said he wanted to address this attempt to distinguish the City of
<br /> Sweetwater, in point of fact, Mayor Diaz in that case did not make the decision but he actually
<br /> appointed a committee, and the court would see, in the second page of the printout it says:
<br /> "Subsequently the Mayor appointed three (3) individuals to evaluate the bidders and find the
<br /> most responsible bidder. The individuals appointed by the Mayor differed identified, etc.", and
<br /> so the Mayor in that case even appointed a committee, and the committee went on to
<br /> evaluate who is more responsible among the bidders, and the court said you can't do that,
<br /> when it is the lowest responsible, responsive bidder, it is not the lowest most responsible most
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