Portland's finance office no longer wants to seek approval from the City Council for most six-figure consulting contracts, a process bureau officials say wastes time.

"Small projects are sitting, waiting and the community wonders why it takes so long to get anything done," Office of Management and Finance spokeswoman Jen Clodius said in an email.

A proposal before council Thursday would increase the value of consulting contracts that the city's chief procurement officer could okay without council approval from $100,000 to $500,000.

The change would allow bureau directors and the city's chief procurement officer decision making authority over 96 percent of consulting projects. This means 95 contracts—or more than $9.5 million worth of deals—approved by the city council in the last 17 months would have been selected without council oversight.

The new rule would take effect immediately if approved by the city council Thursday. Pegged as a pilot program, the procurement officer's increased signing authority would last through December 2018.

Clodius said her office brought the item before council because the signing authority has not been updated since 1998.

"It is overdue," Clodius said.

The proposal would also increase the value of public improvement and construction contracts, as well as goods and services contracts, the procurement officer could execute without council approval from $500,000 to $1 million.

Clodius said the change will help "improve efficiency in getting infrastructure projects from 'Bid' to 'Notice to Proceed' more quickly."

When asked how raising the threshold for council review of consulting projects would help increase construction project efficiency, Clodius noted that it takes two months to get an ordinance through council.

The city's procurement office came under scrutiny in 2013, when it received a "D-" grade for transparency in city spending from The Oregon State Public Interest Research Group. The grade stemmed largely from the city's failure to post a contract database and other financial information online.

The city has since posted a Vendor Payment Checkbook online that shows a snapshot of city expenditures. It also produces annual reports of all the city's procurements on the Office of Management and Finance website, where the most recent one posted is from two years ago.

"Coming in front of council for these relatively low dollar procurements is time consuming," Mayoral spokesman Michael Cox said. "There are checks within the bureau to make sure these procurements with these levels are done responsibly."

Note: This story has been updated to remove former Chief Procurement Officer Christine Moody from the story. Moody resigned in June. Larry Pelatt is serving as the interim chief procurement officer.

--Jessica Floum

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