The Governor’s Commission on Brookhaven will be hard at work this week to prepare requests for proposals for city services.
At an Oct. 11 meeting, members of the commission discussed the importance of having the RFPs completed and ready to go by the Oct. 19 deadline they set for themselves.
The commission was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal to act as a transitional government to help set up the new city of Brookhaven until a city council is elected. The commission appointed 10 committees – comprised of commission members, Brookhaven residents, and experts – to focus on various areas of city government, such as finance, police and parks.
Brookhaven, like its neighbors Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, is looking to contract with private sector vendors to offer many of its services.
Eden Freeman, the assistant city manager of Sandy Springs and a Brookhaven resident who volunteers for the contracting and proposals committee, spoke to the commission about the different ways it could structure its contracts.
Freeman recommended awarding contracts to multiple vendors, which would provide the new city with competitive pricing and flexibility.
She asked for all the committees to complete a description of the scope of work each will need by Oct. 16, so that she compile the information and send out the RFPs by Oct. 19.
“You’ve got to give bidders time to submit well-thought out, well-researched proposals,” Freeman said.
Though some committees said they may not be able to meet that deadline, she said it’s important to move as quickly as possible.
“It’s an ambitious goal,” Freeman said. “We’ll certainly do our best to make that happen.”
Jed Beardsley, who represents District 3 on the commission, said information from Sandy Springs and Dunwoody has been very helpful in the process.
“We’re grateful to Sandy Springs and Dunwoody in particular,” Jed Beardsley said. “We’re very grateful for our neighbors who have been through this before and have been big brother helping little brother get started.”