How City Procurement Really Works: Podcast

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Most vendors trying to figure out how to win government contracts spend a lot of time thinking about the RFP. What to write, how to format it, how to score well on the rubric. That's all important. But it misses a bigger picture.

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City procurement isn't just a process. It's a relationship-driven, rules-bound, resource-constrained operation that exists for one reason: to get city departments what they need to serve the public. Understanding how that machine works from the inside is one of the most underrated advantages a vendor can have.

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On Episode 4 of In Pursuit, host Mike Bitchick sits down with Sandra, Chief Procurement Officer for the City of Detroit. Sandra came to procurement through an unconventional path, urban planning at MIT, years in nonprofit and civic engagement work, and a stint as deputy director of general services before landing in the CPO role. That outside-in perspective gives her a uniquely honest take on what works, what doesn't, and what vendors consistently get wrong.

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The Department Isn't Procurement, and Procurement Isn't the Department

One of the first things Sandra makes clear is that city procurement is centralized in Detroit. The Office of Contracts and Procurement handles solicitations across all departments. And her team has dedicated contact points who partner regularly with each major department to plan ahead.

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That structure matters for vendors. It means there are two distinct relationships to build: one with the end user in the department, and one with the procurement team managing the process. They have different priorities, different timelines, and different definitions of success.

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Departments want things fast. They want the contract in place so they can get on with their work. Procurement wants the process to be fair, transparent, and defensible. Sandra is candid about the tension she experienced from the department side before she moved into procurement:

‍"We could never get the contracts fast enough. We'd send information into this black hole and not know what happens to it."

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Now on the other side, she sees it differently. A department asking for "tents" with no further detail isn't a procurement problem. It's a communication problem. And it's one that slows everything down.

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Start Earlier Than You Think

Sandra's consistent message to both departments and vendors is the same: start earlier. Detroit's fiscal year begins in July, budget is typically approved in May, and she's pushing departments to begin working with procurement as early as May so there's time to be thoughtful about what they're actually buying.

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For vendors, the implication is straightforward. If you want to be part of shaping what gets bought, you need to be in conversation with the right people well before a solicitation hits. Contracts have published end dates. Certain departments, like public works, put out the same types of solicitations year after year. You can anticipate what's coming if you pay attention.

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"You can kind of anticipate that six months to a year in advance we're going to be putting out solicitations."

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That's your window. Use it.

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The Right Way to Engage Before an RFP

This is where vendors often get it wrong. Sandra is clear that one-on-one conversations that give one vendor more information than others are exactly what her office tries to avoid. Fairness and transparency aren't just values at Detroit's OCP; they're legal obligations.

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But that doesn't mean vendors can't engage. The right approach is to participate in outreach events, respond to Requests for Information when they're issued, and make sure your company is registered and visible in the vendor portal. When departments do research, often attending conferences or working through formal RFI processes, being a known and credible presence in your category matters.

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If you do get a meeting with a department, procurement should be in the room. Sandra makes this a requirement: "If a vendor meets with a department, we want OCP to be there to make sure everything's above board." That's not a barrier. That's the process working correctly. Work with it, not around it.

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Government Experience Isn't Binary

One of the most common reasons vendors don't apply for government contracts is the belief that without prior government experience, they don't have a shot. Sandra pushes back on that directly.

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What her team actually evaluates is similar size and scope. If you've managed a large portfolio of facilities with immediate response requirements, that's relevant to Detroit's facilities contracts, even if none of those facilities were city-owned. If you've supported thousands of public-facing users with complex compliance requirements, that experience counts, even if the contract was with a private company.

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"Past performance is so important, but it's not necessarily that you have to have a history of performance with us if a history of performance can be demonstrated otherwise."

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Her advice: when you respond to a solicitation, be explicit about the parallels. Show capacity. Show scale. Show that you've operated under pressure in environments that resemble what the city needs. Don't assume the evaluator will make the connection on their own.

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How the Evaluation Process Actually Works

Once a solicitation closes, here's what happens inside Detroit's OCP. The buyer unseals responses only after the bid closes, so no one sees what came in beforehand. Non-responsive submissions are removed first, whether that means missing key documents, incomplete proposals, or failure to meet minimum qualifications. What remains goes to an evaluation committee.

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For technology contracts, that committee always includes IT and the relevant department alongside the procurement buyer. They evaluate together using published criteria and weights, using a consensus-based process. The highest-ranked responsive vendor moves forward.

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Detroit also applies local preference credits. Vendors with a valid certificate from OCRIO, the city's Office of Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity, receive equalization credits: 5% for Detroit-headquartered businesses, 5% for companies with at least 30% Detroit-resident workforce, and 2% for Detroit-based businesses. These credits are capped at 12% or $100,000 above the lowest bid, whichever is lower.

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The key detail: that certificate has to be in hand before the bid closes. The certification process through OCRIO takes around 45 days. If you're planning to pursue Detroit contracts, start that process now, not when the RFP drops.

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Sole Sourcing Is the Exception, Not the Rule

Vendors sometimes assume that large incumbent contracts are awarded without competition. Sandra is direct: in Detroit, sole sourcing requires CPO-level sign-off, thorough documentation, and has to fit within categories defined in city code.

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The clearest cases are situations where a manufacturer doesn't authorize any other distributor, or where an entire county system runs on a specific platform and legal department compatibility is non-negotiable. Even then, Sandra requires written documentation, typically a letter on manufacturer letterhead.

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And the stakes of getting it wrong are real.

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"Like a protest, probably. A vendor protest. And then we degrade our reputation for being a fair and ethical procurement entity. We want businesses to do business with us. We have to maintain that transparency."

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The downstream effect of over-using sole source exemptions isn't just legal risk. It's fewer vendors willing to participate, less competition, and worse pricing. It only hurts the city in the end.

When the Normal Rules Don't Apply

Emergency procurements are allowed under Detroit's code when there is an imminent threat to public health, safety, or welfare, certified by the CPO. But even then, Sandra's team tries to compete for price where practical. The goal is to speed up the formal approval steps, not to abandon competitive principles entirely.

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In many cases, emergency work is assigned to an existing vendor already under a competitively bid contract, with scope added to cover the emergency. It's faster, it's defensible, and it keeps pricing anchored to something the market already validated.

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The Magic Wand Moment

When Mike asked Sandra what she'd change with a magic wand, her answer wasn't about policy or process. It was about communication.

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Her team found that vendor notification emails had so many links that new vendors were clicking "Do you intend to participate?" and thinking they'd submitted a bid. Every other button led to a login page no one could remember how to access. The result: fewer bidders, less competition, and worse outcomes for the city.

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"We're trying to get more businesses engaged. If you get this email and you don't know what to do next, maybe now you have one fewer bidder."

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For vendors, the lesson cuts both ways. If you're registered in a city's vendor portal and you're getting notifications that are confusing, follow up. Ask. Don't assume that clicking a button means you're in the running.

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What It All Comes Down To

Knowing how to obtain government contracts at the city level isn't about gaming a system. It's about understanding one. Detroit's procurement office exists to serve the public through fair, transparent, and competitive purchasing. Every rule Sandra described, from evaluation criteria published with the solicitation to the 45-day certification window to the consensus-based committee process, exists to protect that mission.

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Vendors who understand that mission, and who show up as partners rather than salespeople, are the ones who build lasting relationships with city buyers. The ones who don't often spend years wondering why their proposals keep falling flat.

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Sandra's career arc, from activist-inspired nonprofit work to the CPO seat of one of America's most complex cities, is a reminder that procurement isn't just paperwork. It's how cities get things done.

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This post is based on Episode 4 of In Pursuit, featuring Sandra, Chief Procurement Officer for the City of Detroit. Watch the full episode for more on local preference certifications, cooperative contracts, and what Sandra wishes every vendor knew before submitting a proposal.

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