Conflict of Interest
District policy DBD (Local) addresses conflict of interest issues for employees of the District that have direct relationships with vendors, and vendors looking for opportunities to do business with the District.
District Employees
DBD (LOCAL) requires that a District employee is to disclose to their immediate supervisor any personal financial or business interest, or any other obligation or relationship that in any way creates a potential conflict of interest with the employee’s duties and responsibilities. The employee has an obligation to the District to be transparent in such situations and disclose relationships with vendors for any procurement and always have the District’s best interest in the forefront. Failure to do so will be considered a breach of District policy.
If the employee will be assisting the Purchasing Department in the evaluation of a solicitation, the employee will be required to complete and sign a Non‐disclosure Statement for San Benito CISD Employee Form. By signature, the employee affirms that they, their spouse or dependent(s), are not receiving any compensation from, nor have been the recipient of any present or future economic opportunity, employment, gift, loan, gratuity, special discount, trip, favor, or service in connection with any proposal or involved proposers in return for favorable consideration.
Vendors
For vendors, CHE (LEGAL) requires that names of any San Benito CISD employee who owns, directly or indirectly, an interest in their firm or any of its subsidiaries must be disclosed before the vendor does business with the District. If the vendor fails to do so may be grounds for disqualification of the bid or cancellation of a contract resulting from the Solicitation.
Conflict of Interest for Vendors with Future Business Interests
If the department chooses to hire or retain a vendor, even at no cost, to assist in any part of the procurement process (e.g. developing specifications or scope of work, helping evaluate responses to a solicitation, etc.), the vendor cannot have any personal or business interest in the outcome of the process.
The contractor should disclose at the beginning of their contact with the District they may have interest in any potential solicitors related to their project. If one does exist, they will have to withdrawn from assisting in the solicitation development. If they do not, all of the vendor’s employees assisting will be required to complete a Vendor’s Non‐disclosure Statement for Contracted Consultants Form. Any companies with this level of relationship will not be eligible for any business opportunities related to this engagement.
Access to Staff
Vendors will ask for access to District staff since they are paid to cultivate business. If the end user agrees to meet, District office visits are acceptable and is the suggested location. District personnel are not obligated to talk to vendors. Responses and communications should be professional and respectful. Offsite meetings, meals, gatherings at coffee shops, bars, golf outings, etc., should be completely avoided and without consideration. This can be conceived and is perceived as providing an advantage during the bid process. Again, allow all interested vendors the same access to you as all other vendors.