I've worked in public contracting for over a decade, as a contract manager for m employer, and as a community partner with it other  jurisdictions including Portland and Multnomah County. I have been dismayed, pretty much every time I've participated in Portland and Multnomah County, to find how they consistently fail to comply with state public bidding rules. My experience is that they know who they want to give the money to and they do with little to no fair access, they rarely articulate measurable outcomes, rarely monitor contracts t be sure taxpayers money is well spent, and almost never introduce consequences when contractors fail to perform. I often hear from people/businesses who would like to contract with the city or county who feel completely shut out of the process.