City of Dayton, ex rel. Scandrick v. City of Dayton Mayor McGee

Unless all bids are rejected, Section 35.13 of the Dayton Revised Code of General Ordinances requires that contracts be awarded to the “lowest and best” bidders.1 The sole issue before this court is whether the appellants’ use of the *358unannounced residency criterion in determining which bid was “lowest and best” constitutes an abuse of discretion. Were the question simply one of which bid was lowest, the answer would be clear.2 Appellants, however, were not required to award the contract to the lowest bidder; rather, they were empowered to make a qualitative determination as to which bid was…