The Miami-Dade County website makes a big deal about its procurement "cone of silence"—a term popularized by the old TV comedy "Get Smart"—which is meant to describe the county's system for preventing forbidden communications in response to requests for qualifications. When, this past summer, the county sought to hire a construction manager for a $1.5-billion sewer-repair program, a lack of specific language about communication while the so-called cone was in force engendered confusion more appropriate to a comically inept spy like Maxwell Smart than to a critical improvement of the infrastructure and environment of a major U.S. metropolitan area.
Miami-Dade's cone of silence "prohibits any communication regarding a particular RFP, RFQ or bid solicitation after they have been advertised," the county states on its website. This approach "is designed to protect the professional integrity of the procurement process by shielding it from undue influences prior to the recommendation."