CYPRESS SECURITY, LLC v. City and County of San Francisco

Cypress Security, LLC (Cypress), former provider of security services for the San Francisco Department of Human Services (DHS), lost to competitor Guardsmark, LLC (Guardsmark), in contract proceedings initiated by DHS through a request for proposals (RFP). Cypress sought mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1085) against the City and County of San Francisco (City), DHS, and Guardsmark to have the award to Guardsmark set aside. The court denied relief, and Cypress appeals. We affirm.

Background

RFP Process and Award

The process, under chapter 21 of the San Francisco Administrative Code (SFAC) (“Acquisition of Commodities and Services”), began with the issuance of RFP No. 356 in September 2007. The RFP was for a period of four or more years, described services needed, qualifications and process, and added: “Proposals meeting the minimum qualifications shall be scored on a point scale of 100 points per rater. All proposals will be rated according to the criteria indicated in Attachment C—Evaluation Criteria, of this RFP.” The RFP stated; “[A]ny proposal may be rejected if it is conditional, incomplete and/or deviates from the specifications contained in this [RFP]. . . . [T]he…