Agenda

Return

D.11

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	LEGISLATION COMMITTEE
Date:	June 11, 2019

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Federal Advocacy Contract

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 06/11/2019

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

Contact:

L. DeLaney, 925-335-1097

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: June 11, 2019
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

Regarding the matter of the contract for federal advocacy services for the period beginning July 1, 2019, the Board of Supervisors may consider the following options:

AWARD the contract to Federal Advocates Inc. in the amount of $360,000 for the period of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022, as recommended by the County Selection Committee (CSC), acknowledging there was not a unanimous recommendation for this contractor from the Legislation Committee at its May 13, 2019 meeting; or

REJECT the recommendation from the CSC and CONSIDER a contract award for the period of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022 from the other qualified responders: Alcalde & Fay and Smith Dawson & Andrews; or

RECOMMENDATION(S): (CONT'D)

REJECT the recommendation from the CSC; CANCEL this procurement process; EXTEND the current contractor (Alcalde & Fay) through December 31, 2019 and DIRECT staff to conduct another procurement process in the fall of 2019; or
REJECT the recommendation from the CSC; CANCEL this procurement process, and forego federal advocacy services after June 30, 2019 until the Board determines they are necessary.
If a new procurement process is directed, provide direction to staff on the rating/recommendation process: Should the Legislation Committee be the review panel (which would necessitate a public process), or should another County Selection Committee be established, and if so,who should comprise that panel.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The proposal from Federal Advocates Inc. provides a monthly retainer of $10,000 for the three-year period of the contract. The contract is budgeted in the County Administrator' Office. (100% General Fund.)

BACKGROUND:

At its August 13, 2018 meeting, the Legislation Committee directed CAO staff to conduct a procurement process for the State and Federal Advocacy Services contracts for the period FY 2019/20 through FY 2021/22, with two single-year options to renew to the successful responder. Pursuant to this direction, CAO staff prepared and distributed the Request for Qualifications (Attachment D), which was issued on March 27, 2019 for the Federal Legislative Advocacy Services. The RFQ was posted on BidSync and distributed to all known advocates serving CSAC and UCC counties.

A total of three responses were received in the County Administrator's Office by the deadline. Responses were received from the following firms:

1. Alcalde & Fay (incumbent firm)

2. Federal Advocates Inc.

3. Smith Dawson & Andrews

Following the requirements of the RFQ and standard procurement processes, a County Selection Committee (CSC) was convened to review and rate the responses.

The CSC was composed of the following individuals:

Supervisor Diane Burgis, District II, Chair of the Legislation Committee
Chief Assistant County Administrator, Timothy Ewell
Employment and Human Services Director Kathy Gallagher
Health Services Administrator Joshua Sullivan
Water Agency Manager Ryan Hernandez

The CSC convened on May 1, 2019 to score the received responses and select firms for interview. All three of the responding firms for the Federal Advocacy Services RFQ were invited to interview on May 6, 2019. Interviews were conducted over Skype. (Smith Dawson & Andrews chose the teleconference option.)

Upon conclusion of the interview and proposal scoring process, the consensus of the CSC was to recommended that the contract award be made to the following:

Federal Legislative Advocacy Services: Federal Advocates, Inc.

Federal Advocates Inc. and all responders were notified of this contract award recommendation on May 8, 2019,


The Legislation Committee considered this matter at its May 13, 2019 meeting and did not have unanimous recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The RFQ response from Federal Advocates Inc. is Attachment A. Attachment B is a letter received from Federal Advocates Inc. Attachment C includes all other responses. The Score Sheet is Attachment E.

CLERK'S ADDENDUM

Public comment: Michael Esposito Rejected the recommendation of the County Selection Committee, extended the current contract with Alcalde & Fay for the period of July 1, 2019-June 30, 2020. Referred the item back to the Legislation Committee for its July meeting, with a request to return to the Board of Supervisors at a future date.