Title
Approve the Ranking for the State Lobbyist Services for the City of Gainesville, FL (B)
Explanation
The City has previously retained Peebles and Smith, Inc., for State Lobbying and Advocacy Services through a RFP process. The State Lobbying agreement was extended from year to year and the final extension ends September 30, 2017. Two years ago, City Management determined that at the end of the contract extensions the City would send out a Request for Proposal (RFP). In March, the ranking committee members were selected and comprised of representatives from GRU, City management and general government. The Purchasing Department issued a RFP for State Lobbying services on April 6, 2017. Proposals were due on May 4, 2017. The Purchasing department distributed two proposals to the ranking committee on May 8th to review and evaluate based on a weighted criteria. On May 15th, the ranking committee officially scored the written proposals. Both lobbying firms moved forward to the Oral Presentation process. Oral Presentations were conducted on June 5th and scored based on a weighted criteria. The firms were ranked as follows: #1. Peebles & Smith, Inc. and #2 Colodny Fass, P.A. The ranking committee is recommending Peebles and Smith, Inc. as the City’s State Lobbyists with a new contract beginning October 1, 2017. Peebles and Smith, Inc. is a bipartisan lobbying firm representing local government and utilities since 1995. Peebles and Smith, Inc. represent many of Florida’s cities, counties and multiple local government statewide associations including the Florida Association of Counties, Florida League of Cities, and the Florida Municipal Electric Association, making them one of the top lobbying firms in Tallahassee, FL.
Fiscal Note
The proposed State Lobbing services contract is $72,000.00 annually. Funding is available in the FY17-18 budget and represents an increase of $12,000 from the previous contract.
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