Title
Approve the Ranking for Federal Lobbyist Services (B)
Explanation
The City is currently under contract for Federal lobbying services with Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc. Last year, City staff asked the City Commission to extend the contract for Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc. for one additional year beginning October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021 due to COVID-19 and the State and local Emergency Orders. At that time, staff believed that it would be difficult to retain a firm to provide federal lobbying services who understood the City’s needs, therefore, staff requested an extension of the existing contract. Staff notified the City Commission that the City would issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Federal Lobbying Services for FY 2022. The Procurement division issued an RFP for Federal Lobbying Services on May 12, 2021. Proposals were due by June 10, 2021. The Procurement division distributed two proposals to the evaluation committee on June 16, 2021 to review and evaluate the proposals. The evaluation committee consisted of two employees from General Government and one employee from General Regional Utilities (GRU).
On June 28, 2021, the evaluation committee provided the official scores for the written proposals. The evaluation committee made the recommendation that the two lobbying firms move forward to the next round: oral presentations. Oral presentations were conducted on August 4, 2021 and based on the criteria, the firms were ranked as follows: #1 Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc. and # 2 Alcalde & Faye, Ltd. On August 4, 2021 reference checks were conducted and both firms received an overall excellent rating. The evaluation committee recommends Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc. as the first ranked firm and Alcalde & Faye, Ltd as the second ranked firm for Federal Lobbyist Services for the City of Gainesville.
Strategic Connection:
Goal 1: Equitable Community
Goal 2: Sustainable Community
Goal 3: A Great Place to Live & Experience
Goal 4: Resilient Loc...
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