LEGISLATION COMMITTEE
Meeting Date: June 12, 2025
Subject: Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for State and Federal Advocacy Services
Submitted For: Legislation Committee
Department: County Administrator’s Office
Referral Name: RFQ for State and Federal Advocacy Services
Presenter: E. Struthers
Contact: (925) 655-2045
Referral History:
The County currently contracts with two firms to provide State and Federal advocacy and governmental relations services. Nielsen Merksamer provides State advocacy services in Sacramento. The firm has served as the County’s State advocates since 2002. Thorn Run Partners provides the County’s federal advocates in Washington, DC. While Thorn Run as a firm has only served as the County’s federal advocate since 2022, partner Paul Schlesinger has represented the County for approximately 24 years through his tenure at Thorn Run and his prior firm, Alcalde & Fay. Both State and Federal advocacy contracts currently expire on June 30, 2025.
Under the direction of the Legislation Committee, the County recently issued two requests for qualifications (RFQs) to solicit proposals for advocacy services in April in order to ensure continuous representation.
Referral Update:
The calendar of major events related to the RFQs is below:
|
Event |
Date/Location |
|
Request Issued |
April 16, 2025 |
|
Written Questions Due |
by 12:00 p.m. (noon) on April 28, 2025 |
|
Response Due (initial) |
by 12:00 p.m. (noon) on May 6, 2025 |
|
Response Due (extended) |
by 12:00 p.m. (noon) on May 12, 2025 |
|
Interviews |
Week of May 19, 2025 via Zoom |
|
Legislation Committee Recommendation |
June 12, 2025 |
|
Board Award Date |
June 24, 2025 |
|
Contract Start Date |
July 1, 2025 |
Summary of RFQ Process
On Monday, May 12, 2025 at noon, the requests for qualifications (RFQs) for state and federal Legislative Advocacy Services closed. This is following a one-week extension provided in an effort to receive additional responses.
Two separate RFQs were posted to BidNet: one for State services, and one for Federal. The two RFQs were posted to BidNet on May 6 to four categories:
• 91826 Communications: Public Relations Consulting
• 91832 Consulting Services (Not Otherwise Classified)
• 91858 Governmental Consulting
• 91564 Media Clippings, Outtakes, Critiques, Summaries, Legislative Bill Tracking Services, etc. (Incl. State, Local, Out-of-State and International)
In addition, a list of approximately 50 emails from state and federal lobbying firms that work with other urban California counties was uploaded into the system. Through these lists, more than 1,400 subscribers were notified about each RFQ opportunity: 1,448 for State, and 1,455 for Federal. Overall, there were 28 document takers for the state opportunity, and 34 for federal.
Responses Received
At the original schedule bid close time on May 6, one submission was received for State, and two for Federal. Under the County’s purchasing policy, efforts should be made to receive three formal bids. The deadline was extended by six (6) days to May 12, and a notification was issued to the two lists to alert interested parties of the extension. A sealed bid process was used, which kept the contents of submissions confidential until unsealed following the final closure.
While additional document takers accessed the materials during the extension, it yielded no additional bids. On May 12, one bid was received for the State opportunity, from Nielsen Merksamer. Two bids were received for the Federal opportunity, from BlueWater Strategies and Thorn Run Partners. The bids were unsealed on the afternoon of May 12. On May 13-14, staff reviewed materials to ensure that were were responsive, before coordinating interviews.
Each of the three interviewed firms was provided with the same instructions by email. Interviews were 30-minutes each in length, conducted by Zoom. Each applicant was provided with approximately five minutes for an oral presentation to introduce their firm, team, services, and approach. Following the oral presentation, panelists asked follow-up questions. Visuals or slides were not required, however, sharing screen for slides or materials was permitted.
Interviews and Evaluation
Interviews were scheduled for Wednesday, May 21, in alignment with the published calendar of events. A panel of five evaluators served. Four evaluators were internal, representing Health Services, Employment and Human Services, Contra Costa Water Agency (Department of Conservation and Development), and Supervisor Burgis, the Chair of the Legislation Committee. An outside evaluator, who is a current Legislative Director for another large urban county, also served on the panel.
Outcome and Panel Recommendation
Each evaluator used a scoring matrix to evaluate each firm’s written proposal and interview on the same criteria:
• Understanding of Program and Contra Costa County
• Approach to service provision & strategy
• Innovation & Special Resources
• Relevant Experience/Expertise of Key Personnel
• Oral Presentation & Interview
Following evaluation of the written materials and independently-scored interviews, a consensus-based approach was used to select the recommended proposals. The panel unanimously recommended Nielsen Merksamer to provide state advocacy services, and unanimously recommended Thorn Run Partners to provide federal advocacy services.
Based on the panel recommendation, committee staff recommends that the Committee consider advancing a recommendation for state and federal advocacy services to the full Board of Supervisors.
Additionally, staff recommends that the Committee provide general direction around contract negotiations regarding several key areas, including term length and services. A three-year contract with two (2) options for one (1)-year extensions is recommended for both agreements. Regarding services and deliverables, the scope of services from the current contracts is excerpted and attached for reference. The Committee is asked to consider any additional areas of focus to incorporate into future contracts.
The contract award, if recommended by the Committee, would go to the Board at its June 24, 2024 meeting, so that a contract can be executed prior to the July 1, 2025 expiration of the current representation agreements.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
CONSIDER making a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors to award state and federal advocacy contracts, and DIRECT staff on next steps.
Fiscal Impact (if any):
Together, the two advocacy contracts have a current fiscal impact of $288,000 annually.
The two proposals recommend flat cost during years 1-3, and would include cost-of-living increases in years 4 and 5 of the agreements of an amount to be negotiated in coordination with the respective contractors.