BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Approve Amendment No. 2 to Agreement A4139F with Governmental Advocates, Inc., for State Lobbying Services, to Increase the Fee by $109,200 for a Total Revised Fee Not-to-Exceed $336,700 and Extend the Agreement Term to September 30, 2021.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 2 to Agreement A4139F with Governmental Advocates, Inc., for State Lobbying Services, to increase the fee by $109,200 for a total revised Fee Not-to-Exceed $336,700, and extend the Agreement term to September 30, 2021.
Body
SUMMARY:
Staff desires to exercise its second one-year option to renew and extend the duration of the Agreement No. A4139F with Governmental Advocates, Inc., to renew and extend State Lobbying Services (Agreement) by 12 months, ending September 30, 2021. Execution of Amendment No. 2 will result in an increase of the Agreement not-to-exceed amount of $336,700. The monthly fixed fee amount for services provided by the Consultant will remain $9,100/month during the extended 12-month period.
The current Agreement was approved September 1, 2018 after the District issued a public Request for Proposal (RFP) for contract lobbying services. Several firms submitted proposals. The firm selected, Governmental Advocates, Inc., was approved after a rigorous process and continues to represent Valley Water. The agreement was approved for a 13-month period, with the option to renew and extend the Agreement for two additional 12-month periods. Amendment No. 1 was issued to renew and extend the first option term to September 30, 2020 and increase the not-to-exceed amount to $227,500. The approval of Amendment No. 2 would exercise the second option to renew the term to September 30, 2021 and increase the not-to-exceed amount to $336,700. The current Agreement is managed by the Assistant Officer in the Sacramento Government Relations Office, who is responsible for assigning issues to the Consultant and monitoring and evaluating performance. Although the scope of the Agreement is purposely broad, in general the District utilizes the Consultant only on the highest-priority issues.
The services provided by the Consultant are needed to allow the District to:
1) Provide supplemental communication to the Governor’s office, Assembly and Senate leadership, and other legislators outside the Santa Clara delegation;
2) Efficiently respond to peaks in workload that are inherent in the legislative process;
3) Provide sufficient resources in Sacramento to support the District’s legislative and policy agenda.
Approval of the recommended action will allow the Consultant to continue to provide critical state legislative advocacy and lobbying services on the District’s behalf in Sacramento. These services will enable the District and its Board of Directors to achieve a high level of influence in state public policy issues and increase the probability for securing funding for local flood protection, water supply, and stream stewardship projects. Staff is requesting that the Board approve this Amendment No. 2, thereby extending the term of the Agreement from its current expiration date of September 30, 2020 to September 30, 2021.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Approval of Amendment No. 2 shall not exceed the amount of $336,700 for the 37-month period of September 1, 2018, through September 30, 2021. There are adequate funds in the Office of Government Relation’s Board-adopted FY 2020-2021 budget, Project 60231004, State Government Relations, to encumber the necessary fees to support the Consultant’s services through the remainder of the current fiscal year. Fees for work to be performed in the future fiscal years will be budgeted accordingly.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have a potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Amendment No. 2
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Donald Rocha, 408-630-2338