CITY OF SAN ANTONIO
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Interdepartmental Correspondence
TO: Sheryl Sculley, City Manager
FROM: Jeff Coyle, Director, Government & Public Affairs
COPIES: Audit and Accountability Committee; Ben Gorzell, Jr., CPA, Chief Financial Officer; Kevin Barthold, City Auditor; Troy Elliott, CPA, Deputy Chief Financial Officer; Carlos Contreras, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Pre-Solicitation Briefing for Federal Representation Services
DATE: December 11, 2018
The Government and Public Affairs Department (GPA) will present a pre-solicitation briefing for Federal Representation Services in Washington D.C. and Federal Representation Services - Local Liaison. This briefing will allow an opportunity for input and direction from Committee members.
The pre-solicitation briefing will cover estimated contract value, projected timeline, high profile designation, scope of the projects, terms of the contract, proposed scoring criteria, evaluation committee members, project considerations, local preference program applicability, veteran owned small business preference program applicability and SBEDA program requirements.
The City of San Antonio has retained consultants to represent its interests with the federal government for more than 24 years. The City retains consultants to support and strengthen the City’s advocacy efforts with federal agencies, members of Congress and the Administration to advance legislation and seek federal funding that is beneficial to the San Antonio community. The City’s federal priorities for each two-year Congressional session are developed by GPA in collaboration with City departments and with input and direction from the City Council Intergovernmental Relations Committee and ultimately approved by Council.
Increasingly challenging budget constraints make it imperative for local communities to have strong advocates at the federal level. Consultants enhance the City’s ability to communicate with federal officials on San Antonio’s priority issues and communicate regularly with City Council and staff on issues in the City’s Federal Legislative Program.
In collaboration with the Finance Department and the Small Business Office GPA will launch two congruent, but separate RFP’s in December 2018. There will be an RFP specifically for Washington D.C. representation and another for a local liaison.
The selected Washington firm will be responsible for supporting and implementing the City’s federal legislative program and implementing a strategic plan, including timelines, goals, objectives and expected outcomes for the advancement of the City’s Federal Legislative Program. The services sought include, but are not limited to, continuously monitoring legislative and regulatory activities, developing strategies to advance the City’s interests, scheduling meetings with elected officials and government agency representatives, and coordinating with City staff and San Antonio representatives.
The local liaison firm will be responsible for supporting and implementing the City’s federal legislative program and implementing a strategic plan. This firm will have extensive knowledge of the San Antonio community. The services sought include, but are not limited to coordinating with Washington D.C. based representatives and acting as an intermediary between San Antonio, federal representatives and elected officials, interacting and communicating effectively with local and federal elected officials to advance the City’s federal program, and represent the City’s federal representative team locally to City Council and local partners.
GPA is taking these additional steps to ensure greater interest from a wide range of qualified and experienced Washington D.C. firms who represent the interests of municipal governments. In past RFP rounds the number of respondent firms was very low. Due to the nature of the work having to be completed in Washington D.C., the City needs representatives who are headquartered in Washington. In an effort to capture a larger interested pool of firms, GPA is expanding outreach to a cohort of firms who currently represent cities across the country via a pre-solicitation email. The City’s model of coordinated Washington D.C. representation with a local liaison has resulted in successful partnerships, better engagement and stronger communication between local and federal officials. GPA is proceeding with two separate RFPs for a Washington based federal representation firm and a locally based firm in order to expand the number of potential applicants with offices in Washington.