Memorandum
Date: January 14, 2025
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Susan Parker, County Administrative Officer
Stephen L. Carter, Jr., Assistant County Administrative Officer
Matthew Rothstein, Chief Deputy County Administrative Officer
Subject: Consideration of an Agreement Between the County of Lake and Paragon Government Relations for Professional Federal Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy Services in the Not-to-Exceed Amount of $187,660.00
Executive Summary:
As members of your Board may be aware, on August 26, 2024, the County Administrative Office issued Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 2024-34 for Federal Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy (Lobbying) Services. To encourage the most competitive possible process, the County Administrative Office staff directly contacted six highly qualified firms on August 30, 2024. As of the September 23, 2024, deadline for Proposals, nine responses were received.
A Consultant Selection Panel comprised of leadership staff from four County departments and the Cities of Lakeport and Clearlake was convened Monday, October 21, 2024, to review Proposals, clarifying questions were thereafter sent to all respondents, and follow-up interviews were conducted Friday, December 13, 2024, with the five top-ranked respondents. Paragon Government Relations emerged as the top-ranked candidate. Administrative Office staff are grateful to all who contributed to this rigorous review.
The Agreement attached to your Board's Agenda provides for a retainer of $7,000 per month for Federal Advocacy services. That rate increases to $7,210 per month in year two of the Agreement. The remainder of the "not-to-exceed" total is recommended to accommodate potential travel expenses (particularly in the event one or more Paragon staff must travel to California solely for County of Lake business). Your Board will appreciate, effective advocacy for Lake County's needs at the federal level is essential, and it would ...
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