State Legislative Advocate Services Contract:

1. APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to execute contract with Khouri Consulting for state legislative analyst/ advocate services, subject to approval by Agency Counsel, for a total contract budget of One Hundred Forty-Four Thousand Dollars ($144,000) for three years, until October 31, 2023;

2. APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to extend the contract by one year to October 31, 2024, based on continued satisfactory performance and subject to approval by Agency Counsel, for an additional Fourty-Eight Thousand Dollars ($48,000);

3. AUTHORIZE the use of reserve funds budgeted to this project; and 

4. AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to take such other further actions as may be necessary to fulfill the intent of the contract, including approvals of future modifications or amendments that do not significantly alter the scope of work, or change the approved contract term or amount.

The Agency released a Request for Qualifications on August 26, 2020 for state legislative assistance starting in 2020/21 for three years and the option for a one-year renewal, for a total contract cost of $144,000-$192,000. Four (4) responsive and responsible bidders responded by the due date of September 17, 2020. After consultation with a review panel, staff recommends the Board execute a contract with Khouri Consulting.

The three-year Agency budget sets aside local funds for state and federal legislative assistance. Staff proposes to set up a contract for three years and give the Executive Director the option for a one-year renewal based on sustained satisfactory performance, for a total cost, if the fourth year is authorized, of One Hundred Ninety-Two Thousand Dollars ($192,000). Funding for this type of assistance will come from local revenue sources and not any state or federal funds. Utilizing state legislative assistance may result in the protection or allocation of several millions of dollars in additional transportation funds being devoted to transportation projects in the region. 

TAMC requested qualifications for a state legislative analyst/advocate. The Agency has employed the services of a state legislative analyst/advocate since 1999 to assist with requesting state funds for transportation projects in Monterey County and seeking other state actions. The current contract expires on October 31, 2020.

On August 26, 2020, staff published the Board-approved Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and issued Addendum #1 on September 10, 2020. TAMC received four (4) submittals by the required due date and time of September 17, 2020 at 12:00 noon Pacific time. All four proposers were responsive and responsible bidders:

• Arago Advocacy
• Khouri Consulting
• Nossaman
• Politico Group

A review panel was formed with the following members:

• Annette D’Adamo, Monterey County Legislative Coordinator
• Todd Muck, TAMC Deputy Executive Director
• Michelle Overmeyer, Monterey Salinas Transit Director of Planning & Innovation
• Christina Watson, TAMC Principal Transportation Planner

The review panel reviewed, scored, and ranked the written submittals according to selection criteria listed in the RFQ, with the following result:

1. Khouri Consulting
2. Politico Group
3. Nossaman
4. Arago Advocacy

Based on the proposal review scores, the team agreed to recommend selecting Khouri Consulting without interviews, due to his strong performance for the Agency over the past 3 years, including the recent passage of an important TAMC-sponsored bill (Senator Monning's SB 1231), his proactive and timely efforts on behalf of the Agency on multiple bills, grant applications and other funding issues, and his depth of understanding of transportation issues and of Agency priorities.

The draft contract is online as a web attachment.

•  Draft Khouri Consulting Contract