Exhibit 1 - Agenda Information Sheet - DMECity of Denton
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AGENDA INFORMATION SHEET
DEPARTMENT: Procurement & Compliance
ACM: David Gaines
DATE: January 5, 2021
SUBJECT
Consider adoption of an ordinance of the City of Denton, a Texas home-rule municipal corporation,
authorizing the City Manager, or his designee, to execute a Professional Services Agreement with Focused
Advocacy LLC, to assist the City of Denton in advancing its state legislative program for Line 2 - Fee for
Denton Municipal Electric Consulting; providing for the expenditure of funds therefor; and providing an
effective date (RFP 7422 - awarded to Focused Advocacy LLC, for two (2) years in the amount of
$152,334.00, with the option for two (2) additional two (2) year extensions, for a total of six (6) years in a
total not-to-exceed amount of $457,000.00).
INFORMATION/BACKGROUND
Recent trends of the Texas Legislature have seen that each new session brings an increased number of city-
related bills filed, with the majority proposing impediments to the ability of cities to govern from a local
perspective. For the last several sessions, legislative leaders have continued to file and support bills that
would lower or broaden the current cap on annual increases in property tax appraisals, impose a local
revenue cap, enact costly unfunded mandates, or erode municipal authority to conduct local affairs. As
Denton continues to grow, the City’s legislative exposure continues to increase with potentially greater
negative impacts to the City’s budget, and more importantly, on the City’s ability to deliver services in the
best interest of the community. For the 86th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature (2019), legislators
filed 7,324 bills, and more than 2,000 were city-related, with 338 city-related bills ultimately passing.
Staff believes it imperative to continue the City’s relationship with proven legislative consultants as part of
the City’s legislative strategy. Given the history of unfavorable policy bills that consultants have helped the
City defeat or mitigate, staff believes the benefits of contracting with such a professional service to be in
the City’s best interest. The City of Denton began using legislative consultants to assist with general
government issues during the 80th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature (2007). Prior to that, only
Denton Municipal Electric (DME) used a legislative consultant to assist with utility matters.
Denton has also been actively involved with the Texas Municipal League’s (TML) Big City Lobby group
since 2003. This group coordinates representatives from TML and major Texas cities to work together on
legislative strategy and organize support of beneficial legislation and opposition to detrimental legislation
to cities. Due to the unique characteristics of each city, however, Denton sometimes found itself without
allies on proposed legislation, such as on the college textbook sales tax exemption bills, or with the gas well
legislation HB 40.
City Hall
215 E. McKinney Street
Denton, Texas
www.cityofdenton.com
Though it might be difficult to place an exact dollar amount on the cost avoidance for the defeat of policy
bills adverse to the City’s interests, it could very well run into several million dollars each session. The
legislature frequently files multiple bills restricting reasonable eminent domain and annexation authority,
the authority of which is critical to our managed growth plans. Through the efforts of consultants, cities
maintained authority to exercise eminent domain and annexation, continue to argue for the further erosion
of the City’s tax base, and helped defeat legislation that would have extended further exemptions to utility
fees, among many other legislative efforts.
Over several months, staff evaluated the contract for legislative services and issued a formal Request for
Proposals (RFP) for professional services, and concluded to formally solicit responses from a competitive
field of firms. Three firms responded with a wide range of experience and expertise. Staff evaluating the
respondents ultimately scored Focused Advocacy, LLC highest in the DME-specific portion of the RFP.
Overall, staff believes they have the necessary experience, expertise, resources, initiative, and established
relationships with key members of the state government to be effective on behalf of the DME’s legislative
priorities. Further, they exhibit more familiarity with legislative issues as they may pertain to the regulatory
issues DME may face. Over the last several sessions, for example, Focused Advocacy was able to help get
SB 1230 passed, which authorized the City to construct and operate the Denton Combined Heat and Power
(CHP) Facility and sell natural gas to industrial customers. They were also able to successfully lobby for
the passage of SB 776 that allowed for opt-out provisions regarding TMPA’s Governance. Focused
Advocacy also led the effort to stymie a campaign intended to break up municipally-owned utilities and sell
them to private buyers; their efforts proved successful as no legislation was passed on the matter.
Requests for Proposals were sent to 519 prospective suppliers of this item. In addition, specifications were
placed on the Materials Management website for prospective suppliers to download and advertised in the
local newspaper. Three (3) proposals were received and evaluated based upon published criteria including
experience, probable performance, and price. Based upon this evaluation, Focused Advocacy, LLC was
ranked the highest for Line 2 – Fee for Denton Municipal Electric Consulting and determined to be the best
value for the City.
NIGP Code Used for Solicitation: 918 - (Service Only) - Consulting
Services
Notifications sent for Solicitation sent in IonWave: 519
Number of Suppliers that viewed Solicitation in IonWave: 20
HUB-Historically Underutilized Business Invitations sent out: 36
SBE-Small Business Enterprise Invitations sent out: 158
Responses from Solicitation: 3
RECOMMENDATION
Award a contract with Focused Advocacy, LLC, to assist the City of Denton in advancing its state legislative
program for Line 2 – Fee for Denton Municipal Electric Consulting, in a two (2) year, with the option for
two (2) additional two (2) year extensions, in the total six (6) year not-to-exceed amount of $457,000.
PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS
Focused Advocacy, LLC
Austin, Texas
ESTIMATED SCHEDULE OF PROJECT
This is an initial two (2) year contract with options to extend the contract for two (2) additional two (2) year
periods, with all terms and conditions remaining the same.
FISCAL INFORMATION
These services will be funded through the Public Affairs General Fund budget. The City will only pay for
services rendered and is not obligated to pay the full contract amount unless needed.
EXHIBITS
Exhibit 1: Agenda Information Sheet
Exhibit 2: Pricing Evaluation
Exhibit 3: LLC Members
Exhibit 4: Ordinance and Contract
Respectfully submitted:
Lori Hewell, 940-349-7100
Purchasing Manager
For information concerning this acquisition, contact: Ryan Adams, 940-349-8565.
Legal point of contact: Marcella Lunn at 940-349-8333.