Agenda packet — Lawndale City Council, January 21, 2025 (part 1 of 2)

CITY OF LAWNDALE

AGENDA OF THE LAWNDALE

CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, January 21, 2025, 6:30 PM
14717 Burin Ave
Lawndale, CA 90260
Any person who wishes to address the City Council regarding any item listed on this agenda or any other matter that is within its subject matter jurisdiction is invited, but not required, to fill out a Public Meeting Speaker Card and submit it to the City Clerk prior to the oral communications portion of the meeting. The purpose of the card is to ensure that the speaker’s name is correctly recorded in the meeting minutes and, where appropriate, to provide contact information for staff follow-up.

How to observe the Meeting:

To maximize public safety while still maintaining transparency and public access, members of the public can now observe the meeting in person. Members of the public are still be able to view the meeting on YouTube “Lawndale CityTV”, the City Website, and Lawndale Community Cable Television on Spectrum and Frontier Channel 3.

Copies of this Agenda may be obtained prior to the meeting inside the Lawndale City Hall foyer or on the City Website. Interested parties may contact the City Clerk Department at (310) 973-3213 for clarification regarding individual agenda items.

This Agenda is subject to revision up to 72 hours before the meeting.

A. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
B. CEREMONIALS (Flag Salute and Inspiration)
C. PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT

1. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Update
D. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (Public Comments) E. COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL
F. CONSENT CALENDAR
Items F.2 through F.4 will be considered and acted upon under one motion unless a City Councilmember removes individual items for further City Council consideration or explanation.

2. Motion to read by title only and waive further reading of all ordinances listed on the Agenda — Recommendation: that the City Council read by title only and waive further reading of all ordinances listed on the agenda.

3. Accounts Payable Register
— Recommendation: that City Council adopts Resolution No. CC-2501-006 authorizing the payment of certain claims and demands in the amount of $389,831.13.

4. Minutes of the Lawndale City Council Regular Meeting - January 6, 2025 — Recommendation: that the City Council approve the minutes.

G. ADMINISTRATION

5. Approval of the Youth Development Center Conceptual Design — Recommendation: that the City Council review and approve the proposed Conceptual Design for the Youth Development Center and Skatepark and affirm the Categorical Exemptions and Categorical Exclusion.

6. Quarterly Investment Report for the Quarter Ended December 31, 2024 — Recommendation: that the City Council receive and file the Quarterly Investment Report for the quarter ended December 31, 2024.

7. Discussion of the Existing Software Used by City Departments — Recommendation: that the City Council provide City Staff with direction.

8. Lobbyist Request for Proposals
— Recommendation: that City Council: 1) review the Request for Proposals (RFP) received from the responding firms and provide further direction to staff to proceed with a selection process for lobbying services, which may include establishing a selection committee; or 2) provide other direction to staff as appropriate.

9. Purchasing Policy Reorganization and Amendment to Authorize City Manager Purchases in Specified Situations — Recommendation: that the City Council review the proposed changes and adopt Resolution No. CC-2409-095 making the changes to the purchasing policy.

10. Award Three Year On-Call HVAC Preventative Maintenance and Repair at City Facilities Services Contract — Recommendation: that the City Council Award an On-Call HVAC Preventative Maintenance and Repair at City Facilities Services agreement to South Coast Mechanical, LLC, for a three-year term, with an option to extend up to three one-year extensions.

H. CITY MANAGER REPORT
I. ITEMS FROM CITY COUNCILMEMBERS

11. Discussion of City Clerk Compensation
Requested by Mayor Pro Tem Kearney.
— Recommendation: that the City Council 1) review and discuss the City Clerk compensation; 2) provide direction to the City Manager and staff to prepare an amendment to the Lawndale Municipal Code to provide an adjustment to the City Clerk compensation; or 3) provide other direction to the City Manager and staff.

12. Report of Attendance at Meetings
J. CLOSED SESSION

13. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation — The City Council will conduct a closed session, pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9(d)(1), to discuss existing litigation: Name of Case: City of Lawndale v. LA Investment, LLC (LA Superior Court Case No. 20TRCV00065).

14. Conference with Legal Counsel – Anticipated Litigation — The City Council will conduct a closed session pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9(d)(4), to discuss the potential initiation of litigation: one (1) case.

K. ADJOURNMENT
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 3, 2025, in the Lawndale City Hall Council Chamber, 14717 Burin Avenue, Lawndale, California.

It is the intention of the City of Lawndale to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in all respects. If, as an attendee or a participant at this meeting, you need special assistance beyond what is normally provided, we will attempt to accommodate you in every reasonable manner. Please contact the City Clerk Department (310) 973-3213 prior to the meeting to inform us of your particular needs and to determine if accommodation is feasible. Please advise us at that time if you will need accommodation to attend or participate in meetings on a regular basis.

I hereby certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the agenda for the regular meeting of the City Council to be held on January 21, 2025, was posted not less than 72 hours prior to the meeting.
/s/ Yvette Palomo
Yvette Palomo, Assistant City Clerk
Date Posted: January 16, 2025

CITY OF LAWNDALE
14717 BURIN AVENUE, LAWNDALE, CALIFORNIA 90260
PHONE (310) 973-3200 ♦ www.lawndalecity.org
DATE: January 21, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Sean M. Moore, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Vanesa Alvarez, Administrative Assistant
SUBJECT:

Motion to read by title only and waive further reading of all ordinances listed on the Agenda

BACKGROUND
California Government Code reads, in part, as follows:
"Except when, after reading the title, further reading is waived by regular motion adopted by majority vote, all ordinances shall be read in full either at the time of introduction or passage."

RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council read by title only and waive further reading of all ordinances listed on the agenda.

RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that City Council adopts Resolution No. CC-2501-006 authorizing the payment of certain claims and demands in the amount of $389,831.13.

Attachments
A. CC-2501-006 - AP Resolution - Jan. 21, 2025.pdf

Vanesa Alvarez, Administrative Assistant
Yvette Palomo, Assistant City Clerk
SUBJECT: Minutes of the Lawndale City Council Regular Meeting - January 6, 2025

RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation: that the City Council approve the minutes.

Attachments
Draft Minutes

ATTACHMENT A

DRAFT MINUTES
City Council Regular Meeting
January 6, 2025
A. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Mayor Pro Tem Kearney called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chamber, 14717 Burin Avenue, Lawndale, California.

Councilmembers Present: Mayor Pro Tem Kearney, Councilmember Sirley Cuevas, Councilmember Bernadette Suarez, Councilmember Frank M. Talavera
Councilmembers Absent: Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles
Other Participants: City Manager Sean M. Moore, City Attorney Gregory M. Murphy, City Clerk Erica Harbison, Assistant City Clerk Yvette Palomo, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lieutenant Ricky Osburn, Los Angeles County Fire Department Acting Assistant Chief Brian Kane, Municipal Services Director Michael Reyes, Finance Director Hrant Manuelian, Community Services Director Jason Minter, Community Development Director Peter Kann B. CEREMONIALS (Flag Salute and Inspiration)
Councilmember Talavera led the flag salute. Pastor Eddie Vargas of Restoration Life Church provided the inspiration.

C. PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT

1. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Update
Lieutenant Ricky Osburn summarized the recent law enforcement activities.

2. Los Angeles County Fire Department Update
Acting Fire Assistant Chief Brian Kane summarized the recent fire department activities and amended the public safety report provided for November 2024 by adding a house fire incident.

D. PRESENTATIONS

3. Recognition of Former Senator Steven Bradford
— Recognition of outgoing Senator Steven Bradford for his service to the City of Lawndale as our Senator and Assemblymember.

The City Council presented a plaque to former Senator Steven Bradford for his service to the City of Lawndale as our Senator and Assemblymember.

Senator Steven Bradford thanked the City Council for the recognition.

E. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (Public Comments) Gary Adams, Resident, commented on the residency status of Councilmember Talavera during the swear-in ceremony and on code enforcement procedures.

Andrew Blackney, Resident, commented on unsafe driving, motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents and held a moment of DRAFT
silence in honor of victims.

Chelsea Schreiber, Resident, commented on the Metro C Line (Green) Project upcoming meeting, spreading the word about the project, receiving literature from Metro in different languages and announced that the community will have meetings to talk about the Metro C Line (Green) Project.

Deena Sopko, Resident, commented that she received a letter from Metro regarding the Metro C Line (Green) Project and asked if the Lawndale Women’s Club can be added to the Wall of Distinction.

Annette, Resident, commented on the Clean Energy Program, City Councilmembers possibly having code enforcement issues, thanked former Senator Bradford for his service, and read a passage from a letter she received from Metro about the Metro C Line (Green) Project.

Rhonda Hofmann Gorman, Resident, commented on City Councilmember’s salaries, a public comment Councilmember Talavera made as a resident at the October 21, 2024 City Council meeting, and the house fire incident he experienced.

Sarah Bo Graham, Resident, asked if Councilmembers with code cases are legally allowed to be involved in the decision making process pertaining to municipal code cases.

F. COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL
Councilmember Talavera commented on his residence status, stated that he looks forward to working with residents, thanked Resident Blackney for meeting with him, agreed with Resident Sopko on recognizing the Lawndale Women’s Club on the Wall of Distinction. Councilmember Talavera commented on his election campaign, the code case on his property, and that the increase in salary Councilmembers received is to be spent at their discretion.

Councilmember Suarez thanked everyone that attended tonight’s meeting, encouraged residents to express their concerns, requested that a budget be allocated to pay for buses to take residents to the Metro meeting, asked for staff to follow up on the Wall of Distinction request and requested a presentation at a future meeting about code enforcement procedures.

Councilmember Cuevas asked if the swear-in of Councilmember Talavera was legal due to his residency at that time, if a Councilmember can participate in the decision making of a code enforcement issue if they have a code enforcement case, if a Councilmember needs to recuse themselves if a municipal code revision discussion benefits them as a Councilmember, what happens to a code enforcement case if the property is lost due to a fire incident, requested that funds be allocated for buses to take residents to the Metro meeting, and asked for the steps that need to be taken to recognize the Lawndale Women’s Club on the Wall of Distinction.

City Attorney Murphy responded that temporary housing, in light of the fire incident that occurred, did not change Councilmember Talavera’s residency with respect to the Elections Code and that there is no law that prohibits a Councilmember from participating in a code enforcement matter except if the Councilmember is involved in a lawsuit related to the City. City Attorney Murphy stated that he did not see an issue with a Councilmember participating in the process of adopting a new or revised municipal code that is a general benefit to the city at large; however, he would advise the City Council if there was a special benefit to the Councilmember. In response to Councilmember Cuevas’s question regarding a code enforcement case related to Councilmember Talavera, City Attorney Murphy stated that he can only comment on cases that have been referred to his office and this matter has not been referred.

City Manager Moore responded that staff will follow up on the request to recognize the Lawndale Women’s Club on the Wall of Distinction
DRAFT
Mayor Pro Tem Kearney thanked everyone that spoke at tonight’s meeting, asked Councilmember Cuevas if she can mention to realtors about informing home buyers of the Metro C Line (Green) Project at an upcoming realtor event, and if Councilmembers can decline an increase in salary at any time.

City Attorney Murphy responded that Councilmembers can decline a pay increase and any payer benefits at any time for personal reasons.

In response to Councilmember Cuevas’ question, City Manager Moore responded that staff will post information about the Metro C Line (Green) Project on the City’s website and social media accounts.

G. CONSENT CALENDAR
A motion was made by Councilmember Cuevas and seconded by Councilmember Suarez to approve the consent calendar. The motion passed by a vote of 4-1 with Mayor Pullen-Miles absent.

4. Motion to read by title only and waive further reading of all ordinances listed on the Agenda — Recommendation: that the City Council read by title only and waive further reading of all ordinances listed on the agenda.

5. Accounts Payable Register
— Recommendation: that City Council adopts Resolution No. CC-2501-002 authorizing the payment of certain claims and demands in the amount of $425,917.62.

6. Minutes of the Lawndale City Council Regular Meeting- December 16, 2024 — Recommendation: that the City Council approve the minutes.

H. PUBLIC HEARING

7. Project Selection for the 2025-2026 Community Development Block Grant Program Year — Recommendation: that the City Council 1.) conduct a public hearing; 2.) adopt the FY 2025-26 budget for the CDBG program; and 3.) adopt Resolution No. CC-2501-005, approving the City’s participation in the FY 2025-26 CDBG Program.

Community Development Director Kann presented the staff report.

Councilmember Suarez asked how streets are selected for repair, if a street repair status report has been completed and which streets are next in the queue.

In response to Councilmember Suarez’s questions, City Manager Moore stated that the City uses a pavement management system based on the deterioration of each street and are selected based on the need of each street, and stated that the specific noticing of upcoming street repairs procedures will be shared at a future date.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney opened the public hearing comments at 7:30 p.m.

Gary Adam, Resident, commented in opposition to the approval of the plan.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney closed the public hearing at 7:31 p.m.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney commented on the estimates provided in the report.

A motion was made by Councilmember Cuevas and seconded by Councilmember Suarez to adopt the FY 2025-26 budget for the CDBG program, and Resolution No. CC-2501-005, approving the City’s participation in the FY 2025-26 DRAFT
CDBG Program. The motion passed by a vote of 4-1 with Mayor Pullen-Miles absent.

I. ADMINISTRATION

8. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Educational Piece on Body Worn Cameras — Report provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Lieutenant Osburn gave the presentation.

Councilmember Cuevas asked what can residents do to assist LASD Deputies.

Lieutenant Osburn responded that residents can assist Deputies by uploading their video recording when a Deputy provides them with a link.

City Manager Moore commented that the presentation was provided in response to inquiries recently made related to the fireworks citation process.

By consensus, the City Council received and filed the report.

9. City Representatives to Intergovernmental Agency Boards — Recommendation: that Mayor Pullen-Miles 1.) appoint delegates and alternates to the intergovernmental agencies listed in Resolution No. CC-2501-001; 2.) that the City Council confirm the Mayor’s appointments by directing staff to amend Section 1 of the Resolution by filling in the names of the Mayor’s appointees; and 3.) that the City Council adopt the Resolution as amended.

Assistant City Clerk Palomo presented the staff report.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney led a discussion on the Intergovernmental Agency Boards appointments. The City Council came to a consensus on the following appointments:

California Contract Cities Association, Board of Directors Representatives: Delegate Bernadette Suarez, alternates Robert Pullen-Miles and Sirley Cuevas California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Board of Directors Representatives: Delegate Robert Pullen-Miles, alternate Frank M. Talavera, and staff alternate Sean M. Moore Centinela Youth Services, Board of Directors
Representatives: Delegate Bernadette Suarez, alternate not allowed County Sanitation District No. 5 of Los Angeles County, Board of Directors Representatives: Delegate Robert Pullen-Miles, alternate Pat Kearney League of California Cities, Los Angeles County Division Representatives: Delegate Sirley Cuevas, alternate Robert Pullen-Miles Los Angeles County City Selection Committee
Representatives: Delegate Robert Pullen-Miles, alternate Pat Kearney South Bay Cities Council of Governments, Board of Directors Representatives: Delegate Bernadette Suarez, alternates Robert Pullen-Miles and Frank M. Talavera Southern California Association of Governments, General Assembly (Business Meeting) Representatives: Delegate Frank M. Talavera, alternate Bernadette Suarez DRAFT
A motion was made by Councilmmeber Cuevas and seconded by Councilmember Suarez to confirm the Mayor Pro Tem’s appointments by directing staff to amend Section 1 of the Resolution by filling in the names of the Mayor Pro Tem appointees and adopt the Resolution as amended. The motion passed by a vote of 4-1, with Mayor Pullen-Miles absent.

10. City Council Ad Hoc Subcommittees and Standing Committees — Recommendation: that the City Council review the current ad hoc subcommittee and standing committee appointments and direct staff on the modification, replacement, or continued appointment of members, if desired.

Assistant City Clerk Palomo presented the staff report.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney led a discussion on the Ad Hoc Subcommittees and Standing Committees appointments. The City Council came to a consensus on the following appointments:

City/ School District Park Maintenance and Joint Use Ad Hoc Subcommittee Councilmember Bernadette Suarez and Councilmember Sirley Cuevas Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget Ad Hoc Subcommittee (Fiscal Year will change to 2025-26) Mayor Pro Tem Pat Kearney and Councilmember Bernadette Suarez Billboard Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Mayor Pro Tem Pat Kearney Councilmember Frank M. Talavera Metro C Line (Green) Extension Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles and Councilmember Frank M. Talavera Teen Center Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles and Councilmember Bernadette Suarez Parking and Traffic Solutions Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Mayor Pro Tem Pat Kearney and Councilmember Sirley Cuevas Business Revitalization Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles and Councilmember Bernadette Suarez Local Travel Network Project Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Mayor Pro Tem Pat Kearney and Councilmember Bernadette Suarez Fireworks Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Mayor Pro Tem Pat Kearney and Councilmember Frank M. Talavera City/School Districts Standing Committee
Mayor Pro Tem Pat Kearney and Councilmember Frank M. Talavera Caltrans Maintenance Standing Committee
Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles and Councilmember Frank M. Talavera Homeless Solutions Standing Committee
Councilmember Bernadette Suarez and Councilmember Sirley Cuevas DRAFT
By consensus, the City Council confirmed the ad hoc subcommittees and standing committee appointments and directed staff on the modification, replacement, and continued appointment of members.

11. Approve the Engineering and Traffic Speed Study for Prairie Avenue — Recommendation: that the City Council 1.) Authorize the speed reduction from 40 MPH to 35 MPH on Prairie Avenue from Redondo Beach Boulevard to Marine Avenue; and 2.) Direct the City Clerk's Office to forward a certified copy of the Engineering and Traffic Survey to the Los Angeles County Sheriff to be used for their traffic enforcement.

City Manager Moore presented the staff report.

In response to Councilmember Suarez’s and Cuevas’ questions, City Manager Moore stated that Los Angeles (LA) County is changing the speed limit to their portion of the street to 35 MPH and is seeking approval from the City to change the City's portion to 35 MPH. Speeds are checked due to numerous reasons and LA County is funding the project.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney opened public comments.

Andrew Blackney, Resident, commented on the change to the speed limit and commented that street infrastructure is what reduces the speed of vehicles.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney closed public comments.

Councilmember Suarez asked how traffic signals are taken into consideration with the infrastructure and speed limit change.

City Manager Moore responded that additional information can be provided to the City Council.

In response to Councilmember Cuevas’ question, City Manager Moore stated that residents will be made aware of changes via the City’s social media accounts, webpage, and electronic trailer signs.

A motion was made by Councilmember Cuevas and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Kearney to authorize the speed reduction from 40 MPH to 35 MPH on Prairie Avenue from Redondo Beach Boulevard to Marine Avenue and direct the City Clerk's Office to forward a certified copy of the Engineering and Traffic Survey to the Los Angeles County Sheriff to be used for their traffic enforcement. The motion passed by a vote of 4-1, with Mayor Pullen-Miles absent.

12. Update on Hedges/Fence Code Issue
— Recommendation: that City Council 1.) Receive and file this report; or 2.) Provide further direction to staff.

Community Development Director Kann presented the staff report.

Discussion ensued among Councilmembers and Community Development Director Kann about fence height requirements, see-through fences, fence regulations, fence requirements for properties at different locations, and what similar Cities have in place.

Councilmember Cuevas requested additional information on see-through and solid fences.

Councilmember Suarez requested visibility information for intersections.

By consensus, the City Council received and filed the report.

13. Proposed Solid Waste Rate Increase
— Recommendation: that the City Council 1.) Approve the attached Proposition 218 Notice of Proposed Solid Waste Rate Increases and Protest Ballot and direct staff to proceed with the necessary notifications and preparations for the public hearing, and 2.) Approve the public hearing date for March 3, 2025.

DRAFT
City Manager Moore presented the staff report.

Councilmember Talavera asked if rate increases are competitive compared to other service providers.

City Manager Moore responded that according to the franchise agreement in place, the contractor is permitted to increase fees, and staff can get quotes from other service providers prior to the expiration date of the current contract.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney opened public comments.

Deena Sopko, Resident, asked at what age is someone considered a senior citizen.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney closed public comments.

City Manager Moore responded that according to the franchise agreement, individuals 65 years of age or older are considered senior citizens.

In response to Councilmember Cuevas’ question, City Manager Moore stated that he will research if a senior rate is granted to a non-senior owner that has senior tenants.

A motion was made by Councilmember Cuevas and seconded by Councilmember Suarez to approve the attached Proposition 218 Notice of Proposed Solid Waste Rate Increases and Protest Ballot and direct staff to proceed with the necessary notifications and preparations for the public hearing and approve the public hearing date for March 3, 2025. The motion passed by a vote of 4-1, with Mayor Pullen-Miles absent.

14. Recommendation to Continue to Use Everbridge as the Citywide Emergency Notification System — Recommendation: that the City Council 1.) approve the budget amendment of $1,353 to retain Everbridge Mass Notification Pro as its sole provider for emergency messaging, and communications in the event of a natural or man-made disaster; and 2.) authorize the City Manager to execute the Renewal Quote for One-Year between the City of Lawndale and Everbridge.

Municipal Services Director Reyes presented the staff report.

Discussion ensued among Councilmembers and Municipal Services Director Reyes on the increase in fees due to training they are providing to staff, the proposal being based on the number of residents in the City and other South Bay Cities using this same provider.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney opened public comments.

Deena Sopko, Resident, commented that the Everbridge City-wide Emergency Notification System should be advertised on the City’s social media accounts.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney closed public comments.

A motion was made by Councilmember Suarez and seconded by Councilmember Cuevas to approve the budget amendment of $1,353 to retain Everbridge Mass Notification Pro as its sole provider for emergency messaging, and communications in the event of a natural or man-made disaster and authorize the City Manager to execute the Renewal Quote for One-Year between the City of Lawndale and Everbridge. The motion passed by a vote of 4-1, with Mayor Pullen-Miles absent.

15. Update on Art in Public Places Project from the Lawndale Beautification Committee — Recommendation: that the City Council approve 1.) the artists and artwork chosen by the Lawndale Beautification Committee for the Art in Public Places project; and 2.) the budget amendment of $15,000 in account 292-000-310.100.

Municipal Services Director Reyes presented the staff report.

DRAFT
In response to Mayor Pro Tem Kearney’s questions, Municipal Services Director Reyes stated that the images provided within the staff report are artwork samples of what will be painted on electrical boxes.

A motion was made by Councilmember Suarez and seconded by Councilmember Cuevas to approve the artists and artwork chosen by the Lawndale Beautification Committee for the Art in Public Places project and the budget amendment of $15,000 in account 292-000-310.100. The motion passed by a vote of 3-1-1, with Mayor Pro Tem Kearney voting no and Mayor Pullen-Miles absent.

J. CITY MANAGER REPORT
City Manager Moore informed the City Council that requested agenda items are forthcoming and thanked them for their patience.

K. ITEMS FROM CITY COUNCILMEMBERS

16. Local Travel Network Update
— Recommendation: that the City Council 1.) discuss and approve the current draft of the City's Local Travel Network Refinements; or 2.) provide further direction to staff.

City Manager Moore presented the staff report.

Councilmember Suarez invited the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) staff to provide information.

SBCCOG staff commented that the SBCCOG received a Safe Streets For All Grant from the Department of Transportation which will be used for South Bay Mobility Safety Action Plan, partnered with school districts to teach students who drive street safety, and announced two (2) ride and drive safety showcases.

In response to Councilmember Suarez’s questions, SBCCOG staff explained the actions the SBCCOG will implement if the current draft of the City's Local Travel Network Refinements is approved.

Discussion ensued among City Councilmembers and SBCCOG staff about protected crossing streets.

SBCCOG staff thanked City Councilmembers for working with the SBCCOG to create this plan.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney opened public comments.

Andrew Blackney, Resident, commented on the draft of the City's Local Travel Network and made suggestions to create a bidirectional route.

Gary Adams, Resident, commented in opposition to the draft of the City's Local Travel Network if it encourages bicyclists and mopeds to drive on sidewalks.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney closed public comments.

In response to Councilmember Suarez’s questions, SBCCOG staff stated that routes can be explored to calm traffic on 147 Street.

City Manager Moore commented that bicycles or mopeds should not be driven on sidewalks.

A motion was made by Councilmember Suarez and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Kearney to approve the current draft of the City's Local Travel Network Refinements Ad Hoc Committee Rev. 9/10/24; request SBCCOG to bring back a Measure M application and look into potential funding for 147th Street traffic calming. The motion passed by a vote of 4-1 with Mayor Pullen-Miles absent.

17. Report of Attendance at Meetings
th
DRAFT
Councilmember Talavera met with Resident Andrew Blackney, attended the Senior’s New Year Lunch, and thanked staff for the Lawndalian Newsletter.

Councilmember Suarez requested a code enforcement cases report, asked which information of code cases is public information and if a site plan is a public record.

Municipal Services Director Reyes responded that code case information becomes public record after cases close.

City Manager Moore responded that site plans are public records; however, site plans cannot be duplicated.

Councilmember Cuevas wished everyone a Happy New Year.

Mayor Pro Tem Kearney attended the Neighborhood Watch Meeting, Senior’s New Year Lunch and asked if staff can look into installing traffic barriers to keep vehicles from driving into crowds.

L. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Pro Tem Kearney closed the meeting in memory of Frances Moreno Kisselburg and Sharlene Marie Horner Howard.

Frances Moreno Kisselburg was a long-time resident of Lawndale. Sharlene Marie Horner Howard was involved with the Boy Scout Program and retired from the Lawndale Elementary School District.

There being no further business to conduct, Mayor Pro Tem Kearney adjourned the meeting at 9:09 p.m. ____________________________________________
Robert Pullen-Miles, Mayor
____________________________________________
Erica Harbison, City Clerk
Approved: January 21, 2025
DRAFT

BACKGROUND
In December 2023 the Community Services Department released a Request for Proposals (RFP) soliciting proposals to design the Lawndale Youth Development Center and Skatepark. As a result of the RFP there were 8 proposals received, with the recommended award of the design contract going to BOA Architecture of Long Beach.

In March 2024 the City Council approved a Phase One Services Agreement in the amount of $157,000 to BOA Architecture (Attachment A). The Phase One Agreement included the following tasks:

Pre-design, including a kickoff meeting, obtaining as-built drawings, project management, cost and work plan, site observations and assessments, and measurements and photos; Community Outreach, including a project site meeting, community collective/vision meeting, final draft master plan meeting, and refine meeting, and a final master plan meeting; Completion of property and environmental reports, including land and soils surveys, topographical land survey reports, geotechnical and percolation testing, and hazardous materials testing; and Deliverables, including CAD renderings, continuously evolving technical conceptual designs, necessary number of cityrequired revisions, final conceptual designs, and cost estimates for presentation of a final conceptual design.

In July 2024 Community Services Department staff, along with representatives from BOA Architecture, presented 4 design options to City Council, each with a list of amenities and estimated project costs. After public comment and questions, the Council direction was to pursue option D (Attachment B), including the following:

Keep the 2 story version of the project with Municipal Services Offices and Cable on the second floor, and the first floor a dedicated Youth Development Center;
Include the skatepark on the west side of the parcel;
Eliminate the parking lot portion (northwest corner of Burin Ave. and De Oro Lane) to a later phase of the project when additional funding can be obtained;
Reduce the footprint/scope of the project from the estimated $14,428,800 to get closer to the current budget of $9,500,000; and
Complete the community outreach meetings to get public input on the overall design.

In December 2024 staff met with representatives from BOA Architecture to review the updated final conceptual design. Staff reviewed the proposed design with members of the Municipal Services Department and City Cable to ensure their needs were being met by the design. BOA made the final adjustments, incorporating the landscape design and skatepark features, which are now ready to be presented to the City Council.

STAFF REVIEW
The Lawndale Youth Development Center and Skatepark will be a landmark facility in the City, which will have a positive impact on the youth in the community for decades to come. This unique project combines city office space, a cable TV studio, a teen center and resource facility, and a skatepark all on one property. The effort put into the design of this facility has been shared by multiple departments, a team of architects, and community input, all with the goal of making the Youth Development Center and Skatepark a critical focal point for youth and teen programs, public engagement, community enrichment, and the overall enhancement of the Lawndale community.

The conceptual design being presented at this time has incorporated community feedback, along with input from the City staff included in the facility, to ensure that there is adequate public access, while maintaining a multi-purpose feel to allow a variety of programming, training, and counseling opportunities. The teen center itself includes the following components:

A dedicated teen center entrance off of De Oro Lane for teen center participants only; A large room for teens to gather, watch movies, play games, do homework, study, and hangout with their peers; A pantry for snacks and drinks that will be available at a nominal cost; Office space for staff to create programs, meet with students, parents or service providers, all with sight lines of the rest of the teen center;
A patio for special events, job fairs, college fairs, etc., complete with a stage for entertainment if needed; A development and resource room with separate counseling offices that will be multipurpose in nature with movable furniture, audio visual connections, a service counter, and more; A small multi-purpose room for club meetings, study groups, homework sessions, etc.; and Restrooms dedicated to the teen center.

The first floor of the facility will also include a separate public entrance for direct access to the Municipal Services Department (MSD) and the Cable TV studio that will be housed on the second floor. This entrance will be located off of Burin Avenue, at the southeast corner of the building. The entrance will give the public both elevator and stair access to the second floor where there will be a small waiting area with a counter to give the public easy access to the department. There is also a breakroom, restrooms, and storage for both the MSD and cable staff.

The skatepark itself is roughly 9,500 square feet, with a series of elements that combine beginner and intermediate skill levels.

The skatepark perimeter will be fenced, allowing staff to secure it at night or during periods of inclement weather where it would be unsafe to have the skatepark open. There will be landscaping around the skatepark, with a buffer to separate the skatepark from the teen center patio.

Overall the Youth Development Center has been designed to complement the architectural style of the nearby Public Library and the Harold Hofmann Community Center. The design features sloped roofs for easier maintenance and better drainage, modern styling and furniture, and large windows for natural light. The Youth Development Center will provide many programs and opportunities to the community, while housing critical staff functions for the overall quality of life in the City of Lawndale.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
The Lawndale Youth Development Center project has been previously cleared by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), the grant administrator for the State funding, with a “Notice of Exemption” filed by the City in October 2022. The project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines 15061(b)(3) and 15302 (Reconstruction). Pursuant to 24 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) 58.35(a), the project is categorically excluded activity under Section 58.5(3)(iii)(A) Rehabilitation of buildings and improvements of public buildings under the following conditions: The facilities and improvements are in place and will not change in size or capacity by more than 20 percent.

LEGAL REVIEW
N/A

FISCAL IMPACT
The current budget allocation for this project is $9,745,000. With the current construction costs estimated at $11,477,180, additional funding will be required. In addition to construction costs, there will be costs for the creation of construction documents and the approval of an agreement for project management services. Finally, the actual construction costs will require a competitive bid, which could change the overall project cost as well.

The current funding is made up of the following:
$4,000,000 State Restricted Funding for the Youth Development Center Project $4,000,000 Federal Restricted Funding for the Youth Development Center Project $1,280,000 in Los Angeles County Recreation, Parks and Open Space Measure A Annual Allocation from FY 24/25 and previous
$285,000 in Los Angeles County Technical Assistance Program Allocation $180,000 Los Angeles County Recreation, Parks and Open Space Measure A Annual Allocation for FY 25/26 due to be allocated in September 2025
Total Funding: $9,745,000
With an estimated project cost of $11,477,180, and a budget of $9,745,000, there is a gap of $1,732,180. Without additional funding this excess in the project cost would come out of the City's General Fund Reserves. Staff is looking for guidance from council on funding.

RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend that the City Council review and approve the proposed Conceptual Design for the Youth Development Center and Skatepark and affirm the Categorical Exemptions and Categorical Exclusion.

Attachments
Attachment A: Excerpt of Minutes.3.18.2024
Attachment B: Excerpt of Minutes.7.15.2024.pdf
Attachment C: Lawndale YDC - SD Presentation 1-21-2025

ATTACHMENT A
Excerpt of Minutes from the 3/18/2024
City Council Meeting

ATTACHMENT B
Excerpt of Minutes from the 7/15/2024
City Council Meeting

CITY OF LAWNDALE

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER

SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT, SKATE PARK
January 21, 2025 | p2

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT, SKATE PARK
Project Kick-Off April 3, 2024
Conducted Site Surveys
Preliminary Design Option May 16, 2024
Proceeded with Design Option for 2 Level Building
Community Outreach Meetings September, 2024
Schematic Design to Meet Desired Budget November, 2024
Reduced Size of Building
Present Schematic Design to City Council January, 2025

PROJECT TIMELINE

EXISTING

PROPOSED
January 21, 2025 | p3

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT, SKATE PARK - EXISTING BUILDING

EXTERIOR

INTERIOR
January 21, 2025 | p4

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT, SKATE PARK
Schematic Design Building Program (2 Story)
First Level
Teen Center 3,609 SF
Support, Circulation 1,170 SF
First Level Subtotal 4,779 SF
Second Level
Municipal Services 1,682 SF
Cable TV Dept 1,410 SF
Support, Circulation 1,703 SF
Second Level Subtotal 4,795 SF
Total Building 9,574 SF
Schematic Design Site Program
Teen Center Courtyard 2,250 SF
Skate Park 9,500 SF
Site Subtotal 11,750 SF
Existing Municipal Services Program
Municipal Services 2,697 SF
Cable TV 1,024 SF
Historical Society 720 SF
Support and Circulation 3,231 SF
Total Existing Building 7,672 SF

SITE AND BUILDING PROGRAM
January 21, 2025 | p5

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT, SKATE PARK

CONSTRUCTION COST ESTIMATE
First Level
Building Renovation 3,855 SF $850 $3,276,750
Building Addition 894 SF $950 $849,300
Second Level
Building Renovation 0 SF $850 $0
Building Addition 4,825 SF $950 $4,583,750
Circulation (Elevator,stairs) $200,000
Building Subtotal 9,574 SF $8,909,800
Exterior Improvements
Skate park/Landscape SF $924,000
Shade Structure $0
Teen Center Courtyard 2,500 SF $200,000
2 Stall Park Restroom $400,000
Landscape Subtotal 2,500 SF $1,524,000
Subtotal $10,433,800
Contingency 10% $1,043,380
Total $11,477,180
January 21, 2025 | p6

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC
YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - Aerial View

DE ORO LANE

LIBRARY
YOUTH

DEVELOPMENT

CENTER AND

MUNICIPAL

SERVICES

COURTYARD

COMMUNITY
CENTER

SKATE PARK
January 21, 2025 | p7

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC
LANDSCAPING - Concept Imagery

CONCEPT IMAGERY
CITY OF LAWNDALE - LAWNDALE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SKATE PARK Januar y 15th, 2025 January 21, 2025 | p8

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

SITE PLAN
Januar y 15th, 2025

CONCEPT PLAN

CITY OF LAWNDALE - LAWNDALE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SKATE PARK NORTH
LEGEND
4’ FENCE
8’ FENCE

EXISTING TREE

ENHANCED PAVERS

DRAPE METAL BACK BENCH
1 0 5 10 20 40 FEET

POUF SEATING

CORNHOLE TABLES

LOW PRECAST WALL

ROCK COBBLE

STOOP SEATING
4 6 11
7 12
8 13
9 14
10 15

CHAISE SEATING

METAL SLAT SEATING

PING PONG

BIKE RACK

WASTE RECEPTACLES
2 3
1 4
5 6
10 15
14 12
11 13
7 8
9 2 3

DE ORO LN

BURIN AVE

GREVILLEA AVE

LAWNDALE LIBRARY
5 SKATEPARK
YOUTH

DEVELOPMENT
CENTER
January 21, 2025 | p9

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER COURTYARD

COURTYARD
CITY OF LAWNDALE - LAWNDALE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SKATE PARK Januar y 15th, 2025 January 21, 2025 | p10

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

SKATE PARK

SKATE PARK
CITY OF LAWNDALE - LAWNDALE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SKATE PARK Januar y 15th, 2025 January 21, 2025 | p11

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT, SKATE PARK

BUILDING DESIGN GOALS
Exterior design shall be consistent with other structures in the Civic Center vicinity
Provide a sloped roof to reduce the maintenance needs and provide future solar opportunities
Provide site connection between skate park and Youth Center Provide separate entrances for Youth Center and Municipal Services
Maintain existing corner tree
Provide natural light for upper offices
January 21, 2025 | p12

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC
YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - Floor Plan Level 1

MUNICIPAL

SERVICES ENTRY

TEEN CENTER
ENTRY
1128 SF
TEEN
CENTER
LOBBY
GAME
ZONE
MOVIE
LOUNGE
CAFE
560 SF

DEVELOPMENT
AND

RESOURCE
CENTER
254 SF
SMALL

MULTIPURPOSE
ROOM
96 SF
OFFICE
113 SF
OFFICE
96 SF
PANTRY
69 SF

STORAGE
167 SF

ELECTRICAL
PANELS
51 SF

ELEVATOR

EQUIPMENT
197 SF
WOMENS

RESTROOM

ELEVATOR LOBBY SINK

KITCHENETTE W/ SINK
145 SF
MENS

RESTROOM
SINK
66 SF

JANITOR
62 SF

NETWORK
CLOSET
95 SF

COUNSELING
OFFICE

STORAGE

CABINETS

COUNTER
103 SF

COUNSELING
ROOM
N

DE ORO LANE

COURTYARD
BURIN AVE.

January 21, 2025 | p13

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC
YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - Floor Plan, Level 2

ROOF LEDGE
130 SF

CABLE TV

DIRECTOR
60 SF

RESTROOM

ELEVATOR
127 SF
ANIMAL

CONTROL
135 SF

DIRECTOR
110 SF

EMERGENCY
SERVICES ?
?
275 SF

MEETING
ROOM

FRONT DESK
798 SF

CABLE TV
STUDIO
45 SF

NETWORK
69 SF
STORAGE 60 SF

RESTROOM
75 SF
GEAR

STORAGE
231 SF

CABLE TV
OFFICE
23 SF

JANITOR
309 SF
BREAK
ROOM

KITCHENETTE
152 SF

PARKING

ENFORCEMENT
152 SF
CODE
ENFORCEMENT 128 SF

SUPERVISOR

PRINTERS
328 SF
UPPER
LOBBY
823 SF

MUNICIPAL

SERVICES
OPEN
OFFICE

COUNTER
44 SF
CABLE
SERVER
67 SF
STUDIO

STORAGE
N
January 21, 2025 | p14

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - VIEW FROM DE ORO
January 21, 2025 | p15

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - VIEW FROM COURTYARD January 21, 2025 | p16

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - VIEW FROM COURTYARD

COURTYARD RECREATION
January 21, 2025 | p17

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC
YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - Interior Views, Teen Center

MUNICIPAL

SERVICES ENTRY

TEEN CENTER
ENTRY
1128 SF
TEEN
CENTER
LOBBY
GAME
ZONE
MOVIE
LOUNGE
CAFE
560 SF

DEVELOPMENT
AND

RESOURCE
CENTER
254 SF
SMALL

MULTIPURPOSE
ROOM
96 SF
OFFICE
113 SF
OFFICE
96 SF
PANTRY
69 SF

STORAGE
167 SF

ELECTRICAL
PANELS
51 SF

ELEVATOR

EQUIPMENT
197 SF
WOMENS

RESTROOM

ELEVATOR LOBBY SINK

KITCHENETTE W/ SINK
145 SF
MENS

RESTROOM
SINK
66 SF

JANITOR
62 SF

NETWORK
CLOSET
95 SF

COUNSELING
OFFICE

STORAGE

CABINETS

COUNTER
103 SF

COUNSELING
ROOM

OUTSIDE ENTRY LOBBY
January 21, 2025 | p18

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC
YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - Interior Views, Teen Center

MUNICIPAL

SERVICES ENTRY

TEEN CENTER
ENTRY
1128 SF
TEEN
CENTER
LOBBY
GAME
ZONE
MOVIE
LOUNGE
CAFE
560 SF

DEVELOPMENT
AND

RESOURCE
CENTER
254 SF
SMALL

MULTIPURPOSE
ROOM
96 SF
OFFICE
113 SF
OFFICE
96 SF
PANTRY
69 SF

STORAGE
167 SF

ELECTRICAL
PANELS
51 SF

ELEVATOR

EQUIPMENT
197 SF
WOMENS

RESTROOM

ELEVATOR LOBBY SINK

KITCHENETTE W/ SINK
145 SF
MENS

RESTROOM
SINK
66 SF

JANITOR
62 SF

NETWORK
CLOSET
95 SF

COUNSELING
OFFICE

STORAGE

CABINETS

COUNTER
103 SF

COUNSELING
ROOM
Goals:

Create an inviting, “living room” atmosphere
Areas for games and activities, movies, homework and creating community January 21, 2025 | p19

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC
YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - Interior Views, Teen Center

MUNICIPAL

SERVICES ENTRY

TEEN CENTER
ENTRY
1128 SF
TEEN
CENTER
LOBBY
GAME
ZONE
MOVIE
LOUNGE
CAFE
560 SF

DEVELOPMENT
AND

RESOURCE
CENTER
254 SF
SMALL

MULTIPURPOSE
ROOM
96 SF
OFFICE
113 SF
OFFICE
96 SF
PANTRY
69 SF

STORAGE
167 SF

ELECTRICAL
PANELS
51 SF

ELEVATOR

EQUIPMENT
197 SF
WOMENS

RESTROOM

ELEVATOR LOBBY SINK

KITCHENETTE W/ SINK
145 SF
MENS

RESTROOM
SINK
66 SF

JANITOR
62 SF

NETWORK
CLOSET
95 SF

COUNSELING
OFFICE

STORAGE

CABINETS

COUNTER
103 SF

COUNSELING
ROOM

CAFE AND MOVIE AREA GAME ZONE
January 21, 2025 | p20

MUNICIPAL

SERVICES ENTRY

TEEN CENTER
ENTRY
1128 SF
TEEN
CENTER
LOBBY
GAME
ZONE
MOVIE
LOUNGE
CAFE
560 SF

DEVELOPMENT
AND

RESOURCE
CENTER
254 SF
SMALL

MULTIPURPOSE
ROOM
96 SF
OFFICE
113 SF
OFFICE
96 SF
PANTRY
69 SF

STORAGE
167 SF

ELECTRICAL
PANELS
51 SF

ELEVATOR

EQUIPMENT
197 SF
WOMENS

RESTROOM

ELEVATOR LOBBY SINK

KITCHENETTE W/ SINK
145 SF
MENS

RESTROOM
SINK
66 SF

JANITOR
62 SF

NETWORK
CLOSET
95 SF

COUNSELING
OFFICE

STORAGE

CABINETS

COUNTER
103 SF

COUNSELING
ROOM

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC
YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - Interior Views, Teen Center

DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCE CENTER
Goal:

A room for seminars, job fairs, self and career development Provide rooms for private counseling
January 21, 2025 | p21

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC

YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - ENTRANCE TO MUNICIPAL SERVICES January 21, 2025 | p22

CITY OF LAWNDALE - YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER SCHEMATIC
YDC, MUNICIPAL SERVICES, CABLE DEPT - Interior Views, Municipal Services

ROOF LEDGE
130 SF

CABLE TV

DIRECTOR
60 SF

RESTROOM

ELEVATOR
127 SF
ANIMAL

CONTROL
135 SF

DIRECTOR
110 SF

EMERGENCY
SERVICES ?
?
275 SF

MEETING
ROOM

FRONT DESK
798 SF

CABLE TV
STUDIO
45 SF

NETWORK
69 SF
STORAGE 60 SF

RESTROOM
75 SF
GEAR

STORAGE
231 SF

CABLE TV
OFFICE
23 SF

JANITOR
309 SF
BREAK
ROOM

KITCHENETTE
152 SF

PARKING

ENFORCEMENT
152 SF
CODE
ENFORCEMENT 128 SF

SUPERVISOR

PRINTERS
328 SF
UPPER
LOBBY
823 SF

MUNICIPAL

SERVICES
OPEN
OFFICE

COUNTER
44 SF
CABLE
SERVER
67 SF
STUDIO

STORAGE

MUNICIPAL SERVICES PUBLIC COUNTER

BACKGROUND
The attached Quarterly Investment Report for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, is provided to City Council per the City of Lawndale’s Investment Policy and State of California’s Government Code Section 53646.

STAFF REVIEW
As of December 31, 2024, the City had total cash and investments (cost basis) of $56,392,608 plus $2,468,131 cash with fiscal agent held in a trust for the Lawndale Redevelopment Agency’s Tax Allocation Bond 2009 issue, $1,150 in petty cash and, $784,582 maintained in two retirement enhancement plans for PARS.

The Federal reserve has cut interest rates 3 times in the past quarter for a total of 1%. This was the first time rates were cut since July 2023 bringing the target rate back to December 2022 levels. The State Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF) had an interest rate of 3.96% on December 31, 2023, and has gone up to

4.4% as of December 31, 2024. Rates going forward are generally expected to gradually decrease, however at a slower pace. Inflation continues to remain high at over 3%. We continue to maintain a majority of cash in LAIF and the City’s checking account. For the quarter ended December 31, 2024, the City has remained very liquid with 73.88% of our portfolio in on-demand accounts. The remainder of the portfolio includes

9.39% short-term (maturing in less than one year), 9.20% mid-term (one to three years maturity), and 7.53% long-term (maturing from three to five years) investments.

As interest rates have started to slowly come down, we look for opportunities to maximize returns on City funds. As the market continues to change we will keep a close watch and take advantage of any upcoming investments. Cash in bank will be monitored and is expected that more will be used to purchase either bonds or CD’s to take advantage of interest to the extent possible. The goal is to maintain a healthy balance of cash while maximizing returns.

The investment program provides sufficient liquidity to meet six months of estimated expenditures. All investments are in compliance with California state code 503600 and the City of Lawndale Investment policy.

LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's office has reviewed this staff report and approved it as to form.

FISCAL IMPACT
None.

RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council receive and file the Quarterly Investment Report for the quarter ended December 31, 2024.

Attachments
Attachement Q2 Investment FY 25.pdf

ATTACHMENT A
r
Cash 16,268,764
Investments 40,123,844
Cash w/Fiscal Agent 2,468,131
Petty Cash 1,150
Public Agency Retirement Services
(PARS)- Retirement Enhancement
Plan 766,427
PARS/ City of Lawndale Excess
Benefit Trust - US Bank 18,155 784,582
Total Cash and Investments 59,646,470

CITY OF LAWNDALE

TREASURY REPORT
For Quarter Ended December 31, 2024
H:\Investments\Investment reports\24-25\Q2 FY 24-25 Investments 12-31-24 Investment Type Market Value
Checking Account 16,268,764
Certificate of Deposit 9,732,080
US Government Agency Securities 4,982,361
LAIF State Pool 25,393,844
TOTAL 56,377,049
Portfolio Statistics
For Quarter Ended December 31, 2024
Portfolio Composition

CITY OF LAWNDALE

INVESTMENT REPORT
Checking
Account
29%
Certificate of
Deposit
17%
US Government
Agency
Securities
9%
LAIF State Pool
45%
Checking Account Certificate of Deposit
US Government Agency Securities LAIF State Pool
H:\Investments\Investment reports\24-25\Q2 FY 24-25 Investments 12-31-24 Par Value Coupon Rate
Moody's/ S&P
Rating
Purchase
Date
Maturity/
Called Date
Days to
Maturity
Yield to
Maturity Cost Basis Category total
(memo only)
Market Value
On Call Deposits
Checking Account- Wells Fargo 15,111,170 N/A N/A Demand 1 None 15,111,170 15,111,170Municipal Investment Account - US Bank 1,157,595 N/A N/A Demand 1 None 1,157,595 1,157,595Local Agency Investment Fund- City of Lawndale 25,392,272 N/A N/A Demand 1 0.20% 25,392,272 25,392,272Local Agency Investment Fund- Lawndale Housing Authority 1,572 N/A N/A Demand 1 0.20% 1,572 1,572 On Call Deposits 41,662,608 41,662,608 41,662,608
Short-Term Investments (1 Year or Less)
Time Deposits:First Financial Bank USA 249,000 3.00% FDIC 7/22 1/10/2025 10 3.00% 249,000 248,909 Baxter Credit Union 249,000 4.80% FDIC 1/23 1/24/2025 24 4.80% 249,000 249,103 Flagstar Bk Natl 238,000 4.95% FDIC 2/24 2/13/2025 44 4.95% 238,000 238,166 Technology Cr Un San 248,000 5.05% FDIC 2/24 2/21/2025 52 5.05% 248,000 248,239 Trustone Finl Cr UN 248,000 5.00% FDIC 2/24 2/27/2025 58 5.00% 248,000 248,247 Keybank NA OH 243,000 5.00% FDIC 3/23 3/17/2025 76 5.00% 243,000 243,382 Libertyone CR UN Dallas 248,000 5.05% FDIC 4/24 4/17/2025 107 5.05% 248,000 248,495 TBK Bank SSB CD 237,000 5.05% FDIC 4/24 4/17/2025 107 5.05% 237,000 237,532 Bank of Lexington 237,000 5.05% FDIC 4/24 4/17/2025 107 5.05% 237,000 237,474 Charles Schwab Bank 237,000 5.40% FDIC 6/24 6/12/2025 163 5.40% 237,000 238,131 Merchantile Bank 237,000 5.35% FDIC 6/24 6/13/2025 164 5.35% 237,000 238,088 Comerica Bk 237,000 5.35% FDIC 6/24 6/26/2025 177 5.35% 237,000 238,185 Discover Bank 246,000 3.25% FDIC 7/22 7/14/2025 195 3.25% 246,000 244,706 Connexus Credit Union 248,000 5.20% FDIC 7/23 7/14/2025 195 5.20% 248,000 249,305 Goldman Sachs 245,000 4.00% FDIC 8/24 8/13/2025 225 4.00% 245,000 244,650 Toyota Financial Savings CD 247,000 0.70% FDIC 8/21 8/26/2025 238 0.70% 247,000 241,461 California Credit Union 240,000 5.40% FDIC 8/23 8/28/2025 240 5.40% 240,000 241,992 BNY Mellon NA INSTL CTF DEP 243,000 4.95% FDIC 4/24 10/15/2025 288 4.95% 243,000 244,447 First State Bank 179,000 5.00% FDIC 4/24 10/20/2025 293 5.00% 179,000 180,203 Keypoint Credit Union 249,000 4.35% FDIC 10/24 10/30/2025 303 4.35% 249,000 249,376 Preferred Bk 248,000 5.10% FDIC 6/24 12/5/2025 339 5.10% 248,000 250,166 Western Alliance Bank 243,000 5.20% FDIC 6/24 12/19/2025 353 5.20% 243,000 245,496 5,296,000 5,305,754 5,296,000
US Government Agency Securities:
- - -- - -
Short-Term Investments (1 Year or Less) 5,296,000 5,296,000 5,305,754

CITY OF LAWNDALE

DETAIL OF INVESTMENTS
For Quarter Ended December 31, 2024
H:\Investments\Investment reports\24-25\Q2 FY 24-25 Investments 12-31-24 Medium-Term Investments (1 to 3 Years)
Time Deposits:Numerica Cr Un 249,000 4.75% FDIC 2/24 3/2/2026 426 4.75% 249,000 250,824First GTY Bk 244,000 4.15% FDIC 9/24 3/6/2026 430 4.15% 244,000 244,088Eaglebank 248,000 5.05% FDIC 6/24 6/25/2026 541 5.05% 248,000 251,473Customers Bank CD 245,000 4.00% FDIC 8/24 8/17/2026 594 4.00% 245,000 244,706Rize FCU CD 249,000 4.15% FDIC 8/24 8/20/2026 597 4.15% 249,000 249,360Synchrony Bank Draper UT CD 247,000 0.90% FDIC 8/21 8/27/2026 604 0.90% 247,000 235,072Chartway Federal Credit Union 240,000 5.30% FDIC 8/23 8/28/2026 605 5.30% 240,000 244,847Medallion Bank UT CD 247,000 0.85% FDIC 8/21 8/31/2026 608 0.85% 247,000 234,263UBS Bank USA CD 247,000 0.95% FDIC 9/21 9/9/2026 617 0.95% 247,000 234,493Bank of America 245,000 3.95% FDIC 9/24 9/11/2026 619 3.95% 245,000 244,585First Fndtn Bank 243,000 5.00% FDIC 6/24 12/14/2026 713 5.00% 243,000 247,492Valley Natl Bk 247,000 4.45% FDIC 2/24 2/22/2027 783 4.45% 247,000 249,227Spokane Teachers CR UN CD 248,000 4.75% FDIC 4/24 4/15/2027 835 4.75% 248,000 251,999Wexford Community Credit Union 248,000 4.75% FDIC 6/24 6/28/2027 909 4.75% 248,000 252,380First Technology FCU CD 249,000 4.10% FDIC 8/24 8/20/2027 962 4.10% 249,000 249,597First Merchants Bank 245,000 3.75% FDIC 9/24 9/10/2027 983 3.75% 245,000 243,395American Express Natl BK 245,000 3.85% FDIC 9/24 9/13/2027 986 3.85% 245,000 244,106 4,186,000 4,171,906 4,186,000
US Government Agency Securities:Federal Home Loan Banks 1,000,000 1,004,658 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,004,658 1,000,000
Medium-Term Investments (1 - 3 Years) 5,186,000 5,176,564 5,186,000 Long-Term Investments (3 to 5 Years)
Time Deposits:Empower Fed Cr Union 248,000 4.75% FDIC 6/24 6/26/2028 1,273 4.75% 248,000 254,420US Government Agency Securities:Federal Farm Cr Bks 1,000,000 5.08% Aaa/AA+ 8/24 8/14/2028 1,322 5.08% 1,000,000 998,929 Federal Farm Cr Bks 1,000,000 5.42% Aaa/AA+ 4/24 4/16/2029 1,567 5.420% 1,000,000 997,807Federal Natl Mtg Assn 1,000,000 5.63% Aaa/AA+ 4/24 4/16/2029 1,567 5.625% 1,000,000 1,000,090Federal Home Loan Banks 1,000,000 4.20% Aaa/AA+ 10/24 10/9/2029 1,743 4.200% 1,000,000 980,876 4,000,000 3,977,703 4,000,000
Long-Term Investments (3 to 5 Years) 4,248,000 4,232,123 4,248,000 Total Cash and Investments 56,392,608 56,392,608 56,377,049 H:\Investments\Investment reports\24-25\Q2 FY 24-25 Investments 12-31-24 ""

BACKGROUND
The City uses various software solutions to aid in the daily functions of numerous departments. At one time, Community Development, Municipal Services, and Public Works were all under one software solution, which was CityView. However, since 2021, the Code Enforcement and Animal Control divisions of Municipal Services have migrated over to Citizenserve.

Below is a summary of the software being currently used by the various departments within the City:

Community Development has been using CityView since 2007. Functions include monitoring planning applications and entitlements, record keeping, and issuing building and planning permits.

Public Works has been using CityView since 2007. Functions include issuance of encroachment permits and tracking inspections.

Municipal Services has been using Citizenserve since 2021. Functions include tracking and monitoring code enforcement and animal control cases as well as record keeping for animal vaccination and registration.

Finance has been using Citizenserve since 2019. Functions include day-to-day administration of Finance reports and business license applications.

The annual costs for the software are:

CityView - $25,500 (with an annual increase of up to 5%) Citizenserve - $28,800 (the number of users is factored in the annual costs)

ANALYSIS
Some departments prefer keeping their existing software while other departments would prefer finding a new software solution to obtain new and expanded services. For example, Community Development prefers to keep CityView because it can issue building permits, track site plans, and entitlement applications as well as maintain historical permit and entitlement data since first using CityView.

However, CityView is not the preferred software for the Municipal Services Department, who left CityView and migrated to Citizenserve. Municipal Services is considering seeking other software alternatives.

Common issues are data search inquiries not finding the appropriate records as well as current up-to-date information about animal control matters. The data migration and process implementation took a lot of staff time due to fixing glitches or correcting data errors made during the migration. Staff have also mentioned that residents have encountered issues with accessing their online accounts through Citizenserve or have encountered issues when generating dog license renewal notices.

The use of various software also impacts communication and efficiency between departments as information and data is not easily accessible between departments. The different software's do not communicate or interact with one another, causing delays in getting updates and information on property data, permit and enforcement case information, and entitlement status, which can cause miscommunication of information between departments and delays moving forward with enforcement cases or development projects.

In addition, the current software solutions do not allow customers to pay for permits and entitlements online or view permits and application status through an accessible online portal. Implementing such a feature would add a more convenient option for customers to apply or follow up on an application and improve transparency on application or project status and more easily access publicly available information on properties.

An example of a common feature requested by staff includes a GIS-based interface that would allow numerous actions to be performed when selecting a parcel. Desired actions include tasks such as viewing zoning and property information, viewing permit records, viewing and managing code enforcement and animal control cases, reviewing and issuing permits and entitlements, keeping track of any public right-ofway improvements and permits. The benefit of implementing such feature would allow staff to view all information on properties in real time under one software, improving communication and efficiency between departments.

In summary, the purpose of this report is to keep the City Council informed about the existing software used and future software needs for the day-to-day operations of the various City Departments.

STAFF REVIEW
Staff is seeking direction from the City Council regarding the City's direction regarding implementation of the existing and/or future software:

Should staff continue using CityView, and migrate all departments back to CityView, with expanded features and services?
Should staff maintain the status quo of different software for each City Department? Should staff seek a Request for Proposal (RFP) to software companies to integrate the functions of the various departments into one software?
City staff have communicated with the different vendors for possible solutions to improve services as requested by the City Council and the public.

LEGAL REVIEW
None

FISCAL IMPACT
Discussion for the City Council's direction will not have a Fiscal Impact.

RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council provide City Staff with direction. ""
Attachments
Attachment A - License Agreement Amendment with Harris Computer (2).pdf Attachment A
License Agreement Amendment with Harris Computer

AMENDMENT No. 1
TO

LICENSE AND SUPPORT AGREEMENT
THIS AMENDMENT NO. 1 to the License and Support Agreement (the “Amendment”) is dated and made effective on ___________________________ by and between N. Harris Computer Corporation (“CityView”) and the City of Lawndale, CA (Licensee).

RECITALS
WHEREAS, the parties entered into a Software License and Support Agreement dated September 26, 2007 (the “Agreement”);
WHEREAS, the parties desire to amend the Agreement as set forth herein.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and the premises and mutual covenants hereinafter contained, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1 Amended Terms - Software and Support-Related Services

1.1 The Schedule A to the Agreement shall be amended by adding the attached Schedule A of this Amendment No. 1 to the end of Schedule A of the Agreement.
2 General Provisions

2.1 No Other Amendments. Except as specifically modified by this Amendment, the terms of the Agreement, including its schedules, attachments, appendices, and exhibits, shall remain unchanged and in full force and effect and the parties hereto confirm and agree to be bound by all the terms and provisions of the Agreement as amended hereby.

2.2 Entire Agreement; Amendment; Waiver. The Agreement, as amended by this Amendment, sets forth the entire agreement and understanding of the parties hereto with respect to the matters contemplated by the Agreement and this Amendment, and supersedes all prior agreements, arrangements, and understandings (whether oral or written) relating to the subject matter thereof. The Agreement may not be amended, waived, discharged, or terminated other than by a written instrument signed by the party against whom enforcement of such amendment, waiver, discharge, or termination is sought.

2.3 Counterparts. This Amendment may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.

2.4 Binding Effect. This Amendment shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns.

2.5 If any provision of this Amendment shall be declared void or unenforceable by any judicial or administrative authority, the validity of any other provision and of the entire Amendment shall not be affected thereby. The titles and subtitles used in this Amendment are for convenience only and are not to be considered in construing or interpreting any term or provision of the Amendment.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Amendment as of the date first written above through their duly authorized representatives.

ACCEPTED ACCEPTED
CityView Authorized Signature: Licensee Authorized Signature:

Print name: Susan McCormick Print name: Sean M. Moore
Title: Executive Vice-President Title: City Manager
Date: Date:

DESCRIPTION OF SOFTWARE, SOFTWARE & MAINTENANCE FEES, PAYMENT

MILESTONES AND DELIVERABLES
This is Schedule 'A' attached to and made part of the Software License and Support Agreement dated , September 26, 2007, as updated by the execution of this Agreement by and between CityView and the City of Lawndale, CA.
1 LICENSED CITYVIEW USER SOFTWARE PREVIOUSLY LICENSED UNDER THE TERMS OF SCHEDULE “A”

AND NOW SUBJECT TO THIS AGREEMENT
Product Description
10 CityView Concurrent Application Client – Desktop
2 LICENSED CITYVIEW MODULES – NOW SUBJECT TO 10 MAXIMUM CONCURRENT READ-WRITE USERS BUT WHICH WERE PREVIOUSLY LICENSED UNDER THE TERMS OF SCHEDULE “A” BUT WHICH IS NOW SUBJECT TO THIS AGREEMENT.

CityView Property Information
CityView Permits & Inspections
CityView Planning
CityView Code Enforcement
3 CITYVIEW ADD-ONS PREVIOUSLY LICENSED UNDER THE TERMS OF SCHEDULE “A” AND NOW

SUBJECT TO THIS AGREEMENT
1 site license CityView Server
1 site license CityView Configuration Console (formerly Application Builder)

4 NEW SOFTWARE MODULES, USER LICENSES AND ADD-ONS ADDED AS OF __________________________AND NOW SUBJECT TO THIS AGREEMENT CityView Modules, User Licenses and Add-Ons
2 processes CityView Portal for Planning, Permits & Inspections, and Property 1 site license CityView Cashiering (Partial (1/2) license for Portal payments) 1 site license CityView Payment Processor Extension (Paymentus)

5 PAYMENT MILESTONES AND TERMS
Software Licensing Deliverables Payment
Milestone Payment Terms
Software Licenses Include:
• CityView Portal (licensed for Planning,
Permits & Inspections, and Property)
• CityView Cashiering (Partial (1/2) license
for Portal payments)
• CityView Payment Processor Extension
(Paymentus)
CityView will:
• Set up as a client on FTP & CityView Connect
• Provide documentation to download the latest
version of CityView from the FTP & CityView
Connect site
• Send the licensing key for CityView Licenses
• Provide documentation to download the Solutions
from the FTP & CityView Connect site
$20,250
Invoiced on execution
of the contract and
due net 30 days
Mandatory Annual Software Maintenance Deliverables Payment Milestone Payment Terms Annual Software Maintenance (year 1 – subject to
annual revision and pro-rated to the current renewal
period)
Provides:
• All major and minor software upgrades
• Unlimited technical support;
• Unlimited access to the CityView FTP site
• Unlimited access to the CityView Connect
• Support for in-scope, CityView-delivered
customizations to product and Select configuration
$5,063
Invoiced on execution of
the contract and due net
30 days

CONTRACTUAL SERVICES AGREEMENT
This Contractual Services Agreement (the “Agreement”) made and entered into this ______ day of __________, 2024 between N. Harris Computer Corporation (“CityView” and “Vendor”), and the City of Lawndale, CA (“Licensee” and “City”) is effective as of ___________________ (the “Effective Date”).

RECITALS
A CityView and Licensee have entered into a Software License and Support Agreement on September 26, 2007 (“License Agreement”)
B The City, as Licensee requires certain professional services to be provided for new Software Modules licensed under the License Agreement
C CityView shall provide such services pursuant to the terms of this Agreement NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual understandings and agreements set forth, the City and CityView agree as follows:
6 DEFINITION

6.1 “Confidential Information” means the Software and all information or material that either party treats as confidential which is:

6.1.1 Marked "Confidential," "Restricted," or "Proprietary Information" or other similar marking,

6.1.2 Known by the parties to be considered confidential or proprietary, or

6.1.3 Which should be known or understood to be confidential or proprietary by an individual exercising reasonable commercial judgment in the circumstances.

6.2 Confidential Information does not include information to the extent that such information is or becomes generally known to the public by any means other than a breach of the obligations of a receiving party hereunder;

6.2.1 Was previously known to the receiving party as evidenced by its written records;

6.2.2 Is rightly received by the receiving party from a third party who is not under an obligation of confidentiality; or

6.2.3 Is independently developed by the receiving party without reference to or use of the other party's Confidential Information which such independent development can be establish by evidence that would be acceptable to a court of competent jurisdiction.
7 CONFIDENTIALITY OBLIGATIONS

7.1 Each of the parties agrees:

7.1.1 To maintain the Confidential Information of the other party in confidence and to take all reasonable steps, which shall be no less than those steps it takes to protect its own confidential and proprietary information, to protect the Confidential Information of the other party from unauthorized use, disclosure, copying or publication;

7.1.2 Not to use the Confidential Information of the other party other than in the course of exercising its rights or performing its obligations under this Agreement;

7.1.3 Not to disclose or release such Confidential Information except to the extent required by applicable law or during the course of or in connection with any litigation, arbitration or other proceeding based upon or in connection with the subject matter of this Agreement, provided that the receiving party shall first give reasonable notice to the disclosing party prior to such disclosure so that the disclosing party may obtain a protective order or equivalent and provided that the receiving party shall comply with any such protective order or equivalent;

7.1.4 Not to disclose or release such Confidential Information to any third person without the prior written consent of the disclosing party, except for authorized employees or agents of the receiving party who have a need to know such information for the purpose of performance under this Agreement and exercising its rights under this Agreement, and who are bound by confidentiality obligations at least as protective of the disclosing party’s Confidential Information as this Agreement; and

7.1.5 To take such actions as may be reasonably necessary to enforce its agreements with its employees and agents, including commencing legal proceedings.
8 SERVICES

8.1 The Statement of Work below generally describes the requirements of both parties to implement the new Software Modules that are being licensed under the License and Support Agreement and which are more fully described in the Statement of Work. Previously licensed Software and Modules are not affected by this Agreement and the Statement of Work.
9 SCHEDULE OF WORK

9.1 Generally, CityView’s implementation services bench is booked 60-90 days in advance. The City will be added to the schedule after the Agreement is executed.
10 DATA CONVERSION

10.1 In the event that data conversion is required, it is possible there will be anomalies in the data that cannot be reconciled. CityView will convert the data as it is in the database. However, if there is data that does not match the format of the field (i.e. alpha characters in a numeric field), or if there is inconsistent information, CityView either will not bring that data in or the inconsistencies will be converted as is. CityView will report any data anomalies found during the conversion process. 11 WARRANTY

11.1 Vendor’s sole warranty in relation to the services are the services shall be provided in a professional and workmanlike manner, and that the Vendor shall diligently perform its duties under the Statement of Work.

11.2 The City shall diligently perform its duties under the Statement of Work.

11.3 DISCLAIMER. TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, EXCEPT FOR THE LIMITED WARRANTY PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION, THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED TO THE CITY “AS IS” AND THERE ARE NO

WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS OR CONDITIONS, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WRITTEN OR ORAL, ARISING BY

STATUTE, OPERATION OF LAW, COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE OF TRADE OR OTHERWISE, REGARDING THEM OR ANY OTHER PRODUCT, SERVICE OR MATERIAL PROVIDED HEREUNDER OR IN CONNECTION HEREWITH.

11.4 CITYVIEW DISCLAIMS ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS REGARDING THE SERVICES AND ANY

MATERIALS PROVIDED HEREUNDER OR IN CONNECTION HEREWITH, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,

WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABLE QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY, DURABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

11.5 CITYVIEW DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES SHALL MEET ANY OR ALL OF THE CITY’S PARTICULAR REQUIREMENTS. NO AGREEMENTS VARYING OR EXTENDING ANY EXPRESS WARRANTIES SET

FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE BINDING ON EITHER PARTY UNLESS IN WRITING AND SIGNED BY AN AUTHORIZED SIGNING OFFICER OF CITYVIEW.
12 PAYMENT

12.1 The City shall pay Vendor the amounts as detailed in the Statement of Work at the times detailed therein or as otherwise invoiced by Vendor. The non-payment of any invoice will permit the Vendor to suspend all further services upon the provision of notice to the City. Any suspension shall automatically suspend any required time frames of delivery in the Statement of Work and the Vendor shall be permitted to update at its discretion new delivery dates. Any suspension of services shall be lifted once the City has paid all outstanding invoices or other required payments. The Vendor shall act in a commercially reasonable manner when the Vendor updates all delivery dates in the Statement of Work. This section shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
13 PRICING

13.1 The pricing in this agreement is provided in confidence and contains trade secrets and/or privileged or confidential commercial or financial information that would result in a competitive disadvantage if disclosed without prior permission by CityView (“Trade Secret”). A Trade Secret includes, but is not limited to, any formula, pattern, device, or compilation of information that is used in one’s business, which gives him/her an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it. Since it would harm CityView if any of our Trade Secrets were known to our competitors, it is CityView’s policy that the Price Proposal not be disclosed to any party outside of the party addressed as the recipient of this agreement. As such, the Price Proposal shall be used or disclosed only for evaluation purposes, and for no other purpose whatsoever. Further, in the event a contract is awarded to CityView as a result of, or in connection with, the submission of this Proposal, City shall have the restricted right to disclose the entire contract dollar amount; however, this disclosure may not include itemized data herein to the extent provided in the resulting contract.
14 REMEDIES

14.1 The City and the Vendor recognize that circumstances may arise entitling the City to damages for breach or other fault on the part of the Vendor arising from this Agreement. The parties agree that in all such circumstances the City’s remedies and the Vendor’s liabilities will be limited as set forth below and that these provisions will survive notwithstanding the termination or other discharge of the obligations of the parties under this Agreement.

15 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

15.1 TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, CITYVIEW, ITS AFFILIATES, AND EACH OF THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ ENTIRE LIABILITY AND CITY’S

EXCLUSIVE REMEDY WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICES AND ANY OTHER PRODUCTS, MATERIALS SUPPLIED BY

CITYVIEW IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT FOR DAMAGES FOR ANY CAUSE AND REGARDLESS OF

THE CAUSE OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR IN TORT, INCLUDING FUNDAMENTAL BREACH,

NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORIES, SHALL NOT EXCEED IN THE AGGREGATE AN

AMOUNT THAT IS EQUAL TO THE FEES PAID TO CITYVIEW BY CITY PURSUANT TO THE RELEVANT STATEMENT OF WORK.

15.2 IN NO EVENT SHALL CITYVIEW, ITS AFFILIATES AND EACH OF THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS,

EMPLOYEES AND SHAREHOLDERS, BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT,

EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR SPECIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FOR LOST

REVENUE OR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF DATA, FAILURE TO REALIZE EXPECTED SAVINGS,

OR COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS

AGREEMENT, EVEN IF IT HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE LIKELIHOOD OF THE OCCURRENCE OF SUCH LOSS OR

DAMAGE OR SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGE IS FORSEEABLE AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY.
16 INTENT

16.1 The parties hereby confirm that the waivers and disclaimers of liability, releases from liability, limitations and apportionments of liability, and exclusive remedy provisions expressed throughout this Agreement shall apply even in the event of default, negligence (in whole or in part), strict liability or breach of contract of the person released or whose liability is waived, disclaimed, limited, apportioned or fixed by such remedy provision, and shall extend to such person’s affiliates and to its shareholders, directors, officers, employees and affiliates.
17 REMEDIES

17.1 Where remedies are expressly afforded by this Agreement, such remedies are intended by the parties to be the sole and exclusive remedies of the City for liabilities of the Vendor arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, notwithstanding any remedy otherwise available at law or in equity. 18 FORMAL COMPLETION STATEMENT.

18.1 No later than thirty days past go-live of the software solution, the Customer shall provide the Vendor with a written statement of completion certifying that the solution has been implemented successfully (the “Statement of Completion”). In case of a partial go-live this shall refer to the part of the solution that has gone live.
19 EXPIRATION

19.1 Unless extended as provided for herein, this Agreement shall naturally expire on receipt of the Statement of Completion from the City. The expiration of this Agreement under this term shall neither affect nor require the termination of the License and Support Agreement.

20 TERMINATION

20.1 Events of Default. Each of the following events shall constitute an "Event of Default":

20.1.1 The Vendor shall fail to observe, perform or comply with any material term of this Agreement which is to be observed, performed or complied with by the Vendor, if such failure continues fully uncured for thirty (30) calendar days after the City gives the Vendor written notice of the failure and the specific nature of such failure.

20.1.2 The Vendor is adjudged bankrupt, makes a general assignment for the benefit of its creditors or a receiver is appointed on account of the Vendor’s insolvency.

20.2 Termination Upon Event of Default.

20.2.1 In addition to any other available legal or equitable rights or remedies, upon an Event of Default by the Vendor, the City shall have the right to terminate this Agreement upon written notice to the Vendor. 21 TERMINATION BY VENDOR

21.1 Vendor may terminate this Agreement only upon the breach by the City of a material provision of this Agreement.
22 PAYMENT UPON TERMINATION

22.1 Upon a termination of this Agreement, the City shall pay to the Vendor the part of the Compensation which would otherwise be payable to the Vendor with respect to the Services which had been completed as of the date of termination, less the amount of all previous payments with respect to the Compensation. 23 SURVIVAL

23.1 Sections 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22 & 24 shall survive the termination of this Agreement. Any reference to the termination of this Agreement is deemed to also include the expiration of this Agreement.

Counterparts

23.2 This Agreement may be executed in counterparts (whether by facsimile or PDF signature or otherwise), each of which when so executed shall constitute an original and all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.
24 GOVERNING LAW

24.1 The validity and interpretation of this Agreement and each clause and part thereof shall be governed by the law of the State of California without reference to principles of conflict of laws. This section shall survive the termination of this agreement.

25 ENTIRE AGREEMENT

25.1 This Agreement contains all the terms and conditions agreed on by the parties hereto with regard to the matters dealt with herein, and no understandings or agreements, verbal or otherwise, exist between the parties except as herein expressly set out. The License and Support Agreement is a completely separate agreement and does not form part of this Agreement.
26 ASSIGNMENT

26.1 Neither party may assign any of its rights or duties under this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other party, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, except that either party may assign to an affiliate of such party or to successor entity in the event of its dissolution, acquisition, sale of substantially all of its assets, merger or other change in legal status. 27 SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS

27.1 This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the respective successors and permitted assigns of the parties.
28 SEVERABILITY

28.1 If any portion of this Agreement is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. 29 WAIVER

29.1 No waiver of any default shall constitute a waiver of any other breach or default, whether of the same or any other covenant or condition. No waiver, benefit, privilege or service voluntarily given or performed by other parties shall give the other any contractual right by custom, estoppel, or otherwise. 30 ALLOCATION OF RISK

30.1 City acknowledges that the limited warranties, disclaimers and limitations of liability contained in this Agreement are fundamental elements of the basis of bargain between City and CityView and set forth an allocation of risk reflected in the fees and payments due hereunder.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Licensee and CityView have executed this Contract as evidenced by dual signature below.

ACCEPTED ACCEPTED
CityView Authorized Signature: Customer Authorized Signature:

Print name: Susan McCormick Print name: Sean M. Moore
Title: Executive Vice President Title: City Manager
Date: Date:

Quotation for Payment Processing & Portal – PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL

DESCRIPTION
Request Date: August 13,2024 Valid
Until: October 30, 2024
Client / Project: City of Lawndale
Requestor: Sean Moore Created By Lewis Gouge
Description of the Requested License/Services:

The City of Lawndale would like to add CityView Portal and payment processing to its CityView solution. This will allow the City to receive payments online for permits and planning/development applications. This quotation includes the licensing of the following CityView functionality: CityView Portal, CityView Cashiering (1/2 license for portal payments only), and CityView Supported Payment Processor (the city will need to engage with either Paymentus or Invoice Cloud for a payment gateway services). The services include setting up CityView Portal, enabling CityView Cashiering for portal payments, and enabling the CityView-Supported Payment Processor functionality for either Paymentus or Invoice Cloud after the City of Lawndale engages with one the preferred payment gateways for payment processing services. The services do not include any workflow, business rules, and/or application changes. The services include an upgrade to the current version of CityView (currently 2024.9).

CityView Portal (Permits & Planning/Development) - $15,000 CityView Cashiering (1/2 license for Portal payments) - $ 2,750 CityView-Supported Payment Processor
(Paymentus or Invoice Cloud integration)- $ 2,500
Training Services - $ 1,890
Implementation Services - $ 22,860
Total: $ 45,000
CityView Annual Software Maintenance year 1 (all software updates, 12/5 unlimited support) - subject to annual revision:
$5,063
The Mandatory Annual Software Maintenance (ASM) shall increase no greater than 5% per annum on the renewal date. • The assumption is the City is happy with the way the fees are currently calculating in the system and/or they are comfortable with manually adjusting the fees to the correct values where necessary. There is no provision in this statement of work for CityView to reconfigure the City’s fee schedule in CityView. • The assumption is the City is going to manually post daily journal entries to their financial system. There is no provision in this statement of work for CityView to provide an automated export of payments to the financial (general ledger) system.

All Services are assumed to be remote. Should travel be required expenses will be invoiced as incurred and payable on a cost recovery basis. To include: costs of economy flights, rental car, hotel, other direct expenses, a per diem meal (no receipts provided) rate of $65/day week days and $110/day for weekend days and a travel time rate of $100/h. Due net 30 days.

List of attached documents: None
Cost: Total of $45,000 USD plus pro-rated ASM
Total Estimated
Cost:
$45,000 (ASM is to be
pro-rated - see terms)
Planned Delivery
Date: TBD
Payment Terms: As per the attached Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions
1 PAYMENT TERMS
Software Licensing Deliverables Payment
Milestone
Payment
Terms
Software Licenses Include:
• CityView Portal (licensed for Planning,
Permits & Inspections, and Property)
• CityView Cashiering (Partial (1/2)
license for Portal payments)
• CityView Payment Processor
Extension (Paymentus)
CityView will:
• Set up as a client on FTP & CityView Connect
• Provide documentation to download the
latest version of CityView from the FTP &
CityView Connect site
• Send the licensing key for CityView Licenses
• Provide documentation to download the
Solutions from the FTP & CityView Connect
site
$20,250
Invoiced on
execution of
the contract
and due net
30 days
Mandatory Annual Software Maintenance Deliverables Payment Milestone
Payment
Terms
Annual Software Maintenance (year 1 – subject to
annual revision and pro-rated to the current
renewal period)
The Mandatory Annual Software
Maintenance (ASM) shall increase no greater
than 5% per annum on the renewal date.

Provides:
• All major and minor software upgrades
• Unlimited technical support;
• Unlimited access to the CityView FTP site
• Unlimited access to the CityView Connect
• Support for in-scope, CityView-delivered
customizations to product and Select
configuration
$5,063
Invoiced on
execution of
the contract
and due net 30
days
Implementation Services Deliverables Payment
Milestone
Payment
Terms
Project Management
Ongoing project facilitation, billing, issues
resolution, escalation, resource allocation,
scheduling, budget management, change
orders etc.
$ 1,500
Invoiced on
execution
of this
quotation
and due
net 30 days
Online Process Mapping and Configuration
Configuration of CityView Portal, enabling
CityView Cashiering for portal payments, and
enabling the CityView-Supported Payment
Processor functionality for either Paymentus or
Invoice Cloud after the City of Lawndale
engages with one the preferred payment
gateways for payment processing services. The
services do not include any workflow, business
rules, and/or application changes.

Configuration based on completed Scope
Document. Deliverable is CityView-hosted
development environment ready for review &
validation & configuration refinement.
$ 10,000
50%
invoiced on
commence
ment of the
process
mapping
sessions,
due net 30
days; and,
50%
invoiced on
delivery of
Scope

Document,
due net 30
days
Validation and Refinements
Gather validation feedback. Identify in-scope
vs. out of scope feedback. Resolve in-scope
refinements arising out of the validation.

Written acceptance by client is required.
$ 5,500
On
completion
of 1st
Validation
and Review
session,
due net 30
days
Quality Assurance and Environment
Management
Installation of configured system into onsite
environments (production and test). Setup and
management of the remote development
environment through the life of the project.
$ 2,250
Invoiced on
delivery
into
Production,
due net 30
days
End User Training (remote) and Go-Live
Facilitation & Assistance (remote)
One half day of remote end user Portal
Administration training and two days of
remote Go-Live Facilitation & Assistance.
$ 5,500
Invoiced
upon the
first day of
user
training
and due
net 30 days
Total Implementation Services $ 24,750
2 PROJECT ACCEPTANCE

2.1 After delivery of the configuration changes to the City’s Test environment, the City will undertake acceptance testing using self-generated testing scenarios. Should the testing identify any defects, CityView will provide in-scope fixes at no additional charge in parallel to, or immediately subsequent to, the acceptance testing.

2.2 After all fixes deemed essential for go-live are provided and retested, the code will be frozen and CityView will prepare to deploy the changes to the production environment. The City will be asked to formally accept the delivered solution for Go-live. Following go-live the CityView project team will work with the City to record any known issues. The project team is responsible for the resolution of these known issues. 30 days after Go Live CityView will request a formal letter of acceptance that substantiates the product has been delivered and is being used successfully in a live, production environment.

2.3 During the first 4 weeks after go-live, the project team will begin to familiarize and transition the project to the Technical Support group. At the end of 4 weeks, the City will continue with support through the Technical Support group.
3 CHANGE ORDER MANAGEMENT

3.1 To ensure timely and effective delivery of the project, the scope will be tightly managed. Project change control procedures will be reviewed with the team at the beginning of the project to ensure that they are clearly understood. This review helps establish a common understanding of the need for project change control and the mechanics for implementing any changes to the scope of the project. Any alterations to the project scope, budget, or schedule will be documented and authorized via the Change Control process.

3.2 A Change Control refers to any modification and/or new development deviating from the baseline established in the Statement of Work and Scope Document. It includes changes to the software, database, training, consulting services, or related processes. Each modification (or group of modifications) to the Contract, Statement of Work, or Scope Document must be documented and approved by a Change Control Form. All potential changes are compared against the project baseline in terms of functionality, schedule, cost, upgrade capability, maintainability and resources. Change Control requests can be raised by any member of the CityView or the City Project Teams.

3.3 The following steps will be followed with any changes to the baseline system:

3.3.1 The change control process will begin with a team member identifying a function or design alternative not already identified as part of the baseline system or a function that is part of the baseline but because of design issues may impact cost, schedule, or resources.

3.3.2 The person requesting the change will complete a Change Control Form and forward it to the appropriate Project Manager to determine cost, resources, and schedule impact, and the PM will forward the request on to their counter-part. Once these are determined, approval by the CityView Project Manager and the City’s Project Manager is required.

3.3.3 Once approved (or denied), the change request is entered into the change control log and is placed on the agenda of the next Joint PM meeting.
4 ISSUES AND PROBLEM RESOLUTION

4.1 An issue refers to any matter that requires someone to make a decision, and about which no agreement has been reached or can be routinely reached. Typically, issues impede project progress until they are resolved.

Change Control items may become issues if they’re not dealt with quickly, but Change Control items are specific to the process of authorizing design changes that impact scope, schedule or budget whereas issues can be related to anything about the project that needs to be decided.

4.2 The CityView Project Manager will maintain an issue log and will assign responsibility for the resolution of project issues and reports progress to City Project Manager and the CityView Project Team. Any Project Manager or team member can submit an issue for logging and resolution. Most project issues are expected to be resolved within the overall Project Team. If the issues are not resolved to the satisfaction of the Project Team, they may need to be escalated to the appropriate level.

4.3 Typical project situations requiring escalation include conflicting resource demands threatening project staffing, group dependencies not being met, scope disagreements and issues with functionality of the project's deliverables nearing release time.

4.4 Escalation Process:

4.4.1 CityView escalation levels in the order listed below:
• Project Manager
• Manager, Client Services
• VP, Professional Services

4.4.2 City escalation levels in the order listed below:
• Project Manager

• City Treasurer
• City Manager

Exhibit 1
Statement of Work
Through this Statement of Work, the City of Lawndale, CA will implement CityView Portal for Planning, Permits & Inspections, and Property along with the CityView Payment Processing (Paymentus) Extension into their live CityView system. This will also require implementation of CityView Cashiering. This Statement of Work covers the services to implementation of Portal, Payment Processing and Cashiering in a single phase. The project includes 1/2 day of remote Portal training for up to 10 users and 2 days of remote Go-Live assistance.

The following services will be provided pertaining to the migration to CityView Workspace. • Project management of 8 hours
• 52 hours of setup and configuration of CityView Portal for Planning and Permits & Inspections, enabling CityView Cashiering for portal payments, and enabling the CityView-Supported Payment Processor functionality for either Paymentus or Invoice Cloud after the City of Lawndale engages with one the preferred payment gateways for payment processing services. The services do not include any workflow, business rules, and/or application changes except to enable the above functionality. Configuration based on completed Scope Document. The deliverable of this phase will be a Scope Document. • 29 hours of in-scope refinements to Portal, payment processing, and cashiering to ensure the Portal and payment processing functions as per the Scope document. • The City’s SMEs will undertake validation testing of the Portal to ensure the current workflows are configured as per the signed off Scope Document. City will use CityView’s Feedback system to log an issues.
• Once testing and refinements are complete, a single go live will be conducted. CityView has included up to 2 days of remote Go-Live assistance.
• One half (.5) days of end user training are included in this proposal for up to ten (10) users.

Exclusions & Assumptions:

No modifications to existing configuration are included in this quotation unless explicitly mentioned in this Statement of Work. This includes changes to existing reports or interfaces/integrations. Where existing scheduled processes trigger workflow, those updates will be made to reflect the workflow changes. Likewise existing letter templates will be linked into new workflow steps wherever it makes sense.

CityView is not responsible for providing or configuring hardware, virtual servers O/S settings, or IIS settings.

BACKGROUND
At the July 15, 2024, City Council meeting, City Councilmember, Rhonda Hofmann Gorman, presented an item for City Council’s discussion regarding the possibility of hiring a federal lobbyist. Based on City Council’s discussion during this meeting, this item was continued to the September 16, 2024, meeting whereby staff presented a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for cost services for further review and discussion. During this meeting, City Council approved the draft RFP and provided staff with direction to proceed.

On September 30, 2024, staff advertised the attached RFP to obtain competitive bids from experienced firms to provided professional legislative lobbying services. Four (4) firms responded to the RFP: Joe A.

Gonsalves & Son, Kiley Associates, LLC, Carpi & Clay and Townsend Public Affairs, Inc.

Attached for City Council’s review are the proposals from the above-mentioned firms for consideration.

Staff reached out to the responding firms to obtain permission to include their proposals with this staff report, which was received.

STAFF REVIEW
On September 30, 2024, City staff sent out an RFP for Professional Legislative and Lobbying Services for Local Government to ten firms, registered with the State of California, Secretary of State’s Office to lobby the legislature and administrative branches of state government. The City Clerk’s Department received four sealed proposals on or before the October 31, 2024, submission deadline. Per City Council’s direction, responding firms included a fee schedule to provide federal lobbyist services, which are as follows:

Firm Fee Schedule
Joe A. Gonsalves & Son Monthly Retainer - $3,500
Kiley Associates, LLC Monthly Retainer - $4,000
Carpi & Clay Monthly Retainer - $5,000
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. Monthly Retainer - $8,000 Staff completed a preliminary review of the submitted proposals and determined that the proposals meet the minimum qualifications as identified in the RFP. In efforts to move forward and further review, evaluate and select a potential firm, staff is seeking further direction from City Council as to next steps. As such, staff is recommending that City Council further discuss the possibility of hiring a legislative federal lobbyist and provide staff with direction regarding potential next steps.

LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the staff report and its attachments.

FISCAL IMPACT
N/A

RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that City Council: 1) review the Request for Proposals (RFP) received from the responding firms and provide further direction to staff to proceed with a selection process for lobbying services, which may include establishing a selection committee; or 2) provide other direction to staff as appropriate.

Attachments
Attachment A -RFP for Legislative Lobby Services -2024.pdf Attachment B -RFP Response - Joe A. Gonsalves & Son.pdf Attachment C -RFP Response - Kiley Associates, LLC.pdf
Attachment D -RFP Response - Capri & Clay.pdf
Attachment E -RFP Response - Townsend Public Affairs.pdf

ATTACHMENT A

CITY OF LAWNDALE

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
RFP NO. 2410-34

PROFESSIONAL LEGISLATIVE AND LOBBYING

SERVICES FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
SEPTEMBER 30, 2024
OCTOBER 31, 2024, AT 5:00PM
City Clerks’ Office
Attention: Legislative and Lobbying Services
14717 Burin Ave.

Lawndale, CA 90260
RELEASE DATE:

PROPOSALS DUE:

SUBMIT TO:
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CITY OF LAWNDALE
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – PROFESSIONAL LEGISLATIVE AND LOBBING

SERVICES

SECTION I - GENERAL INFORMATION
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE:

The City Council of the City of Lawndale invites experienced firms or individuals to submit Cost Proposals for Professional Legislative and Lobbing Services as described in the Scope of Services set forth in Section II of this request. The selected firms or individuals will work collaboratively with the City Council, City Manager, and designated staff to develop legislative priorities, serve as an advocate for the City at local state and federal levels, gain support from policy makers on local initiatives, monitor grants, and obtain funding opportunities and services based on the needs and priorities of the Lawndale community.

The City is seeking experienced firms or individuals who have demonstrated experience providing legislative representation and lobbying services with State legislators and public officials. The selected firm or individuals will serve at the pleasure of the City Council and under the management of the City Manager’s Office.

BACKGROUND:

The City of Lawndale is located in the southwestern region of the Greater Los Angeles County. This “Heart of the South Bay” city is approximately fifteen miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles and five miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Lawndale encompasses approximately 1.9 square miles and is bounded by the cities of Hawthorne, Redondo Beach and Torrance. Lawndale is an urbanized, diverse, close-net community, comprised of predominately single-family homes, with a household median income of $76,213, and a median home price of $800,000. The City is well served by several regional transportation systems, including the San Diego (405) Freeway and Hawthorne Boulevard (107 Highway), which both pass through the community and provide access to major employment centers in Los Angeles County.

The City of Lawndale wasfounded in 1905 and incorporated in 1959, with a population of approximately 32,000 residents. Lawndale has transformed from a rural community to a blossoming suburban community with residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, and commercial areas that caters to the needs of the community. These establishments contribute to the local economy and add to the overall character of Lawndale.

The City of Lawndale is a General Law City, governed by a five-member, City Council and operates under a City Council/Manager form of government. The City Council, chaired by an elected mayor enacts laws and establishes policy for the City. The City Council appoints the City Manager, City Attorney, and members of the City boards, commissions, and committees. The City Council meets on the first (1st) and third (3rd) Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. and the Planning Commission meets every second (2nd) and fourth (4th) Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. More information can be found on the City’s website: www.lawndalecity.org
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DEFINITIONS:

The following meanings are intended for the following words when used in these specifications. The word “City” means the City of Lawndale. The words “Proposer” or “Vendor” or “Contractor” means the person, firm, or corporation submitting a Proposal on these specifications or any part thereof. “Successful Proposer” means the Proposer, Vendor or Contractor will be awarded the contract. The words “purchase agreement”, “contract”, ““blanket contract” mean the contract services agreement between the Successful Proposer and the City for the purchase of goods and services.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

1. Proposals must be made on the form (Exhibit A) provided for that purpose herein and included with all submitted proposals. No substitutes to the form will be accepted.

2. Proposers must submit one (1) original complete hard copy of the Proposal with original signature, plus one (1) electronic copy in PDF format saved on a USB flash drive. All Proposals must be submitted in a sealed envelope clearly marked on lower left-hand corner “Legislative and Lobbyist Services.”

3. Proposals must be delivered in person, by U.S. Postal Service, or by a courier service such as Federal Express, UPS, etc. and must be and must be received no later than October 31, 2024, 5:00 p.m.

PST, at the address listed below:

Yvette Palomo
City of Lawndale
City Clerk’s Office
14717 Burin Ave.

Lawndale, CA 90260

4. Proposers must direct all questions, clarifications, request for information, specifications, etc. regarding the RFP in writing to Raylette Felton, Deputy CM/HR Director, by email only to [email protected]. The email subject line shall include the following: RFP Legislative and Lobbyist Services.

5. The deadline to submit any questions is: October 16, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. Responses to questions and any clarifications regarding this RFP communicated between the City and Proposers will be documented in an addendum that will be posted and made public on the city’s website. In addition, the addendum will be emailed to all Proposers that the city has on its Proposer’s list. The City will not be responsible for any oral interpretation of the RFP.

6. Any change in the RFP or its requirements made by the City will be by issuance of an addendum which will be made available on the city’s website and emailed to all recipients of the RFP, and such addendum shall be a part of the RFP requirements.

7. All Proposals shall be dated and signed by a representative authorized to enter into agreements for the proposing firm.
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8. The City of Lawndale is not liable for any costs incurred by a Proposer in the preparation and/or presentation of the Proposal. All Proposals, associated costs, and agreements shall remain valid for a period of ninety (90) days following the deadline date for submittals.

9. All responses to the RFP accepted by the City shall become the exclusive property of the City. All Proposals accepted by the City shall become a matter of public record and shall be regarded as public, with the exception of those elements considered a legal exception to public disclosure.

10. If disclosure is required or permitted under the California Public Records Act or otherwise by law, the City shall not in any way be liable or responsible for any damages resulting from the disclosure of any such records or part thereof. If the City receives a request for any document submitted in response to this RFP, it will not assert any privileges that may exist on behalf of Proposers. In the event that a demand for disclosure of information designated as “confidential and/or proprietary” by a Proposer is made, the City as a courtesy will notify the Proposer in writing of such demand and will furnish to the Proposer a copy of the City's written response to the requestor. It would be the sole responsibility of each Proposer to assert any applicable privileges or reasons why the document should not be produced, and to obtain a court order prohibiting disclosure.

11. The City reserves the right to accept or reject any or all Proposals or portions thereof without stated cause. The City may also elect to cancel the RFP, reject all Proposals and/or re-issue a new RFP.

12. Clarification of Proposals: The City reserves the right to obtain clarification of any point in a consultant’s Proposal or obtain additional information. Any request for clarification or other correspondence related to the RFP shall be in writing or email, and a response shall be provided within two (2) business days.

13. The City is not bound to accept the Proposal with the lowest cost but may accept the Proposal that demonstrates the best ability and most qualified to meet the needs of the City. The City reserves the right to waive any formalities, defects, or irregularities, in any Proposal, response, and/or submittal where the acceptance, rejection, or waiving of such is in the best interests of the City.

14. The City reserves the right to disqualify any Proposal, before or after opening, upon evidence of collusion, intent to defraud, or any other illegal practice on the part of the consultant.

PROPOSAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

The Proposal Schedule of Events represents the City's best estimate of the schedule to be followed.

Unless otherwise specified, the time-of-day deadline for the following events will be 5:00 PM PST.

The City reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to adjust this schedule as deemed necessary.

Notification of any adjustment to the Proposal Schedule of Events will be provided to all Proposers.

City Issues/ Release RFP September 30, 2024, by 4:00 p.m.

Deadline for Written Questions October 16, 2024, at 4:00 p.m.

City’s Responses to Questions (if applicable) October 23, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.

Deadline for Proposal Submission October 31, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.

City’s Review and Evaluate RFPs* November 27, 2024*
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Tentative Award of Contract * December 18, 2024*
*Dates are subject to change depending on scheduled events and activities.

NONDISCRIMINATION:

The City of Lawndale requires all Proposers to comply with all federal, state and local laws, statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations, and the orders and decrees of any courts or administrative bodies or tribunals, including without limitation all environmental laws, employment laws, and non-discrimination laws while performing any activity or work pursuant to the agreement.

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR:

The City Attorney is not an employee of the City and will be an independent contractor. All persons employed by a firm in accordance with a contract resulting from this RFP will be employees of the firm and not the City of Lawndale. The City Council may reserve the right to retain or employ other attorneys or special counsel as may be needed, in its sole judgment, to take charge of any litigation or legal matters or to assist the City Attorney.

STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

Prior to the award of any work, the City and Contractor shall enter into the written contract attached as the Standard Agreement. Please see Exhibit “B”. Proposers to this RFP are strongly advised to review all the terms and conditions of the contract.

Licenses: The selected Proposer shall hold, and provide copies upon request by the City, of valid permits, licenses, certificates, and other documents as required by the Federal, State, County, City and other governmental or regulatory bodies to legally engage in the services to be provided The selected Proposer shall obtain a City of Lawndale business license from the Finance Department before the commencement of services. In addition, the selected proposer shall be required to pay all other required license and permit fees related to doing business with the City, if applicable.

The selected proposer must notify the City immediately of any suspension, termination, lapse, nonrenewals or restriction of required licenses, certificates, or other documents which may be cause for immediate termination of the Agreement
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Proof of insurance is not required to be submitted with your proposal. However, all approved Certificates of Liability Insurance, Additional Insured, Primary, Non-contributory, Notice of Cancellation and Waiver of Subrogation endorsements from an insurance company with an approval rating of A-VII or greater in Best’s Rating Guide will be required prior to the City's award of the contract. The following are the standard types and minimum amounts of insurance which will be required by the City:
o Commercial General Liability Insurance with minimum limits of $1,000,000.00 for each occurrence and $2,000,000 annual aggregate.
o Business Automobile Liability Insurance with minimum limits of $1,000,000.00 for each occurrence, combined single limit for Bodily Injury and Property Damage, including owned and non-owned and hired automobile coverage.
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o Workers’ Compensation Insurance (Statutory Limits) and Employer’s Liability Insurance on state approved policy with liability limits no less than $1,000,000 per accident and disease. o Professional (Errors and omissions) Liability Insurance with limits of not less than $1,000,000 per claim or per occurrence and $1,000,000 annual aggregate.

Each policy must include the City of Lawndale, its officers, agents, employees and servants as additional insureds, but only with respect to work performed under the contract. The additional insured endorsement must be provided with the certificate of insurance.

SECTION II

LEGISLATIVE AND LOBBYIST SERVICE REQUIREMENTS
SCOPE OF SERVICES:

The selected firm or individual will be responsible for providing legislative representation and lobbying services on behalf of the City. Services to be provided may include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Assist in the development and implementation of legislative priorities and strategies that are important to the City of Lawndale and successfully promotes the City’s legislative priorities. • Work collaboratively and cooperatively with City’s key staff to bring visibility to budget and legislative priorities.
• Review periodic revenue forecasts and the proposed biennial State budget. Identify funding opportunities and assess program requirements and guidelines. • Accurately and persuasively present the City’s views and initiatives. • Provide support on City efforts and initiatives beyond the legislative session to position the City to advance its objectives.
• Develop, prepare, and present position statements, exhibits, testimony, correspondence, proposed bill text, and amendments as necessary for the support, opposition, or amendment of pending legislation.
• Advocate on issues that directly or indirectly impact the City’s ability to conduct its business efficiently and cost-effectively.
• Establish, strengthen, and maintain relationships with legislators, legislative staff, State agencies, State advisory boards/committees, and other relevant stakeholders to gain support for the County’s legislative priorities.
• Attend City Council and staff meetings, as may be requested by the City Manager, in order to brief City Officials on legislative activities.
• Serve as an go-between for information to and from City and legislative agencies. • Review, analyze and keep the City informed in real time on all existing and proposed legislative policies and programs and any key developments, factors and obstacles that could affect the City’s legislative efforts.
• Comply with all Public Disclosure Commission requirements for lobbying activities. • Identify opportunities for City Officials and staff to testify before legislative committees and subcommittees with respect to proposed legislation; communicate such opportunities to the City Manager or designee in a timely manner; assist in the preparation of testimony to be given; and as requested, liaison on the City’s behalf.
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The City may propose additional tasks as deemed necessary. Firms may also include additional services in their submitted Proposal’s. Any additional work shall be determined and negotiated, as agreed upon in the final Professional Services Agreement between the successful Proposer and the City.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

To be eligible for consideration, Proposers must demonstrate that they have successfully performed the services identified in the Scope of Services section of this Proposal. At a minimum, Proposers qualifications should include at least five (5) or more years’ experience successfully providing state and federal lobbyist services to local public sector clients and information regarding registration as a federal lobbyist in the manner as prescribed by law in good standing concerning standards of conduct.

SECTION III

PROPOSAL FORM AND CONTENT

PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL
All pages of the Proposal must be numbered consecutively. The Proposal shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages in length and must be typed in a font size no less than 12, single-spaced. Resumes, references, and licenses shall not count against this page limit. The Proposal must be organized in accordance with the list of Proposal contents.

PROPOSAL FORM AND CONTENT
Proposal must be concise, structured, presented, and formatted in the following manner:

Proposal Form (Exhibit A)
A. Cover Letter
B. Proposer Firm Background/Qualifications
C. Understanding of Scope of Services and Approach
D. Compensation and Fee Proposal
E. References
F. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
G. Additional Information
Failure to follow the specific format, to label the responses correctly, or to address all the subsections may, at the City’s sole discretion, result in the rejection of the Proposal.

All information presented in the Proposal must be relevant in response to a requirement of this RFP, must be clearly labeled, and, if not incorporated into the body of the Proposal itself, must be referenced to the appropriate place within the body of the Proposal.

A. Cover Letter
Include a cover letter signed by a duly authorized representative of the firm. The cover letter must include an introduction of the firm, firm’s interest in the project, statement attesting to the accuracy of the Proposal submittal, and the firm’s ability to provide the services noted in Section II of this RFP. In addition, the cover letter should include a statement indicating the Proposal 8 | Page
remains valid for at least 90 days from the deadline for Receipt of Proposal, with automatic extension should the Proposer be selected for negotiation.

B. Proposer Firm Background/Qualifications
This section should identify the following:
• A description of the Proposer’s background, nature of business, experience (in detail) and length of time providing legislative and lobbying services to California local government agencies.
• Description of experience analyzing, reviewing, presenting, and educating clients regarding legislation impacting their organizations.
• Recent (at least three (3) relevant) initiatives and efforts made by Proposer for a local municipality of similar scope and size of the City.
• Examples of recent successful legislative outcomes achieved for clients within the last three (3) years.
• Past success in obtaining funding and favorable legislation for government clients.

C. Understanding of Scope of Services and Approach
In this section, the Proposer should identify firm/staff extensive experience in the scope of services. More specifically, this section should identify the following:
• Understanding and approach in assisting the City in establishing and reaching its goals and priorities.
• Explain firm(s) philosophy and approach for carrying out the scope of services outlined in the RFP.
• List of person(s) designated to work with the City, and there specific areas of expertise. This section should include key staff resumes and any supporting staff as needed to meet the scope of services.
• Describe how key staff would interact with the City officials and staff. Estimate number hours key staff would dedicate to meeting the contractual obligations.

D. Compensation and Fee Proposal
Please provide a separate detailed compensation and fee proposal, in a table format, for the Scope of Services identified in this RFP. The cost proposal should provide the costs for a fiscal year cycle, July 1st through June 30th, and include the costs for the current Fiscal Year 2024-2025 (remaining 6 months) and cost for next Fiscal Year 2025-2026. The compensation and fee proposal should include either the fixed hourly rate, monthly retainer, or other billable rate for all proposed services. If a fixed monthly retainer rate is proposed, please describe in detail what is included in the retainer. The compensation and fee proposal should include an itemized list of all billable costs for the Scope of Services identified in this RFP as well as any other areas which the Proposer believes should be included but was not stipulated in this RFP. This compensation and fee proposal should also include any additional out-of-pocket expenses and costs for all tasks and services, as well as any expanded services proposed. The City will use these expenses in the selection process and reserves the right to negotiate the final fees with the selected firm or individual.

E. References
Provide five (5) current professional references from local government entities within California for whom the Proposer has provided services similar to those services requested in this RFP within the last three (3) years. Please include the name of business, name of contact person, 9 | Page
telephone, email address, and description of services provided. In addition, please include a list of all local government clients for whom you currently provide services.

F. Additional Information
Any other relevant information that the Proposer feels applicable to the evaluation of the Proposal or of their qualification for accomplishing the legal services should be included in this section.

You may use this section to address those aspects of your services that distinguish your firm from other firms.

PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND SELECTION:

All submitted Proposals will be initially screened by City staff. Late, incomplete, noncompliant or proposals determined to not meet with minimum qualifications as identified in this RPF may be eliminated from further review and evaluation.

A selection committee comprised of City Officials and Staff will further evaluate the selected proposals based on experience with State and Federal legislative process, conformance and ability to meet the scope of services required, quality of the approach, strength of the proposed team, experience with State and Federal legislative process, references and demonstrated success, budget, valued return to the City, as well as other qualifications/criteria as deemed appropriate and necessary by the City. The qualifications and references for the top Proposer will be verified and reviewed.

After an initial screening and review of the Proposals, City Council may choose to interview the top candidates. If conducted, these interviews will allow the Proposer an opportunity to answer any outstanding questions relative to their Proposal.

After all evaluations of the Proposals have been completed, the City Council will select the finalist in its sole discretion. Upon selection of a finalist, the City by its proper officials shall attempt to negotiate and reach a final agreement with the finalist. If the City, for any reason, is unable to reach a final agreement with this finalist; the City then reserves the right to reject such finalist and negotiate a final agreement with another finalist who has the next most viable Proposal. 10 | Page

EXHIBIT A

CITY OF LAWNDALE
14717 Lawndale Blvd.

Lawndale, CA 90260
RFP NO. 2410-34

RFP PROPOSAL FORM
PROPOSER’S RESPONSES TO

RFP FOR LEGISLATIVE AND LOBBYING SERVICES
FAILURE TO COMPLETE ALL ITEMS IN THIS SECTION MAY INVALIDATE RFP.

The following Proposal is submitted to the City of Lawndale.

Proposal Submitted By:

Name of Firm Website
Address
City State Zip Code
Printed Name/Title of Contact Email
Telephone Number/Fax Number
Name of official authorized to bind firm to terms of submittal Form of Business Organization:

Please indicate the following (check one):

Corporation
Partnership
Sole Proprietorship
Other:____________________________________________________________________________ 11 | Page
Business History:

How long have you been in business under your current name and form of business organization? Years
If less than three (3) years and your company was in business under a different name, what was that name?___________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ Addenda Received:

Please indicate addenda information you have received regarding this RFP: (if needed) Addendum No. _____ Date Received: ____
Addendum No. Date Received: ____
Addendum No. Date Received: ____
No Addenda received regarding this RFP: _____________________________________________ References:

Please supply the names of companies/agencies for whom you recently supplied and installed comparable goods as requested in this RFP.

Name of Company/Agency Address Person to contact/Telephone No.

Is the Compensation and Fee Proposal attached and include a cost breakdown for both current for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 (remaining 6 months) AND cost for Fiscal Year 2025-2026? _________________
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EXHIBIT “B”

SAMPLE AGREEMENT

LA #4828-2252-8997 v1

CITY OF LAWNDALE

CONTRACT SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR
[REPLACE THIS LINE WITH DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES]
This Contract Services Agreement ("Agreement") is made and entered into this ____ day of __________, 20__, by and between the City of Lawndale, a municipal corporation ("City"), and ____________________________ ("Consultant"). The term Consultant includes professionals performing in a consulting capacity. The parties hereto agree as follows:

1.0 SERVICES OF CONSULTANT

1.1 Scope of Services. In compliance with all terms and conditions of this Agreement, Consultant shall provide the work and services specified in the "Scope of Services" attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein by this reference. Consultant warrants that all work or services set forth in the Scope of Services will be performed in a competent, professional and satisfactory manner.

1.2 Consultant's Proposal. The Scope of Services shall include the Consultant's proposal or bid which shall be incorporated herein by this reference as though fully set forth herein. In the event of any inconsistency between the terms of such proposal and this Agreement, the terms of this Agreement shall govern.

1.3 Compliance with Law. All work and services rendered hereunder shall be provided in accordance with all ordinances, resolutions, statutes, rules, and regulations of the City and any Federal, State or local governmental agency having jurisdiction.

1.4 Licenses, Permits, Fees and Assessments. Consultant shall obtain at its sole cost and expense, such licenses, permits and approvals as may be required by law for the performance of the services required by this Agreement. Consultant shall have the sole obligation to pay for any fees, assessments, taxes, including applicable penalties and interest, which may be imposed by law and arise from or are necessary for the Consultant's performance of the services required by this Agreement; and shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless City against any claim for such fees, assessments, taxes, penalties or interest levied, assessed or imposed against City hereunder.

1.5 Familiarity with Work. By executing this Agreement, Consultant warrants that Consultant (a) has thoroughly investigated and considered the scope of services to be performed, (b) has carefully considered how the work and services should be performed, and (c) fully understands the facilities, difficulties and restrictions attending performance of the services under this Agreement.

1.6 Additional Services. City shall have the right at any time during the performance of the services, without invalidating this Agreement, to order extra work beyond that specified in the Scope of Services or make changes by altering, adding to or deducting from said work. No such extra work may be undertaken unless a written order is first given by the Contract Officer to the Consultant, incorporating therein any adjustment in (i) the Contract Sum, and/or (ii) the time to perform this Agreement, which said adjustments are subject to the written approval of the Consultant. Any increase in compensation must be approved by the City Council. It is expressly understood by Consultant that the provisions of this Section shall not apply to services specifically set forth in the Scope of Services

[INSERT CONSULTANT NAME]
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or reasonably contemplated therein. Consultant hereby acknowledges that it accepts the risk that the services to be provided pursuant to the Scope of Services may be more costly or time consuming than Consultant anticipates and that Consultant shall not be entitled to additional compensation therefor.

1.7 Special Requirements. Additional terms and conditions of this Agreement, if any, which are made a part hereof are set forth in the "Special Requirements" attached hereto as Exhibit "B" and incorporated herein by this reference. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of Exhibit "B" and any other provisions of this Agreement, the provisions of Exhibit "B" shall govern.

1.8 Environmental Laws. Consultant shall comply with all applicable environmental laws, ordinances, codes and regulations of Federal, State, and local governments. Consultant shall also comply with all applicable mandatory standards and policies relating to energy efficiency.

2.0 COMPENSATION

2.1 Contract Sum. For the services rendered pursuant to this Agreement, Consultant shall be compensated in accordance with the "Schedule of Compensation" attached hereto as Exhibit "C" and incorporated herein by this reference, but not exceeding the maximum contract amount of ________________________________ dollars ($_____________) ("Contract Sum"), except as provided in Section 1.6. The method of compensation may include: (i) a lump sum payment upon completion, (ii) payment in accordance with the percentage of completion of the services, (iii) payment for time and materials based upon the Consultant's rates as specified in the Schedule of Compensation, but not exceeding the Contract Sum or (iv) such other methods as may be specified in the Schedule of Compensation. Compensation may include reimbursement for actual and necessary expenditures approved by the Contract Officer in advance if specified in the Schedule of Compensation. The Contract Sum shall include the attendance of Consultant at all project meetings reasonably deemed necessary by the City.

Consultant agrees that if Consultant becomes aware of any facts, circumstances, techniques, or events that may or will materially increase or decrease the cost of the work or services or, if Consultant is providing design services, the cost of the project being designed, Consultant shall promptly notify the Contract Officer of said fact, circumstance, technique or event and the estimated increased or decreased cost related thereto and, if Consultant is providing design services, the estimated increased or decreased cost estimate for the project being designed.

2.2 Method of Payment. Unless some other method of payment is specified in the Schedule of Compensation, in any month in which Consultant wishes to receive payment, no later than the first (1st) working day of such month, Consultant shall submit to the City, in a form approved by the City's Director of Finance, an invoice for services rendered prior to the date of the invoice. Except as provided in Section 7.2, City shall pay Consultant for all expenses stated thereon which are approved by City pursuant to this Agreement generally within thirty (30) days, and no later than forty-five (45) days, from the submission of an invoice in an approved form. City will review each invoice submitted by Consultant to determine whether the work performed and expenses incurred are in compliance with this Agreement. If no charges or expenses are disputed, the invoice will be approved and paid. In the event any charges or expenses are disputed by City, the invoice will be returned by City to Consultant for correction and resubmission. City reserves the right to withhold future payment to Consultant if any aspect of the Consultant’s work is found substantially inadequate.

[INSERT CONSULTANT NAME]
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2.3 Availability of Funds. It is mutually understood between the parties that this Agreement is valid and enforceable only if sufficient funds are made available by the City Council of the City for the purposes of this Agreement. The availability of funding is affected by matters outside the City’s control, including other governmental entities. Accordingly, the City has the option to void the whole Agreement or to amend the Agreement to reflect unanticipated reduction in funding for any reason.

3.0 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

3.1 Time of Essence. Time is of the essence in the performance of this Agreement.

3.2 Schedule of Performance. Consultant shall commence the services pursuant to this Agreement upon receipt of a written notice to proceed and shall perform all services within the time period(s) established in the "Schedule of Performance" attached hereto as Exhibit "D", if any, and incorporated herein by this reference.

3.3 Force Majeure. The time period(s) specified in the Schedule of Performance for performance of the services rendered pursuant to this Agreement shall be extended because of any delays due to unforeseeable causes beyond the control and without the fault or negligence of the Consultant, including, but not restricted to, acts of God or of the public enemy, unusually severe weather, fires, earthquakes, floods, epidemics, quarantine restrictions, riots, strikes, freight embargoes, wars, litigation, and/or acts of any governmental agency, including the City, if the Consultant shall, within ten (10) days of the commencement of such delay, notify the Contract Officer in writing of the causes of the delay. The Contract Officer shall ascertain the facts and the extent of delay and extend the time for performing the services for the period of the enforced delay when and if, in the judgment of the Contract Officer, such delay is justified. The Contract Officer's determination shall be final and conclusive upon the parties to this Agreement. In no event shall Consultant be entitled to recover damages against the City for any delay in the performance of this Agreement, however caused; Consultant's sole remedy being extension of the Agreement pursuant to this Section.

3.4 Term. Unless earlier terminated in accordance with Section 7.4 below, this Agreement shall begin on ____________________and continue in full force and effect until completion of the services no later than _____________________.

4.0 COORDINATION OF WORK

4.1 Representative of Consultant. _____________ is hereby designated as being the representative of Consultant authorized to act on its behalf with respect to the work or services specified herein and to make all decisions in connection therewith.

It is expressly understood that the experience, knowledge, capability and reputation of the representative was a substantial inducement for City to enter into this Agreement. Therefore, the representative shall be responsible during the term of this Agreement for directing all activities of Consultant and devoting sufficient time to personally supervise the services hereunder. For purposes of this Agreement, the representative may not be replaced nor may his responsibilities be substantially reduced by Consultant without the express written approval of City.

4.2 Contract Officer. The City's City Manager is hereby designated as the representative of the City authorized to act in its behalf with respect to the work and services and to make all decisions

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4 LA #4828-2252-8997 v1
in connection therewith ("Contract Officer"). It shall be the Consultant's responsibility to assure that the Contract Officer is kept informed of the progress of the performance of the services and the Consultant shall refer any decisions which must be made by City to the Contract Officer. The City may designate another Contract Officer by providing written notice to Consultant.

4.3 Prohibition Against Subcontracting or Assignment. The experience, knowledge, capability and reputation of Consultant, its principals and employees were a substantial inducement for the City to enter into this Agreement. Therefore, Consultant shall not contract with any other entity to perform in whole or in part the services required hereunder without the express written approval of the City. In addition, neither this Agreement nor any interest herein may be transferred or assigned without the prior written approval of City. Transfers restricted hereunder shall include the transfer to any person or group of persons acting in concert of more than twenty five percent (25%) of the present ownership and/or control of Consultant taking all transfers into account on a cumulative basis. A prohibited transfer or assignment shall be void. No approved transfer shall release the Consultant or any surety of Consultant of any liability hereunder without the express consent of City.

4.4 Independent Contractor. Neither the City nor any of its employees shall have any control over the manner or means by which Consultant or employees, perform the services required herein, except as otherwise set forth herein. Consultant shall perform all services required herein as an independent contractor of City and shall remain under only such obligations as are consistent with that role. Consultant represents and warrants that the personnel used to provide services to the City pursuant to this Agreement are classified by Consultant as employees. Consultant shall not at any time or in any manner represent that it or any of its employees are employees of City. City shall not in any way or for any purpose become or be deemed to be a partner of Consultant in its business or otherwise or a joint venturer or a member of any joint enterprise with Consultant. In the event that Consultant or any employee of Consultant providing services under this Agreement claims or is determined by a federal or state agency, a court of competent jurisdiction, or the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”) to be classified as other than an independent contractor for the City, then Consultant shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the City for the payment of any and all assessed fines, penalties, judgments, employee and/or employer contributions, and any other damages and costs assessed to the City as a consequence of, or in any way attributable to, the assertion that Consultant or any staff Consultant used to provide services under this Agreement are employees of the City.

5.0 INSURANCE AND INDEMNIFICATION

5.1 Insurance. Consultant shall procure and maintain, at its sole cost and expense, in a form and content satisfactory to City, during the entire term of this Agreement including any extension thereof, the following policies of insurance:
(a) Commercial General Liability Insurance. A policy of commercial general liability insurance using Insurance Services Office "Commercial General Liability" policy form CG 00 01, with an edition date prior to 2004, or the exact equivalent. Coverage for an additional insured shall not be limited to its vicarious liability. Defense costs must be paid in addition to limits. Limits shall be no less than $1,000,00.00 per occurrence for all covered losses and no less than $2,000,000.00 general aggregate.

[INSERT CONSULTANT NAME]
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(b) Workers' Compensation Insurance. A policy of workers' compensation insurance on a state-approved policy form providing statutory benefits as required by law with employer's liability limits no less than $1,000,000 per accident for all covered losses. (c) Automotive Insurance. A policy of comprehensive automobile liability insurance written on a per occurrence basis in an amount not less than $1,000,000.00 per accident, combined single limit. Said policy shall include coverage for owned, non owned, leased and hired cars.
(d) Professional Liability or Error and Omissions Insurance. A policy of _____________ insurance in an amount not less than $1,000,000.00 per claim with respect to loss arising from the actions of Consultant performing professional services hereunder on behalf of the City. Any policy inception date, continuity date, or retroactive date must be before the effective date of this Agreement and Consultant agrees to maintain continuous coverage through a period no less than three (3) years after completion of the services required by this Agreement.

All of the above policies of insurance shall be primary insurance. The general liability policy shall name the City, its officers, employees and agents ("City Parties") as additional insureds and shall waive all rights of subrogation and contribution it may have against the City and the City's Parties and their respective insurers. Moreover, the insurance policy must specify that where the primary insured does not satisfy the self-insured retention, any additional insured may satisfy the self-insured retention.

All of said policies of insurance shall also provide that said insurance may be not cancelled without providing ten (10) days prior written notice by registered mail to the City. In the event any of said policies of insurance are cancelled or amended, Consultant shall, prior to the cancellation or amendment date, submit new evidence of insurance in conformance with this Section 5.1 to the Contract Officer. No work or services under this Agreement shall commence until Consultant has provided City with Certificates of Insurance or appropriate insurance binders evidencing the above insurance coverages and said Certificates of Insurance or binders are approved by City.

Consultant agrees that the provisions of this Section 5.1 shall not be construed as limiting in any way the extent to which Consultant may be held responsible for the payment of damages to any persons or property resulting from Consultant's activities or the activities of any person or persons for which Consultant is otherwise responsible. If the Consultant’s insurance policies have higher limits and coverage than those required by this contract, the City will have access to those higher limits and coverage maintained by the Consultant.

The insurance required by this Agreement shall be satisfactory only if issued by companies qualified to do business in California, rated "A" or better in the most recent edition of Best Rating Guide or The Key Rating Guide, and only if they are of a financial category Class VII or better, unless such requirements are waived by the Risk Manager of the City due to unique circumstances.

In the event that the Consultant is authorized to subcontract any portion of the work or services provided pursuant to this Agreement, the contract between the Consultant and such subcontractor shall require the subcontractor to maintain the same policies of insurance that the Consultant is required to maintain pursuant to this Section 5.1.

5.2 Indemnification.

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(a) Indemnity for Design Professional Liability. When the law establishes a professional standard of care for Consultant's services, to the fullest extent permitted by law, and except for the statutory limits set forth under California Civil Code Section 2782,8 applicable to services provided by a “design professional”, Consultant shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless City and the City's Parties from and against any and all losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees and costs to the extent same are caused in whole or in part by any negligent or wrongful act, error or omission of Consultant, its officers, employees of subcontractors (or any entity or individual for which Consultant shall bear legal liability) in the performance of professional services under this Agreement.
(b) Indemnity for Other Than Design Professional Liability. Other than in the performance of design professional services and to the full extent permitted by law, Consultant shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless City and City's Parties from and against any liability (including liability for claims, suits, actions, losses, expenses or costs of any kind, whether actual, alleged or threatened, including attorneys' fees and costs, court costs, defense costs and expert witness fees), where the same arise out of, are a consequence of, or are in any way attributable to, in whole or in part, the performance of this Agreement by Consultant or by any individual or entity for which Consultant is legally liable, including but not limited to officers, employees or subcontractors of Consultant.

6.0 RECORDS AND REPORTS

6.1 Reports. Consultant shall periodically prepare and submit to the Contract Officer such reports concerning the performance of the services required by this Agreement as the Contract Officer shall require.

6.2 Records. Consultant shall keep, and require subcontractors to keep, such books and records as shall be necessary to perform the services required by this Agreement and enable the Contract Officer to evaluate the performance of such services. The Contract Officer shall have full and free access to such books and records at all times during normal business hours of City, including the right to inspect, copy, audit and make records and transcripts from such records. Such records shall be maintained for a period of three (3) years following completion of the services hereunder, and the City shall have access to such records in the event any audit is required.

6.3 Ownership of Documents. All drawings, specifications, reports, records, documents and other materials prepared by Consultant, its employees, and subcontractors in the performance of this Agreement shall be the property of City and shall be delivered to City upon request of the Contract Officer or upon the termination of this Agreement and Consultant shall have no claim for further employment or additional compensation as a result of the exercise by City of its full rights of ownership of such documents and materials. Consultant may retain copies of such documents for its own use and Consultant shall have an unrestricted right to use the concepts embodied therein. All subcontractors shall provide for assignment to City of any documents or materials prepared by them, and in the event Consultant fails to secure such assignment, Consultant shall indemnify City for all damages resulting therefrom. Except as necessary for the performance of services under this Agreement, no documents prepared under this Agreement may be released by Contractor to any other person or entity without City’s prior written approval.

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6.4 Confidentiality of Information. All information gained or work product produced by Contractor in performance of this Agreement will be considered confidential, unless such information is in the public domain or already known to Contractor. Contractor may not release or disclose any such information or work product to persons or entities other than City without prior written authorization from the City Manager, except as may be required by law. Contractor, its officers, employees, or agents, may not, without prior written authorization from the City Manager or unless requested by the City Attorney of City, voluntarily provide declarations, letters of support, testimony at depositions, response to interrogatories or other information concerning the services performed under this Agreement. Response to a subpoena or court order will not be considered “voluntary” provided Contractor gives City notice of such court order or subpoena. If Contractor, or any officer, employee, or agent of Contractor, provides any information or work product in violation of this Agreement, then City will have the right to reimbursement and indemnity from Contractor for any damages, costs and fees, including attorney’s fees, caused by or incurred as a result of Contractor’s conduct. Contractor must promptly notify City should Contractor, its officers, employees, or agents be served with any summons, complaint, subpoena, notice of deposition, request for documents, interrogatories, request for admissions or other discovery request, court order or subpoena from any party regarding this Agreement and the services performed under this Agreement. City retains the right, but has no obligation, to represent Contractor or be present at any deposition, hearing or similar proceeding.

Contractor agrees to cooperate fully with City and to provide City with the opportunity to review any response to discovery requests provided by Contractor. However, this right to review any such response does not imply or mean the right by City to control, direct, or rewrite such response. All media and press releases, including graphic display information, must be approved and distributed solely by City, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by City. All media interviews regarding the performance of services under this Agreement are prohibited unless expressly authorized by City.

7.0 ENFORCEMENT OF AGREEMENT

7.1 California Law. This Agreement shall be construed and interpreted both as to validity and to performance of the parties in accordance with the laws of the State of California. Legal actions concerning any dispute, claim or matter arising out of or in relation to this Agreement shall be instituted in the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles, State of California, or any other appropriate court in such county, and Consultant agrees to submit to the personal jurisdiction of such court in the event of such action.

7.2 Retention of Funds. Consultant hereby authorizes City to deduct from any amount payable to Consultant (whether or not arising out of this Agreement) (i) any amounts the payment of which may be in dispute hereunder or which are necessary to compensate City for any losses, costs, liabilities, or damages suffered by City, and (ii) all amounts for which City may be liable to third parties, by reason of Consultant's acts or omissions in performing or failing to perform Consultant's obligation under this Agreement. In the event that any claim is made by a third party, the amount or validity of which is disputed by Consultant, City may withhold from any payment due, without liability for interest because of such withholding, an amount sufficient to cover such claim. The failure of City to exercise such right to deduct or to withhold shall not, however, affect the obligations of the Consultant to insure, indemnify, and protect City as elsewhere provided herein.

7.3 Waiver. No delay or omission in the exercise of any right or remedy by a nondefaulting party on any default shall impair such right or remedy or be construed as a waiver. A party's consent to or approval of any act by the other party requiring the party's consent or approval shall not

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be deemed to waive or render unnecessary the other party's consent to or approval of any subsequent act. Any waiver by either party of any default must be in writing and shall not be a waiver of any other default concerning the same or any other provision of this Agreement.

7.4 Termination Prior to Expiration of Term. Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, upon thirty (30) days' written notice to the other party. Upon receipt of any notice of termination, Consultant shall immediately cease all work or services hereunder except such as may be specifically approved by the Contract Officer. Consultant shall be entitled to compensation for the reasonable value of the work product actually produced prior to the effective date of the notice of termination and for any services authorized by the Contract Officer thereafter in accordance with the Schedule of Compensation and City shall be entitled to reimbursement for any compensation paid in excess of the services rendered.

7.5 Completion of Work After Termination for Default of Consultant. If termination is due to the failure of the Consultant to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement, City may, after compliance with the provisions of Section 7.2, take over the work and prosecute the same to completion by contract or otherwise, and the Consultant shall be liable to the extent that the total cost for completion of the services required hereunder exceeds the compensation herein stipulated (provided that the City shall use reasonable efforts to mitigate such damages), and City may withhold any payments to the Consultant for the purpose of set-off or partial payment of the amounts owed the City as previously stated.

7.6 Attorneys' Fees. If either party to this Agreement is required to initiate or defend or made a party to any action or proceeding in any way connected with this Agreement, the prevailing party in such action or proceeding, in addition to any other relief which may be granted, shall be entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees, whether or not the matter proceeds to judgment, and to all other reasonable costs for investigating such action, taking depositions and discovery, including all other necessary costs the court allows which are incurred in such litigation.

8.0 CITY OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES: NON-DISCRIMINATION

8.1 Non-liability of City Officers and Employees. No officer or employee of the City shall be personally liable to the Consultant, or any successor in interest, in the event of any default or breach by the City or for any amount which may become due to the Consultant or to its successor, or for breach of any obligation of the terms of this Agreement.

8.2 Conflict of Interest; City. No officer or employee of the City shall have any financial interest in this Agreement nor shall any such officer or employee participate in any decision relating to the Agreement which affects his financial interest or the financial interest of any corporation, partnership or association in which he is interested, in violation of any State statute or regulation.

8.3 Conflict of Interest; Consultant. Consultant warrants that it has not paid or given and will not pay or give any third party any money or other consideration for obtaining this Agreement.

Consultant shall comply with all conflict of interest laws and regulations including, without limitation, City's Conflict of Interest Code which is on file in the City Clerk's office. Accordingly, should the City Manager determine that Consultant will be performing a specialized or general service for the City and there is substantial likelihood that the Consultant's work product will be presented, either

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written or orally, for the purpose of influencing a governmental decision, the Consultant and its officers, or employees, as applicable, shall be subject to the City's Conflict of Interest Code.

8.4 Covenant Against Discrimination. Consultant covenants that, by and for itself, its executors, assigns, and all persons claiming under or through them, that there shall be no discrimination against or segregation of, any person or group of persons on account of race, color, creed, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, or ancestry in the performance of this Agreement.

Consultant shall take affirmative action to insure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, color, creed, religion, sex, marital status, national origin or ancestry.

9.0 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

9.1 Notice. Any notice or other communication either party desires or is required to give to the other party or any other person shall be in writing and either served personally or sent by prepaid, first-class mail, in the case of the City, to the City Manager and to the attention of the Contract Officer, City of Lawndale, 14717 Burin Avenue, Lawndale, California 90260, and in the case of the Consultant, to the person at the address designated on the execution page of this Agreement. Either party may change its address by notifying the other party of the change of address in writing. Notice shall be deemed communicated at the time personally delivered or in seventy-two (72) hours from the time of mailing if mailed as provided in this Section.

9.2 Interpretation. The terms of this Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the meaning of the language used and shall not be construed for or against either party by reason of the authorship of this Agreement or any other rule of construction which might otherwise apply.

9.3 Integration; Amendment. It is understood that there are no oral agreements between the parties hereto affecting this Agreement and this Agreement supersedes and cancels any and all previous negotiations, agreements and understandings, if any, between the parties, and none shall be used to interpret this Agreement. This Agreement may be amended at any time by an instrument in writing signed by both parties.

9.4 Severability. Should a portion of this Agreement be declared invalid or unenforceable by a judgment or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect any of the remaining portions of this Agreement which are hereby declared as severable and shall be interpreted to carry out the intent of the parties unless the invalid provision is so material that its invalidity deprives either party of the basic benefit of their bargain or renders this Agreement meaningless.

9.5 Corporate Authority. The persons executing this Agreement on behalf of the parties hereto warrant that (i) such party is duly organized and existing, (ii) they are duly authorized to execute and deliver this Agreement on behalf of said party, (iii) by so executing this Agreement, such party is formally bound to the provisions of this Agreement, and (iv) the entering into this Agreement does not violate any provision of any other Agreement to which said party is bound. This Agreement is binding upon the heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns of the parties.

9.6 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in several counterparts, each of which will constitute one and the same instrument and will become binding upon the parties when at least one

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copy has been signed by both parties. This Agreement and any amendment will be considered executed when the signature page of a party is delivered by facsimile or other electronic transmission.

Such electronic signatures will have the same effect as an original signature, provided that a wet signature copy is also mailed to the other party.

9.7 Modification of Agreement. No amendment to or modification of this Agreement will be valid unless made in writing and approved by Consultant and by the City Council or City Manager, as applicable. The parties agree that this requirement for written modifications cannot be waived and that any attempted waiver will be void.
[SIGNATURES ON FOLLOWING PAGE]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed and entered into this Agreement as of the date first written above.

CITY:

CITY OF LAWNDALE,
a municipal corporation
By: ________________________________
Robert Pullen -Miles, Mayor
ATTEST:
________________________________
Erica Harbison, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:

Burke Williams & Sorensen, LLP
________________________________
Gregory M. Murphy, City Attorney
[NOTE TO STAFF: TWO signatures are required if the Consultant is a corporation, company or partnership. Delete this note in preparing your agreement.]
CONSULTANT:
[insert company name here]
a [California corporation]
By: ________________________________
Name: [insert name here]
Title: [insert title]
By: ________________________________
Name: [insert name here]
Title: [insert title]
Address: [insert address]
[insert address]
[insert address]
[insert address]
[INSERT CONSULTANT NAME]
A-1
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EXHIBIT "A"

SCOPE OF SERVICES
[INSERT TEXT HERE]
[INSERT CONSULTANT NAME]
B-1
LA #4828-2252-8997 v1
EXHIBIT "B"

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
[Delete when not applicable.]
A new Section 2.4 is added to the Agreement to read as follows:
“2.4 Prevailing Wages; Indemnification. Consultant and all subcontractors shall comply with the State Labor standards. State Labor standards provisions, including prevailing wage requirements, will be enforced such that the general rate of per diem wages (prevailing wage) shall be paid for each craft, classification, or type of worker needed to execute the contract to all workers employed in the execution of the contract for the work to be performed by _____________. The State General Prevailing Wage Determination is as established by the California Department of Industrial Relations for Los Angeles County. (Refer to http://www.dir.ca.gov/OPRL/PWD/Determinations/Statewide/C-TT.pdf for additional information.) The prevailing rate of per diem wages are on file at the City of Lawndale Department of Public Works, 4722 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Lawndale, California 90266, and are available to any interested party on request. The statutory provisions for penalties for failure to pay prevailing wages and/or failure to otherwise comply with state's wage and hour laws will be enforced. The Consultant is required to post at the job site the prevailing rate of per diem wages and other notices prescribed by regulation.

The Consultant and all subcontractors must submit electronic certified payroll records weekly directly to the Labor Commissioner (aka Division of Labor Standards Enforcement) no less than monthly and must comply with all statutory requirements relating to certified copies of payroll records, including the maintenance of the records, their certification, and their availability for inspection as required by Labor Code Section 1776 and as required under Subsection 7-2.6 of said Standard Specifications for Public Works Construction.

Consultant shall indemnify, defend with legal counsel approved by the City, and hold the City and City’s Parties harmless from and against any all liability, loss, damage, costs, or expenses (including attorneys' fees and court costs) arising from or as a result of any action, claim, or determination relating in any way to the failure to properly pay of prevailing wages.

Moreover, the City retains the right to settle or abandon any such the matter without the Consultant’s consent as to the City’s liabilities or rights only.” • A new Section 5.1(e) is added to the Agreement to read as follows:
(e) Cyber Liability Insurance. The cyber liability insurance must include the following coverage:
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B-2
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• Liability arising from the theft, dissemination and/or use of confidential or personally identifiable information; including credit monitoring and regulatory fines arising from such theft, dissemination or use of the confidential information. • Network security liability arising from the unauthorized use of, access to, or tampering with computer systems.
• Liability arising from the failure of technology products (software) required under the Agreement for Contractor to properly perform the services intended. • Electronic media liability arising from personal injury, plagiarism or misappropriation of ideas, domain name infringement or improper deep-linking or framing, and infringement or violation of intellectual property rights. • Liability arising from the failure to render professional services If coverage is maintained on a “claims-made” basis, Cont must maintain such coverage for an additional period of three years following termination of the Agreement. [INSERT CONSULTANT NAME]
D-1
LA #4828-2252-8997 v1
EXHIBIT "C"

SCHEDULE OF COMPENSATION
[INSERT TEXT HERE]
[INSERT CONSULTANT NAME]
D-2
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EXHIBIT "D"

SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCE
[INSERT TEXT HERE]

ATTACHMENT B

ATTACHMENT C
Ci

CITY OF LAWNDALE

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
RFP NO. 2410-34

PROFESSIONAL LEGISLATIVE AND

LOBBYING SERVICES FOR LOCAL

GOVERNMENT
Submitted by: Kiley & Associates

636 North Carolina Ave SE
Washington, DC 20003
Gregory Kiley
202-544-6897
Gregory Kiley
x
Kiley & Associates, LLC
[email protected]
15 No Addenda Received. GK
x
City of Perris
101 N. D Street
Perris, CA 92570 Wendell Bugtai, Assistant City Manager (951) 500-8528 City of Lakewood
5050 Clark Ave
Lakewood, CA 90712
City of Maywood
4319 E Slauson Avenue
Maywood CA 90270
Thaddeus McCormick, City Manager 562-866-9771
Jennifer Vasquez, City Manager (323) 562-5700
1 Table of Contents
A, Cover Letter 2
B. Proposer Firm Background/Qualifications 3
C. Understanding of Scope of Services and Approach 6
D. Compensation and Fee Proposal 10
E. References 11
F. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest 12
G. Additional Information 12

2 Kiley & Associates, LLC
636 North Carolina Ave SE
Washington, DC 20003
October 25, 2024
Yvette Palomo
City of Lawndale
City Clerk’s Office
14717 Burin Ave.

Lawndale, CA 90260
Re: RFP #2410-34 PROFESSIONAL LEGISLATIVE AND LOBBYING SERVICES FOR

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Dear Ms. Palomo,
Kiley & Associates is pleased to respond to the City of Lawndale’s Request for Proposal (RFP) #2410-34 for Professional Legislative and Lobbying Services for Local Government posted September 30, 2024.

Founded in 2009, Kiley & Associates is a limited liability corporation incorporated in the State of Delaware. Our Federal legislative advocacy offices are based in Washington, DC.

Kiley & Associates provides legislative advocacy for cities, states and local communities and delivers political strategy from both an industry and government perspective through a solutiondriven, tailored approach. We have a proven track record of successful engagement between local government, state and federal entities to achieve community goals. Our firm is very confident we meet all the qualifications set forth in this RFP and are extremely interested in this project. We have the ability to meet all the services noted in Section II of the RFP.

Our core federally-focused team—Gregory Kiley, Jayson Braude, Kimberly VanWyhe—are eager to discuss our capabilities, experience, and ability to support the City of Lawndale. Our team is prepared to jump in and contribute on day one.

This proposal shall remain valid for a period of no less than 90 days, with automatic extension should the proposer be selected for negotiation. All the information within this proposal is accurate, true and correct. There have never been any disciplinary actions taken against anyone in our firm. We stand ready to answer any questions you may have and look forward to further communications. Please feel free to contact me at (562) 818-6646 or [email protected].

Very Respectfully,
Jayson Braude
Chief Counsel
Kiley & Associates, LLC
3 B. Proposer Firm Background/Qualifications
Kiley & Associates provides legislative advocacy services, strategic funding development planning and positioning, White House, Congressional and Federal government situational awareness, due diligence, and mergers and acquisitions analysis. We help our clients identify and develop new opportunities, open doors and plan and implement strategies to secure sustained success.

We have an established, proven track record of navigating multiagency, multidimensional, complex issues. Recent efforts include work on managing interrelations between municipalities and the federal government, infrastructure funding, the American Rescue Plan guidance, Federal Emergency Management Administration reimbursements for cities, cyber threats to our nation’s infrastructure and electrical grid, environmental risks to public health, and the Department of Defense’s strategic basing decision-making.

Our team has strong ties at the federal level with both the legislative and executive branches.

Every member of our team has developed professional working relationships with Republican and Democratic Members of the Senate and House, as well as with their personal staffs, and the staffs of key Senate and House committees. Further, we have key allies within the White House staff and across the Biden-Harris Administration.

Kiley & Associates’ size, structure and personalized approach allow us to provide proactive, cost-effective representation to all our clients.

EXAMPLES OF RECENT AND ONGOING PERFORMANCE
2019-2024. City of Carson, California.
● Provided guidance and counsel to the Mayor and City Council on various matters related to infrastructure funding for various city projects, including updates on federal policy and federal grant opportunities.
● Organized a Federal Small Business Administration virtual meeting to educate Carson business owners on the Paycheck Protection Program.
● Coordinated meetings between Carson Council members, the FAA, and the Long Beach Airport regarding noise complaints from residents.
● Facilitated meetings with FEMA and the United States Treasury to ensure Carson was receiving their fair share of the municipal funding from the American Rescue Plan. ● Renewed the City’s relationship with United States Senator Alex Padilla and helped the City apply for earmarks and Community Improvement Projects (CIPs) with his office, which includes the potential of over a million dollars for parks funding within the City. ● Worked with the Federal Communications Commission to promote the Emergency Broadband Benefit to Carson residents, which will provide them up to $50 per month 4 towards broadband service for eligible households and a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a computer or tablet.
● At the request of the City, approached the U.S. Postal Service in Washington, DC to investigate long-running postal problems within the City of Carson with a goal to improve mail service for Carson residents.
● Worked with the City to explore renewable energy opportunities, including electric vehicle charging throughout Carson and solar power at City Hall and other City-owned buildings.
● Brought in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help the City with the problem at the Domínguez Channel. ● Helped the City secure a $2 million federal earmark from their Congressmember for an infrastructure project at Carson Veterans Park.
● Helped the City secure Senate earmark for $1.5 million that Senator Padilla submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee for street and landscaping improvements. 2019-2024. City of South Gate, California.
● Developed a federal funding and policy agenda for the Mayor, Council and City department heads. Created federal government agendas and provided federal outreach and funding opportunities. Provide the City with relevant hearing schedules and grant announcements.
● Arranged for City officials to meet with federal officials on the COVID-19 Funeral Assistance program which provided thousands of dollars for families in the City who lost a loved one.
● Provided the City with Congressional and White House updates detailing legislative action in Washington.
● Initiated a dialogue for the City with Union Pacific Railroad regarding trash and homelessness along a neglected rail line.
● Worked with the City to secure earmarks for $1.5 million in road improvements to Garfield Avenue, of which Congresswoman Barragán submitted to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for approval.
● Worked with South Gate, Los Angeles County Metro, and Congress for millions of dollars in funding for the West Santa Ana Branch light rail line. Started a dialogue between the City and the office of recently appointed United States Senator Alex Padilla. ● Worked with the City and the EPA to keep the South Gate Superfund sites at the forefront of the agencies’ federal priorities.
5 ● Worked closely with the City and federal officials after the January 2020 Delta Airlines Fuel Release over Southeast Los Angeles. Facilitated a Zoom call between the White House and the City of South Gate. South Gate Councilwoman Denise Diaz also participated on this extremely informative and crucial White House conversation with Intergovernmental Affairs Director Eduardo Cisneros.
● Engaged with the United States Conference of Mayors, providing South Gate a seat at the table for numerous federal decisions.
● Helped the City secure an earmark for $1 million that the Congresswoman submitted to the House Appropriations Committee for drinking water improvements. ● Helped the City secure an earmark for $1.5 million that Senator Padilla submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee for street and landscaping improvements. ● Helped the City secure an earmark for $1.25 million that both Senator Feinstein and Senator Padilla submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee for upgrades to the City’s Emergency Operations Center.
2020-2024. City of Lynwood, California.
● Organized meetings for the City and the Port of Los Angeles regarding the shipping backlog and the supply chain issues currently impacting the region, traffic, and the environment.
● Worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to secure a 1- million-dollar award for the City of Lynwood. Worked with the EPA to bring in senior White House officials to the City for a tour and meetings. ● Started an engagement for the Mayor with the United States Conference of Mayors, including outreach to the White House and Congress.
● Worked with Congressional officials and the City to ensure Lynwood is maximizing COVID-19 FEMA reimbursements and implementing the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for maximum usage.
● Helped the City with numerous matters related to compliance and accounting of ARPA.

Worked with the City to push for Federal legislation that allows for 30% of ARPA recovery funding to be spent on transportation projects or community projects. This legislation allows local officials additional flexibility to spend their own funds and extends the spending deadline by an additional two years. ● Helped the City secure an earmark for $1.3 million that their Congresswoman submitted to the House Appropriations Committee for renovations to the City’s Senior Center. ● Helped the City secure Senate earmarks that were submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Feinstein submitted public safety radios and Senator Padilla 6 submitted for upgrades to Lynwood Park and license plate readers, which all total over $2.5 million.

C. Understanding of Scope of Services and Approach
Kiley & Associates will collaborate with the City of Lawndale to help develop their federal legislative priorities. In fulfilling the requirements of the RFP, including onboarding, outreach advocacy, and administrative services, bill tracking, and monitoring. Our partnership with the City would include:
● Onboarding; this is an extremely important element of our engagement with our city clients. Our first action with a new client is an in-depth meeting to understand the needs of the City. We work with the City Manager and department heads to establish priorities, goals and a tailored scope of work to help our clients meet their legislative goals. ● Raising Lawndale’s profile with the California Federal House and Senate delegation, Federal Agencies, and the White House. We also can work with our partner State lobbying firm, Joe A. Gonsalves & Son if the City of Lawndale wishes to raise its profile with Governor Newsom’s Administration, State of California agencies, and the California State Assembly and Senate.
● Tracking all federal bills that impact our city clients. As an example, when an important bill is being heard in committee, we have our staff in the committee room. If needed, we can provide testimony and meet in the offices of the committee staff and Members to advocate for Lawndale’s position.
● At the federal level we will provide the City with routine written reports of legislative activity. Further, we regularly provide federal updates as Congress works on issues that impact our clients.
● In Washington, DC, we actively monitor bills and actions that impact cities and residents. We provide updates as soon as Congressional Leadership and the White House act. This active presence is something we strive for daily to help our clients reach their goals.
● Annual reviewing and working with City staff to ensure the legislative goals of the City and Council are met.
● Help the City of Lawndale with all concerns and needs related to the Metro C Line (Green) Extension and work on an advocacy plan for this matter at the direction of the Mayor, Council, and City Manager.
● Being transparent, ethical, and customer service-oriented. We are proud that clients think of us as an integral part of their business, capable of delivering the services they need when they need them. We often think of our firm as an extension of city staff and an integral part of your Washington, DC team.
7 ● Striving to protect Lawndale’s interests by changing laws or federal/state regulations as necessary.
● Coordinating with the dedicated day-to-day point of contact(s) on identifying and refining Lawndale’s top project and policy priorities for their legislative agenda (i.e. securing federal and state money for police and fire projects, water and sewer projects, roadway expansion, housing, street repairs, park projects, tourism, and policymaking). ● Targeting key allies and influential lawmakers, Congressional committees, White House policymakers, and State leaders.
● Regularly updating Lawndale on grant opportunities and issues that are pertinent to the City’s legislative priorities.
● Coordinating with the City to engage on the Federal Community Project Funding process and the State of California Member Request funding process. ● Representing the City of Lawndale at Congressional and Executive Branch meetings and hearings in Washington, DC.
● Tracking news articles and press releases on issues that will impact local governments and the City of Lawndale.
● Coordinating an annual trip for Lawndale’s elected officials and staff to Washington, DC to meet with and/or brief the Congressional delegation, White House officials, and key staff in the federal agencies.
● Helping with issues that have a state and federal nexus, which include providing comments on regulations; connecting local officials to state/federal agency professionals; and providing our expertise on funding programs, grant applications, and other legislative and agency opportunities.
● Engaging regularly with coalitions such as the National League of Cities and the United States Conference of Mayors on behalf of the City of Lawndale. Also assisting with the League of California Cities on issues when there is a federal/state overlap.

Kiley & Associates will provide written reports on ongoing activities and priorities of the City.

We anticipate regular contact and conversations with City staff to keep abreast of priorities and issues of importance to them. As part of our initial strategy kick-off meeting, we will request senior City staff and department heads to participate in the development of the strategic plan and priorities. No other specific demand on City staff is anticipated.

Proposed Staffing and Organization
The overall project management for Lawndale will be led by Kiley & Associates Chief Counsel, Jayson Braude.
8 Also joining the team will be: Gregory Kiley, President, Kiley & Associates; and Kimberly VanWyhe, Vice President, Kiley & Associates.

Our team is devoted to making sure our clients are our top priority. We are available to help or answer any questions our clients may have. We do not assign clients to a specific staffer in the firm. Instead, you have access to the firm’s full staff at any time. Whenever you and/or your staff requests something from our firm, we get to work on it immediately and report the actions back to you. We will dedicate as many hours as it takes to help the City with any needs that arise. Our client’s needs always come first, and we are responsive, often within minutes, over email, text, and phone call.

Our entire team is committed to working with the City of Lawndale for the duration of the project agreement.

Organizational Structure
Jayson Braude (7 years) Chief Counsel/Project Manager - Kiley & Associates Gregory Kiley (14 years) President - Kiley & Associates Kim VanWyhe (6 years) Vice President - Kiley & Associates Biographies
Gregory T. Kiley–President, Kiley & Associates
Gregory Kiley is President of Kiley & Associates, LLC, a Washington, DC-based policy development and advocacy firm. Since retiring from federal service, he has consulted with federal, state, and local governments, and industry and non-profit entities on national security policy and processes. He has written for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) among others, focusing on national security and economics. Recent consulting efforts include U.S. Air Force strategic-based decision-making, community relations with the Department of Defense, and interrelations between states and the federal government.

Prior to working in the private sector, Mr. Kiley served 25 years in the federal government, concentrating on defense and national security. He spent six years as a senior professional staff member for the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). As lead staff for two SASC subcommittees, his oversight portfolio included all military air and ground systems, military logistics and readiness, and the defense budget. His responsibilities included coordinating and conducting congressional hearings, developing and drafting legislation, and negotiating and staffing passage of annual National Defense Authorization Acts and supplemental spending bills.

Prior to the SASC, Mr. Kiley spent three years as a principal analyst for the National Security Division of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), concentrating on military aviation, logistics, and readiness issues.

Mr. Kiley began his professional career in the U.S. Air Force, culminating as a senior pilot, flying C-130 aircraft and deploying throughout the world. Greg lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three daughters.
9 Jayson J. Braude–Chief Counsel, Kiley & Associates
Jayson Braude is the Chief Counsel to Kiley & Associates. Jayson Braude grew up in the Los Angeles area and is the Grandson of former United States Congressman Glenn Anderson. Jayson worked for United States Senators Kent Conrad and Sherrod Brown in Washington, DC.

After law school, he worked as Legislative Counsel for United States Congresswoman Janice Hahn, where he staffed the Congresswoman on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He then became the District Director for Congresswoman Nannette Diaz Barragán in her San Pedro office. Jayson has more than ten years of experience in government affairs and maintains contacts all over Capitol Hill and throughout federal, state, and local agencies.

Jayson is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and received his law degree from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. Jayson is a member of the Washington Bar and resides in Washington, DC.

Kimberly J. VanWyhe–Vice President, Kiley & Associates
Kimberly is currently Vice President of Kiley & Associates, focusing on business development, policy, and strategy development. Kimberly received her BA in Political Science from St. John’s University in 2004 and received her MBA in International Business with a concentration in consulting. She also holds a certification in Global Oil and Gas Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Kimberly’s previous professional experience includes working on multiple political campaigns on both the state and federal level, working for the Alaska State Legislature as well as for the Cohen Group, a defense-oriented consulting firm founded by former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. She then served as the Director of Energy Policy at the American Action Forum, a DC think tank focusing on economic, domestic, and fiscal policy issues.

Kimberly is also the Policy Director for Building Cyber Security, a non-profit organization leading Cyber Physical standards development, education, certifications, and labeling authority, advancing the physical security, safety, and privacy in public and private sectors. Kimberly was raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, and currently resides in Washington, DC.

Interaction with City Officials and Staff and Estimation of Hours Our firm will work cooperatively with your City Manager, department heads, Mayor and City Council to ensure a high level of legislative and administrative success in Washington, DC. Our strategies will vary depending upon the issues as well as Washington, DC’s ever-changing political climate.

The estimated hours vary depending on the needs of our clients and the political landscape of the federal government. Giving an estimated number of hours is difficult. Whenever you and/or your staff request something from our firm, we get to work immediately and report the actions back to you no matter how many hours it takes. This sets us apart from the competition as we are malleable and more than willing to go above and beyond to get the job done. 10 Kiley & Associates are sensitive to the differences between clients served and proactively work to ensure conflicts of interest do not arise.

D. Compensation and Fee Proposal
Like nearly every Washington, DC based firm, we charge a monthly retainer to our City clients for our in-depth advisory and advocacy services. The agreement between the City of Lawndale and the entire team would be a total rate of $4,000 per month. This is a final not-to-exceed annual price of $48,000 per year, no additional costs will be charged over the first two years of the contract. The cost proposal covers the fiscal year cycle, July 1st through June 30th, 2026, and includes the current Fiscal Year 2024-2025 (remaining 6 months).

The retainer is all-inclusive of the federal legislative advocacy services we provide for your City.

We are always on call for our clients and engage nearly daily on numerous activities affecting cities at the federal and state level.

MONTH MONTHLY RATE
FISCAL YEAR 2024-2025 TOTAL
$24,000 JANUARY 1, 2025 $4,000
FEBRUARY 1, 2025 $4,000
MARCH 1, 2025 $4,000
APRIL 1, 2025 $4,000
MAY 1, 2025 $4,000
JUNE 1, 2025 $4,000
FISCAL YEAR 2025-2026 TOTAL
$48,000 JULY 1, 2025 $4,000
AUGUST 1, 2025 $4,000
SEPTEMBER 1, 2025 $4,000
OCTOBER, 2025 $4,000
NOVEMBER 1, 2025 $4,000
DECEMBER 1, 2025 $4,000
JANUARY 1, 2026 $4,000
FEBRUARY 1, 2026 $4,000
MARCH 1, 2026 $4,000
APRIL 1, 2026 $4,000
MAY 1, 2026 $4,000
JUNE 1, 2026 $4,000
11 E. References
Wendell Bugtai, Assistant City Manager
City of Perris
101 N. D Street
Perris, CA 92570
[email protected]
(951) 500-8528
Services Provided: Federal Government
Advocacy
Project Dates: 2022 – Current
Darren Arakawa, Chief of Police
City of South Gate
8620 California Avenue
Southgate, CA 90280
[email protected]
(323) 563-5408
Services Provided: Federal Government
Advocacy
Project Dates: 2019 – Current
Michael Flad, Assistant City Manager
City of Jurupa Valley
8930 Limonite Avenue
Jurupa Valley, CA 92509
(818) 632-3110
[email protected]
Services Provided: Federal Government
Advocacy
Project Dates: 2021 – Current
Thaddeus McCormick, City Manager
City of Lakewood
5050 Clark Ave
Lakewood, CA 90712
562-866-9771
[email protected]
Services Provided: Federal Government
Advocacy
Project Dates: 2022 – Current
Jennifer Vasquez, City Manager
City of Maywood
4319 E Slauson Ave
Maywood, CA 90270
(323) 926-5919
[email protected]
Services Provided: Federal Government Advocacy
Project Dates: 2021 – Current
Kiley & Associates currently represents twenty California local governments at the federal level in Washington, DC., assisting with numerous Federal Government issues. Our current local government clients include:

Artesia, CA Bishop, CA Carson, CA Chino Valley Fire
District, CA Concord, CA
Indian Wells,
CA
Jurupa Valley,
CA Lakewood, CA La Quinta, CA Lomita, CA
12 Lynwood, CA Maywood, CA Milpitas, CA Paramount, CA Patterson, CA Perris, CA
Resource
Conservation
District of
Tehama
County, CA
San Juan
Bautista, CA South Gate, CA Upland, CA
F. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
Our team is neither aware of nor limited by any conflicts of interest that would preclude our entering into a contract with or working for the City of Lawndale.

G. Additional Information
Thank you for the opportunity for Kiley & Associates to submit our proposal for full-service advocacy services to the city of Lawndale. We are honored to provide this proposal introducing the City to our firm. Our firm’s strategic approach to advocacy is custom tailored to the unique needs of each of our clients, and our team is excited about the opportunity to work with such a wonderful community.

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601 New Jersey Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington DC 20001
Zac Commins, Principal [email protected]
(310) 619-5792
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1 10/17/24
Carpi & Clay, Inc.
601 New Jersey Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20001
(202) 822-8300
Response to Request for Proposals from the

CITY OF LAWNDALE
NO. 2410-34 – Professional Legislative and Lobbying
Services For Local Government
October 31, 2024
Carpi & Clay 1
A. COVER LETTER
October 31, 2024
Yvette Palomo
City Clerk’s Office
City of Lawndale
14717 Burin Avenue
Lawndale, CA 90260
Dear Ms. Palomo:

Carpi & Clay is pleased to respond to the City of Lawndale’s Request for Proposals (RFP NO. 2410-34) for Professional Legislative and Lobbying Services For Local Government. This proposal outlines our qualifications, introduces our team, explains our approach, and highlights our federal advocacy successes on behalf of local governments.

We specialize in the development and implementation of successful federal legislative and government advocacy programs on behalf of public entities. The advocacy community in Washington, D.C. is highly competitive, and we are very proud that our successes on behalf of our clients have resulted in their continual decisions to remain with our firm. We possess direct, relevant experience working on the issues important to local governments from the perspective as senior staff and now as professional advocates with strong relationships with the California congressional delegation and relevant federal agencies.

Our proposal outlines a strategic approach to bolstering the City’s advocacy efforts through comprehensive federal lobbying services. To amplify your voice and influence in Washington, D.C., we offer a tailored suite of services designed to navigate the complexities of federal policymaking and secure favorable outcomes for your priorities.

We have assembled the following team for the City that is ideally suited to work on your behalf at the federal level:
 Zac Commins will serve as the co-project manager. A South Bay native and key former federal policy advisor to Senator Alex Padilla and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Zac offers a decade of federal government experience and insightful capacity for advancing policy, regulatory, and funding priorities for California public agencies, including housing and homelessness, economic development, transportation and infrastructure, and health care issues.
 Laura Morgan-Kessler will serve as the co-project manager. Her more than twenty years of federal experience serves as the foundation of her ability to develop and implement federal advocacy strategies on behalf of her clients, including several California cities.

Laura served as a legislative staffer for the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, managing a portfolio including water and wastewater, the environment, natural resources, and natural disasters.

Drawing upon our extensive experience and proven track record in federal lobbying, we propose a multifaceted approach that encompasses the following:

Carpi & Clay 2
 Issue Advocacy and Strategy Development: We will work closely with your team to identify key legislative and regulatory priorities, craft compelling advocacy messages, and develop strategic plans to advance your agenda effectively.  Relationship Building: Leveraging our established relationships with key decisionmakers, stakeholders, and congressional offices, we will facilitate targeted outreach efforts and coalition-building initiatives to garner support for your initiatives and foster productive partnerships.
 Policy Analysis and Monitoring: We will provide real-time monitoring of legislative and regulatory developments pertinent to the City’s interests, offering timely analysis and strategic guidance to adapt advocacy efforts and capitalize on emerging opportunities.  Strategic Communication: We will develop a comprehensive communication plan to effectively communicate the City’s goals, achievements, and impact to policymakers, enhancing your visibility on your projects and priorities.  Compliance and Ethical Advocacy Practices: Our firm is committed to upholding the highest standards of compliance and ethical conduct in all lobbying activities, ensuring transparency, integrity, and adherence to regulatory requirements.

Zac and Laura will use all available resources to design and implement legislative, regulatory, and funding solutions that address the City’s federal priorities. By partnering with us, the City will benefit from a dedicated team of seasoned advocates who are committed to advancing your interests and achieving tangible results in the federal policymaking arena. Together, we will navigate the intricacies of Washington, D.C. and position you for success in advocating for the resources and support necessary to deliver on the projects and programs for the City.

We attest that the information contained in this proposal is accurate and complete to the best of our knowledge. Our firm possesses the experience and expertise to meet the scope of services and qualifications outlined in Section II of the RFP, particularly with respect to federal advocacy services, which we understand is the primary focus of the City in issuing this RFP. We confirm that this proposal will remain valid for at least 90 days from the deadline for the receipt of proposals and, should our firm be selected for negotiation, we agree to an automatic extension of the proposal's validity.

Thank you for your consideration of our proposal. We welcome the opportunity to discuss our qualifications, as well as how we can help the City achieve your federal objectives.

Sincerely,
Kenneth Carpi
CEO & Managing Partner
Carpi & Clay, Inc.
601 New Jersey Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20001
Carpi & Clay 3
B. PROPOSER FIRM BACKGROUND/QUALIFICATIONS
For 38 years, the bipartisan Carpi & Clay team has represented, advanced, and protected our clients’ financial, legislative, and regulatory interests of California local governments and public agencies, equipping us to serve as successful federal advocates for the City of Lawndale. Our success is a result of our comprehensive approach to advocacy, understanding the issues, and having strategic relationships. Within the context of an ever-changing legislative and regulatory landscape, we are direct advocates for and work closely with our clients to develop a meaningful and realistic assessment of their needs and opportunities for success at the federal level. We leave no stone unturned.

Day in and day out, it is in our firm’s DNA to go the extra mile for clients. We know that each client is just as unique as the strategies that we develop and implement for them. We recognize that many firms sound the same when it comes to RFP responses. Here is what separates us from the pack:
 We use a “Principals Only” approach. The same people who prepared this proposal will be the people answering your phone calls, attending meetings, and doing the work on your behalf. We will manage and execute all aspects of the work, not associates or junior staff. We believe that being directly accountable is the best way to serve our clients.  We deliver results. Whether it is obtaining federal funding, securing legislative language, or influencing federal agencies’ regulatory actions, we have a strong record of accomplishments on behalf of our clients. For example, over the last three fiscal years, we helped our clients secure over $85 million in community project funding in the annual appropriations bills. We have also assisted in securing major infrastructure grant awards.

Our firm takes a team-oriented, full-service approach, which has helped us develop successful multiyear advocacy campaigns on behalf of our clients’ federal priorities.  We learn the issues and do not leave policy details to others. Knowing the details of your issues on a variety of policies and topics helps us establish strong, value-added relationships based on trust and integrity. This is the starting point for any successful advocacy strategy.
 We evolve, adapt, and keep our clients ahead of the curve. Now more than ever, engaging at the federal level is critical to our clients. Our ability to look “over the horizon” keeps our clients one step ahead of the curve and is critical for their success at the federal level. It is this proactive nature that has helped our clients secure federal funding and regulatory relief from numerous federal agencies, as well as ensure our clients’ access to Washington, D.C. remains strong during unprecedented times.  We provide both tailored and timely communications. Communication is key to the successful implementation of your federal advocacy goals. When it comes to communicating with our clients, we pride ourselves on ensuring that it is not only tailored to each client’s specific needs but also timely. We do not send our clients generic emails or just forward news articles. Our communication with our clients is always tailored to their specific issues. Our clients expect a high level of specialized tailored service, and we strive every day to not only meet but exceed those expectations.

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Having served as staff to major political leaders at the local, state, and federal levels, we have been on “both sides of the table” as advocates and as staff to public officials being lobbied. This unique perspective helps us to be creative and nimble public policy advocates. We will use all available resources to design and implement legislative, regulatory, and funding solutions that address the City’s policy, regulatory, and project priorities including:
 Crafting strategic plans;
 Building coalitions and engaging with key stakeholders;  Educating lawmakers and advocating before Congress;
 Briefing federal agency officials and political appointees;  Drafting for legislation and amendments;
 Arranging, writing, and coordinating testimony;
 Developing and implementing policy briefings;
 Preparing witnesses for committee hearings;
 Identifying funding opportunities through competitive grants and the legislative and appropriations processes;
 Navigating the processes, politics, and regulations governing competitive grants and appropriations; and
 Organizing, facilitating, and supporting “fly-ins” and client advocacy days.

We offer the City of Lawndale our long-standing relationships with decision-makers in Congress and at federal agencies to help break down barriers, find common ground, and bring about positive change. We work closely with congressional leadership, appropriations, and authorizing committees. We are also in frequent communication with the Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and numerous federal agencies.

OUR EXPERIENCE AND SUCCESSES
Our record of accomplishments is strong. We take great care to ensure that client priorities are well orchestrated through every level of the federal process and beyond. We leverage our technical expertise and robust relationships within regional and headquarters levels of federal agencies, the White House, and Congress. Given the long review, study, and implementation schedules endemic to the federal process, it is not unusual to see shifts in the way the government does business while a project is winding its way through the authorization and appropriation processes. Our job includes foreseeing these bumps in the road and doing what is necessary to ensure that projects stay on track.

Taking a team-oriented, full-service approach, we have developed multiyear advocacy campaigns aimed at grassroots opinion leaders, government leaders, and congressional delegations to foster public and political support for client projects as priority candidates for federal funding. Below are some examples of our efforts that involved using a coordinated congressional and agency approach to achieve the desired outcomes for our clients.

Appropriations and Community Project Funding. The Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations bills allowed members of Congress for the first time in over a decade to request funding for community projects (formerly known as earmarks). Over the past three federal fiscal years, we helped our clients receive over $85 million in community project request funding, including the following:

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 Transportation/Infrastructure
• Norwalk Transit System Bus Stop Equity Project (City of Norwalk)—$850,000 • Carlsbad Traffic Safety Improvements (City of Carlsbad)—$850,000 • Mt. Whitney Avenue Complete Streets (Fresno County)—$3 million • Street Repaving in Tranquility (Fresno County)—$4 million • Calwa Complete Streets Project (Fresno County)—$6 million • Safe Streets Project (City of Vista) —$2.2 million
• Roadway Reconstruction and Drainage Improvements (Harris County)—$3.6 million
• King Parkway Trail (Harris County)—$1 million
• Holderrieth Road Over Willow Creek (Harris County)—$4 million • Grant Line Road Improvements (San Joaquin County)—$2.5 million • Santa Ana River Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge (City of Anaheim)—$1.7 million • Complete Streets Project (City of Vista)—$850,000
• Sidewalk and Roadway Safety Infrastructure (City of Vista)—$2.2 million • Shoreline (sea level rise) Ecosystem Protections (Port of San Diego) —$1 million • Aquaculture Infrastructure Planning/Design (Port of San Diego)—$425,000 • Pier Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project (Port of San Diego)—$2 million • Boat Harbor Infrastructure (Port of San Diego)—$3 million • Imperial Beach Pier Infrastructure (Port of San Diego)—$500,000  Water/Wastewater
• Water Resiliency Project (City of Norwalk)—$1.85 million • Septic to Sewer Conversion Project (Mission Springs Water District)—$3.85 million • Pump Station Electrical Relocation Project (Monterey One Water)—$400,000 • Cybersecurity and SCADA Upgrades (Monterey One Water)—$1.252 million • Water Storage Tank Project (Genesee County)—$3.75 million • Drinking Water/Wastewater Treatment Projects (Tulare County)—$5.7 million • Sewer Infrastructure Project (Tulare County)—$750,000  Housing/Economic Development
• Smart Cities Digital Divide Project (City of Norwalk)—$1.72 million • Maple Streets Navigation Center (San Mateo County)—$500,000 • Half Moon Bay Farmworker Homeownership Project Expansion (San Mateo County)—$3 million
• Veterans Transitional Housing (Harris County)—$1.6 million • Permanent Supportive Housing (City of Anaheim)—$500,000 • Neighborhood Revitalization Project (City of Anaheim)—$500,000  Public Safety/Homeland Security/Workforce Development • Emergency Generators for Community Resiliency (City of Norwalk)—$976,000 • Energy Sector Education & Workforce Development (City of Anaheim)—$3 million • Food Services Incubator and Job Training Center (City of Anaheim)—$500,000 • Emergency Operations Center (City of Anaheim) —$1.5 million  Parks/Open Spaces
• Public Parks (City of Anaheim)—$2 million
• Park Infrastructure and Recreation Area (San Mateo County)—$1 million Carpi & Clay 6
Competitive Federal Grants. Federal competitive grant funding is an important financial resource for California’s public agencies. Through our consistent engagement in the annual congressional appropriations process and our grants support, we have helped to create and monitor opportunities for our clients to secure critical federal grant funding, including the following:
 Transportation/Infrastructure
• RAISE grant for infrastructure improvements (Port of San Diego)—$5 million • Port Infrastructure Development grant for the installation of shore power for oceangoing vessels (Port of San Diego)—$11.25 million • America Marine Highway grant for supply chain infrastructure (Port of San Diego) —$5.5 million
• Bus and Bus Facilities grant for a bus stop equity project (City of Norwalk)—$1.055 million
• FAA grant for Meadow Fields Airport (Kern County)—$11.7 million • FAA grant for Stockton Metropolitan Airport Improvements (San Joaquin County)—$2.6 million
 Water/Wastewater
• Economic Development Administration grant for a wastewater treatment facility (City of Barstow)—$2 million
• FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant for water reliability project (Inland Empire Utilities Agency)—$46.3 million
• Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) Title XVI Water Reclamation and Reuse grants for water recycling project (Long Beach Water Department)—$1.9 million and (Monterey One Water)—$10.316 million
• Reclamation WaterSMART Drought Response Program grants for drought resiliency projects
• (Long Beach Water Department)—$2.25 million and (Mission Springs Water District)—$300,000
• Reclamation WaterSMART Small-Scale Water Efficiency Program grant (Long Beach Water Department)—$275,000
• Reclamation WaterSMART Water and Energy Efficiency Program grants (City of Norwalk)—$492,952 and (Long Beach Water Department)—$1.9 million  Public Safety/Homeland Security
• Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant for firefighters (City of Vista)—$1.6 million
Coronavirus Relief Fund. In the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Congress established the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) for states and local governments with populations above 500,000 residents. The Treasury Department was interpreting the legislation in a manner that would have prevented 12 counties throughout the country, including Fresno County, with a population above 500,000, from being eligible for funding. We took the initiative to contact the impacted counties and created an informal coalition to lobby against Treasury’s interpretation. Through conference calls, the development of advocacy tools, and a coordinated campaign targeting Congress, the White House, and the Treasury Department, we successfully reversed the interpretation. All 12 counties were deemed eligible entities, and each received a direct CRF allocation amounting to millions in fiscal relief from the Treasury Department.

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COVID-19 Fiscal Recovery Funds Tax Issue. The American Rescue Plan Act included $350 billion for COVID-19 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. This funding was allocated to every city and county throughout the country. The State of California chose to use a portion of its funding to establish a utility assistance program. Concerns were raised by many utilities throughout the state that this funding assistance would trigger tax implications, and thus require utilities to issue 1099 tax forms to all recipients. When our water clients raised this issue with us, we immediately began outreach to key Hill and agency contacts. We reached out to California congressional offices to raise this issue. We also coordinated with national associations to raise the profile of this concern. As a result of these efforts, the Internal Revenue Service issued clarification guidance that this funding would not be considered taxable.

COVID-19 Fiscal Recovery Funds Flexibility. As Policy Advisor to Senator Padilla, Zac coauthored bipartisan legislation to increase flexibility for counties, cities, states, territories, and tribal governments in the use of fiscal recovery funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act. In coordination with leading organizations that represent state and local governments, including the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Zac guided the bill through complex bicameral negotiations and procedural obstacles, ultimately securing its inclusion in an omnibus appropriations bill signed into law by President Biden.

Build America, Buy America Act. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) included Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) provisions for all projects receiving BIL funding. Complying with these provisions has been a challenge for the infrastructure community. We have worked with our clients to navigate this process at the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as advocate for the continued approach of providing waivers to the law. Additionally, we have helped our clients draft comment letters regarding BABAA and educate Members of Congress on the real-life impacts of these provisions.

Affordable Housing Federal Agency Troubleshooting. San Mateo County was in the process of closing on a 179-unit affordable house project. To close on the project, the County needed the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to approve a Subsidy Layering Review (SLR), and to do so in a very tight timeline. Without the approval of the SLR, the project would not come to fruition. On behalf of the County, we quickly engaged their Congressional delegation and put together a coordinated effort for the County’s delegation to engage and put pressure on HUD. As a result of our efforts, HUD approved the SLR in a matter of days and the County was able to close on the much-needed affordable housing project.

Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention. Harris County, TX is making significant investments in public health approaches that address the social determinants of health and the root causes of violence. One component is a violence prevention initiative that identifies at-risk youth and provides wraparound services to the targeted population. Through our work, we identified a specific Bureau of Justice Assistance grant tailored to this County initiative. Through briefings and securing congressional endorsements, the County was awarded a $2 million discretionary grant.

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OUR RELATIONSHIPS
Through both our past and current client work, Carpi & Clay has worked with Members of the City’s congressional delegation, including Senator Alex Padilla, Senator Laphonza Butler, Representative Maxine Waters, and the Los Angeles County House delegation. Given our portfolio of California local government clients, we also work closely with the entire California congressional delegation, congressional leadership, appropriations, and authorizing committees, including:
 House of Representatives: Appropriations Committee; Budget Committee; Education and the Workforce Committee; Energy and Commerce Committee; Financial Services Committee; Homeland Security Committee; Judiciary Committee; Natural Resources Committee; Small Business Committee; Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Ways and Means Committee.  Senate: Appropriations Committee; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; Budget Committee; Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Environment and Public Works Committee; Finance Committee; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; Judiciary Committee; Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee; and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

We are also in frequent communication with the Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and numerous federal agencies, including the following:
 Army Corps of Engineers; Council on Environmental Quality; Department of Commerce; Economic Development Administration; Department of Energy; Environmental Protection Agency; Department of Homeland Security; Federal Emergency Management Agency; Department of Housing and Urban Development; Department of the Interior; Bureau of Reclamation; National Park Service; Department of Justice; Department of Labor; Department of Transportation; Department of the Treasury; and Department of Veterans Affairs.

Additionally, we enjoy strong working relationships with national advocacy organizations, including the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

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C. UNDERSTANDING OF SCOPE OF SERVICES AND APPROACH
We propose the following strategic path to help the City achieve your federal priorities and address the cross-border pollution crisis. Built into the plan is the necessary flexibility to accommodate changes in Washington, D.C., as well as issues that may emerge at the local level. When it comes to Washington, issues that appear straightforward never are. Success requires a nimble approach capable of coordinating with multiple federal agencies that operate in silos. We view our relationships with our clients as being an extension of their team and the approach below indicates the activities we will initiate on your behalf.

Strategic planning and consultation. Upon selection, we would schedule an intensive, strategic planning session with the City. We believe this is the starting point for any successful advocacy strategy. We would use this opportunity to review the City’s current agenda, discuss project and regulatory priorities with your leadership, and meet with elected officials and staff as appropriate. We would present the City with an assessment of opportunities and challenges in Washington, D.C., as well as insight into the legislative climate and political dynamics. We would also evaluate the City’s current federal presence to maximize advocacy potential and increase your federal footprint. We will work to synchronize the City’s federal agenda with what Congress and federal agencies will be doing. We will also seek to prepare for unanticipated issues that need attention but are not specifically delineated in the agenda. Once finalized, we will ensure the priority issues are communicated to Congress and federal agencies.

Maintain relationships with Congress and federal agencies. As your “boots on the ground” in Washington, D.C., we will ensure that the City’s priorities are front and center with Congress, the Administration, and relevant federal agencies. We will ensure that federal decision-makers view us as an extension of the City in Washington, D.C. and as an available resource to them at any time to discuss funding, legislative, and regulatory priorities. Additionally, we will use our extensive network of congressional and federal agency relationships to extend the City’s reach well beyond its congressional delegation. We will work to help raise your profile with the federal government and be viewed as a thought leader on important issues. We work regularly with authorizing and appropriating committee staff in both the House and the Senate. We are also in frequent communication with the Administration, numerous federal agencies, and the Office of Management and Budget.

Legislative and regulatory advocacy. We closely track all federal activity as it relates to local governments. We will keep the City abreast of any legislation or potential legislation that could affect your residents. We will provide legislative text, detailed bill analysis, and status updates on federal legislation of importance. We also monitor the Federal Register daily for any new federal agency regulatory actions that may be of interest to our clients. We will ensure that the City is made aware of all pending federal regulatory actions that could have either a positive or negative impact on your operations or your residents. We will prepare detailed and thoughtful comments in response to proposed federal agency regulations, sharing these comments with your congressional delegation.

Federal funding advocacy and grant support. The City does not have unlimited financial resources which makes federal funding critical for your operations and to maintain services for your residents. We will closely monitor the President’s budget and the annual congressional appropriations process, providing the City with a detailed summary and funding levels of Carpi & Clay 10
programs of importance. We will work with the City to ensure that Senator Padilla, California’s next Senator, and Representative Waters are aware of the City’s annual appropriations priorities and community project requests, complete and submit all appropriations request forms.

Additionally, we understand the dynamics of the federal grant process and have secured numerous grants for local communities. Our work has involved identifying appropriate grants, assisting with the preparation and submittal of grants, and the necessary advocacy with federal agencies. We will work with your grant writers to tailor a grants management strategy that looks to specific programs and expected grant offerings. We will provide timely notice of federal grant announcements and share all materials relevant to the grants. We will also organize meetings for you with those federal agency decision-makers. This will help the City position its grant proposals, understand an agency’s priority focus for funding, and develop relationships with federal decision-makers.

In-person visits. You are your own best advocates. We want the City to be personally involved in your Washington, D.C. advocacy. We will support all facets of the City’s federal advocacy trips to ensure the most advantageous use of your time. Whether traveling to Washington, D.C. or doing a virtual visit, we will accommodate your needs. Working with the City, we will prepare a list of potential dates and targeted meetings in Washington, D.C. We can help schedule meetings, including meetings with the City’s congressional delegation, key committee staff, and relevant federal agency officials. We will keep the City apprised of meetings as they are secured. In addition, we will assist in the preparation of associated white papers, letters, and talking points.

We will accompany the City to all your meetings with federal decision-makers and ensure that all action items are captured and addressed.

Communication. We believe that communication is key to the successful implementation of your federal advocacy goals. We maintain regular contact with our clients, both through email and phone calls. This accessibility and communication will be critical to the success of the City’s legislative platform. We recognize both short- and long-term trends in funding opportunities before they become apparent and will work with the City to connect priorities with those federal opportunities. We will monitor key legislation, congressional hearings, grant opportunities, and regulations that affect the City and your priorities. We are committed to providing regular written reports that outline the monitoring of key legislative initiatives related to the City’s legislative agenda. We will closely monitor legislative and regulatory developments in Washington, D.C. (including tracking discussions, drafts, emerging issues, research reports, and other activities that may ultimately affect legislation, regulations, or other client interests) and promptly convey through email, conference call, or report, as directed, whatever we learn that is important to the City. We will use all available technology to bridge the geographic and temporal divide separating California and Washington, D.C.

OUR TEAM
Our team has significant advocacy experience working on behalf of California cities and other public entities. We understand the fundamental issues facing local governments and recognize the considerable financial, operational, and political challenges they balance daily. We have worked—inside and outside of government—to help agencies like the City overcome those challenges.

Our professional staff members represent bipartisan achievement and diverse issue interests, with complementary expertise and backgrounds. Throughout our individual careers and as a Carpi & Clay 11
firm, we have worked for and with Democratic and Republican Administrations, Congress, mayors, governors, and other elected and appointed officials. We understand the challenges and issues facing local governments at the federal level and have many years of direct experience working on those issues with corresponding accomplishments and achievements.

We have the in-house expertise and political understanding to achieve the City’s federal priorities.

Each member of our team is highly respected within the Washington, D.C. advocacy community.

Zac Commins and Laura Morgan-Kessler will serve as the co-project managers for Carpi & Clay’s federal efforts for the City. They will be responsible for ensuring that all timelines are met and that all work products are of the highest quality.

Utilizing our “Principals Only” approach, Carpi & Clay guarantees that Zac and Laura will be directly accessible to the City and will provide prompt responses and dedicated support to meet the City’s federal needs. Our commitment is to prioritize the City’s interests and ensure continuous, effective communication. While we understand the importance of specifying an estimated number of hours our team would dedicate to meeting the contractual obligations, we believe the quality of our representation and our unwavering availability are the true measures of our commitment to the City’s success.

Zac Commins
Zac Commins brings a decade of experience working on federal policy, funding, and regulatory matters to Carpi & Clay. With previous roles spanning Capitol Hill and local government, Zac brings invaluable expertise in government relations, policy advocacy, and strategic counsel.

His track record of effectively navigating complex political landscapes and building bipartisan coalitions will make him instrumental in furthering Carpi & Clay’s commitment to providing exceptional service to our clients.

Zac most recently served as Executive Officer of Intergovernmental Affairs to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. In this role, he played a pivotal role in shaping the City’s advocacy agenda, fostering crucial partnerships across all levels of government, and aligning priorities with various City departments and offices. Zac led the Intergovernmental Affairs team’s efforts to maximize federal and state funding for the City, while facilitating advocacy trips, visits from dignitaries, large-scale policy events, and participation in national conferences.

As Policy Advisor to Senator Alex Padilla, Zac spearheaded several of the office’s signature legislative achievements, including central provisions incorporated in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. He co-led bipartisan efforts to successfully enact legislation to provide flexibility to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments in the use of billions of dollars in fiscal recovery funds. His extensive collaboration with diverse stakeholders, including government agencies and nonprofits, underscored his commitment to advancing a myriad of policy priorities, securing grant awards, and facilitating congressionally directed spending.

Zac started his career in Washington, D.C. in the U.S. House of Representatives, including serving as a legislative director to a Member of Congress and handling housing and health care issues. Zac has prior experience providing comprehensive government affairs services to public sector and nonprofit clients. Zac graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

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Laura Morgan-Kessler
When it comes to unrivaled dedication, subject-matter experience, and commitment to success in advocating for public agencies, Laura MorganKessler stands out. Her comprehensive knowledge spans a wide swath of critical issues including water and wastewater infrastructure, transportation, economic development, homeland security, public safety, natural resources, the environment, energy, housing, and national service.

Laura's passion for her clients' issues is much more than just a part of her work; it is the essence of it. Her relentless pursuit of excellence continues to create lasting impacts, not only for her clients but for the communities they serve. Her unmatched dedication, combined with her profound expertise, places her at the forefront of her field.

What continues to set Laura apart is her proven ability to continually help her clients find successes at the federal level. She has secured over $40 million in federal funding for her clients’ community project requests in the annual appropriations bills in just the last three years. She has worked with her clients to successfully navigate the implementation of the American Rescue Plan Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act. She has achieved programmatic funding increases for programs such as the Foster Grandparent Program and the Senior Companion Program. These successes are directly related to her unparalleled understanding of congressional and federal agency actions, coupled with her ability to forge strong partnerships with Congress, congressional committees, and federal agencies.

Laura’s more than twenty years of federal experience serves as the foundation of her ability to develop and implement federal advocacy strategies on behalf of her clients. She began her time in Washington, D.C. as a legislative staff member for Senator Dianne Feinstein. Her portfolio of issues centered around a topic of critical importance to Californians: infrastructure. During her tenure on Capitol Hill, she managed a portfolio of issues including transportation, water and wastewater, energy, natural resources, the environment, and natural disasters.

Outside of the office, Laura dedicates her time to empowering female professionals. She currently serves as a board member for Women in Government Relations (WGR), an organization that supports 1,200 women government relations professionals throughout the country. She also serves as a mentor in WGR’s annual mentorship program.

Laura graduated from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a minor in sociology. Her time as a Demon Deacon laid the foundation for her career in federal policy and advocacy, as well as her lifelong commitment to uphold her alma mater’s motto of pro humanitate.

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ZAC COMMINS
[email protected] l (310) 619-5792

EXPERIENCE
Carpi & Clay 2024-Present
Principal
 Develops and executes effective federal advocacy strategies to achieve clients’ targeted objectives.  Provides critical and timely insights on Congressional and federal agency actions.

Office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass 2023-2024
Executive Officer of Intergovernmental Affairs
 Served as a key advisor to the Mayor in carrying out the City’s Intergovernmental Affairs functions, fostered crucial partnerships across all levels of government to advance the City’s advocacy agenda, and collaborated with various City departments and offices to align priorities.  Led efforts to maximize federal funding opportunities, including more than doubling the amount of congressionally directed spending allocated to the City.  Facilitated advocacy trips, visits from dignitaries, and comprehensive policy events.

Office of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla 2021-2023
Policy Advisor
 Served as the Senator’s principal advisor on banking, budget, economic development, small business, tax, trade, and transportation policy.
 Co-authored bipartisan legislation to allow flexibility to state, local, and tribal governments in their use of federal fiscal recovery funds, included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023.  Collaborated with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to shape language included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including supporting zero-emission buses and trucks, climate resiliency, transportation equity, bridge enhancements, and wildlife crossings.  Led the Senator’s efforts on the Senate Budget Committee, including the budget reconciliation process and advancement of the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan Act.  Worked closely with state and local governments regarding policy priorities, grant opportunities, and congressionally directed spending requests.

Office of U.S. Representative Harley Rouda 2019-2021
Legislative Director (2019-2021)
Senior Legislative Assistant (2019)
 Led the agenda for one of the most legislatively productive members in the 116th Congress, including advancing the most sponsored legislation through the House of any freshman office.  Served as principal advisor for his role on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as well as appropriations, banking, budget, economic development, health, housing, judiciary, and tax policy.

Townsend Public Affairs 2018-2019
Associate
 Served as a federal advocate for California cities, counties, special districts, and nonprofits.

Office of U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell 2015-2017
Legislative Assistant (2016-2017)
Legislative Aide (2015-2016)
Staff Assistant/Legislative Correspondent (2015)

EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Political Science 2011-2015
University of California, Berkeley, CA
Honors with Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa
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LAURA MORGAN-KESSLER
(703) 298-6846 — [email protected]

EXPERIENCE
Carpi & Clay, Inc., Washington, D.C.

Partner 10/22-Present
Principal 5/18-10/22
• Manages a diverse client portfolio including cities, counties, drinking water and clean water utilities, trade associations, and non-profit organizations. • Secured over $43 million for clients in community project requests funds from FY22-FY24. • Provides timely and strategic intelligence on Congressional and federal agency actions and helps clients develop and implement federal advocacy strategies to accomplish specific goals. • Maintains strong working relationships with Members of Congress and their staff, Congressional Committees, and federal agencies including the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Helps clients navigate the federal legislative and regulatory processes. • Works to develop creative and out-of-the-box solutions to federal issues and roadblocks. • Engages regularly with organizations such as the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, and the Association of California Water Agencies.

Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc., Washington, D.C.

Director, Government Relations 12/09-5/18
• Provided comprehensive federal advocacy services for a portfolio of public entity clients. • Oversaw and organized Congressional and federal agency advocacy fly-ins. • Drafted legislation that gained bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. • Wrote proposals and interview presentations that resulted in successfully obtaining new clients. • Led efforts in 2012 to build coalition of affected stakeholders to remove the residual risk requirement from the National Flood Insurance Program authorization bill.

Manager, Government Relations 12/06-12/09
• Collaborated with clients to draft and implement a federal relations strategy. • Drafted Congressional correspondence, legislative language, and regulatory comments. • Tracked appropriations bills, monitored legislation, and attended hearings.

Office of United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, Washington, D.C.

Legislative Correspondent 6/04-12/06
• Composed speeches, drafted statements, and assembled floor charts. • Comprised Daily Energy Report for Senator Feinstein and legislative staff.

Staff Assistant 6/03-6/04
• Researched legislation pertaining to energy and the environment. • Answered phones, distributed mail, and responded to constituent letters.

EDUCATION Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 1999-2003 Bachelor of Arts in Political Science; Minor in Sociology

MEMBERSHIP
Women in Government Relations
• Director, Board of Directors (7/22-6/24)
• Chair of Congressional Outreach Committee (7/21-6/22) • Co-Leader Transportation & Infrastructure Task Force (7/19-6/21) Carpi & Clay 15
D. COMPENSATION AND FEE PROPOSAL
Fixed-fee monthly retainers are the standard for federal advocacy work, and we strongly believe they provide the best value to our clients. Monthly retainer agreements allow for our communication with our clients and on behalf of our clients to be unencumbered. We have also found that this financial arrangement provides our clients with a strong continuity of service.

Based on our understanding of your federal needs, Carpi & Clay proposes to provide the City with comprehensive federal advocacy services for a fixed monthly retainer of $5,000. Longdistance travel at the direction of the City would be billed at cost outside of the monthly retainer.

Period Proposed Cost
Remainder of Fiscal Year 2024-25 (1/1/25-6/30/25) $30,000 Fiscal Year 2025-26 (7/1/25-6/30/26) $60,000
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E. REFERENCES
Carpi & Clay and our advocates have a proud history representing California local governments at the federal level. Below are five references that demonstrate our knowledge and experience working on behalf of public agencies.
 City of Irvine. Carpi & Clay has provided comprehensive federal legislative services since 2022. We have worked with the City to support several priorities including infrastructure, public safety, housing, and economic development.

Michelle Grettenberg
Assistant City Manager
1 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 724-6252
[email protected]
 City of Norwalk. Carpi & Clay has provided comprehensive federal legislative services for the City since 2018. We have helped the City secure federal funding for critical projects and programs, including bus stop improvements, energy and water resiliency enhancements, and digital infrastructure installations in public parks and facilities.

Additionally, we support the City’s efforts with its water reliability project with the Army Corps of Engineers.

Salpy Kabaklian Slentz
Management Analyst
12700 Norwalk Blvd, Norwalk, CA 90650
(562) 929-5303
[email protected]
 City of Newport Beach. Carpi & Clay has represented the City of Newport Beach on federal transportation matters since 2019. Zac serves the City’s federal advocacy efforts on aviation, including engagement with the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Congress. We have been successful in incorporating language into legislation to advance the City’s goals, including creating a new program in the recently enacted FAA reauthorization designed to help the agency more effectively carry out its community engagement activities.

Tara Finnigan
Deputy City Manager
100 Civic Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 644-3035
[email protected]
 City of Carlsbad. Carpi & Clay has provided comprehensive federal legislative services for the City since 2022. We have helped the City secure federal funding for critical infrastructure and housing projects. Additionally, we are working to help the City support important legislation related to veterans housing needs and aviation noise issues.

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Jason Haber
Intergovernmental Affairs Director
1200 Carlsbad Village Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92008
(442) 339-2958
[email protected]
 City of Los Angeles. Zac served as Executive Officer of Intergovernmental Affairs for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. In this position, he played a pivotal role in shaping the City’s advocacy agenda, fostering crucial partnerships across all levels of government, and aligning priorities with various City departments and offices. He also helped guide the City’s efforts to maximize federal funding opportunities, including more than doubling the amount of congressionally directed spending allocated to the City.

Joey Freeman
Deputy Mayor of Intergovernmental Affairs
200 N. Spring St, Room 303, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(818) 802-1425
[email protected]
In addition, please see a list below of all local government clients for whom Carpi & Clay currently provides services.

Barstow Community College District Jurupa Community Services District City of Anaheim, CA Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority City of Carlsbad, CA Long Beach Utilities
City of Encinitas, CA Marin County Transit District
City of Irvine, CA Mission Springs Water District
City of Morgantown, WV Monterey One Water
City of Newport Beach, CA Morro Bay Harbor Department
City of Norwalk, CA Multnomah County Drainage District
City of Rocklin, CA Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District
City of Santa Barbara, CA Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency City of Vista, CA Port of Long Beach
County of Fresno, CA Port of San Diego
County of Los Angeles Public Works Port of Santa Cruz
County of Marin, CA Port of Stockton
County of San Mateo, CA Port San Luis Harbor District
County of San Joaquin, CA Sacramento Regional Transit District County of Stanislaus, CA Santa Clara Valley Water District County of Tulare, CA Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency
Genesee County, NY Transbay Joint Powers Authority
Harris County, TX Ventura Port District
Inland Empire Utilities Agency
Carpi & Clay 18
F. DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Carpi & Clay does not have any conflicts of interest with representation of the City of Lawndale with our existing client portfolio.

Our clients are our top priority, and we take great pride in protecting our long-term relationships with them. To avoid encountering any potential conflicts between our existing clients, we go through a comprehensive internal vetting process prior to pursuing any new client opportunities.

For example, prior to our firm submitting a response to this RFP, we looked at our existing client portfolio to ensure that our potential work on behalf of the City would not create a conflict for any existing clients.

Furthermore, Carpi & Clay complies with all federal, state, and local conflict of interest laws, statutes, regulations, and reporting requirements. We value our reputation for integrity and adhere to the strictest self-imposed guidelines for ethical behavior.

ATTACHMENT E

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 1 COST PROPOSAL:

Professional Legislative &
Lobbying Services for Local
Government
RFP No. 2410-34
October 31, 2024
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 1

COST PROPOSAL
ALL-INCLUSIVE RETAINER:

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES MONTHLY FEE
Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services $8,000*
• Conduct Detailed Orientation Included
• Develop Legislative Strategy Included
• Implement the Legislative Strategy Included
• Build and Strengthen Relevant Relationships Included
• Leverage Relationships for Strategic Advocacy Plan Included • Coordinate Advocacy Trips Included
• Track Legislation Included
• Craft Testimony and Position Letters Included
• Draft Bill Language Included
• State Budget Funding Opportunities Included
• Federal Earmark Opportunities Included
• Identify Funding Opportunities Included
• Provide Progress Reports Included
• Prepare and File Lobbying Disclosure Reports Included *The monthly fee includes all reasonable business and travel expenses.

NOT-TO-EXCEED AMOUNT FOR REMAINING FISCAL YEAR 2024-2025 (6 MONTHS): $48,000 NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025-2026 (1 YEAR): $96,000 Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 1 Proposal for
Professional Legislative &
Lobbying Services for Local
Government
RFP No. 2410-34
October 31, 2024
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents............................................................................................................ 1 Cover Letter .................................................................................................................... 2 Firm Background & Qualifications .................................................................................. 3 Understanding of Scope of Services & Approach ........................................................... 9 Compensation & Cost Proposal ........................................... Submitted in a Separate File References.................................................................................................................... 22 Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest.................................................................................. 25 Additional Information.................................................................................................... 26 Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 2 October 31, 2024
Yvette Palomo, Assistant City Clerk
City of Lawndale
14717 Burin Avenue
Lawndale, CA 90260
Dear Ms. Palomo:

Thank you for the opportunity for Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. (“TPA”) to submit our proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services to the City of Lawndale (“City”).

Since its inception in 1998, TPA has earned the reputation as a Champion for Better Communities by providing the experience, resources, and relationships expected from a premier legislative advocacy and grant writing firm while also giving clients the unique brand of customer service they deserve: personal attention, maximum accessibility, and passion for their mission.

Our strategic approach to advocacy and funding is tailored to meet the individual needs of each client by leveraging the breadth and depth of our team as well as our vast network of relationships with key stakeholders and decision makers.

Utilizing this method on behalf of our clients, TPA has shepherded over 150 legislative and regulatory proposals into law and secured over $3.2 billion in competitive funding from state, federal, and local government agencies as well as nonprofit foundations and private companies.

Thank you again for your interest in our firm and your consideration of this proposal. TPA attests to the accuracy of this proposal, as well as the firm’s ability to provide the services noted in Section II of the RFP. TPA also affirms that this proposal will remain valid for at least 90 days from the deadline. Please contact us if you have any questions or need additional information. We would be honored to serve the City of Lawndale.

Yours truly,
Christopher Townsend (Authorized to Bind the Firm)
President
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 3

FIRM BACKGROUND & QUALIFICATIONS

FIRM DESCRIPTION
TPA is a state and federal legislative advocacy and grant writing firm that provides lobbying and funding services to public agencies and nonprofit organizations throughout California.
• Founder/Owner/President: Christopher Townsend
• Advocacy Success: Shepherded over 150 client-sponsored legislative proposals into law
• Funding Success: Over $3.2 billion in state, federal, and local government grants as well as grants from nonprofit organizations and private companies • Longevity: 26 years (founded in 1998)
• Number of Employees: 23
• Number of Registered State and Federal Lobbyists and Grant Writers: 19 • Number of Offices: Five
o TPA State Capitol Office, Sacramento
o TPA Federal Office, Washington, DC
o TPA Northern California Office, Oakland
o TPA Central California Office, Fresno
o TPA Southern California Office, Newport Beach
• Types of Clients:
o City Governments
o County Governments
o Water and Sanitation Districts
o Transportation Districts
o K–12 School Districts
o Community College Districts
o Parks and Recreation Districts
o Fire Protection Districts
o Museums, Science Centers, and Cultural Facilities
• Areas of Specialization:
o Local Governance (Cities, Counties, Special Districts) o Transportation Policy and Infrastructure
o Water and Sanitation Policy and Infrastructure
o Education Policy and Infrastructure
o Housing and Economic Development
o Parks and Community Facilities (Recreational, Cultural, Historical) o Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources
o Public Safety
o Budget and Finance
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 4

FIRM BACKGROUND & QUALIFICATIONS
• Ranking by Revenue Reported to the California Secretary of State:
o 8th of 491 Firms Registered for the 2023–24 Legislative Session o 99th Percentile
• More California public agencies have hired TPA to represent them in Washington, DC than any other advocacy firm in the nation.

DEMONSTRATED KNOWLEDGE
RELEVANT STATE LEGISLATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS:

1. CITY OF OAKLAND: STATE BUDGET FUNDING ADVOCACY
TPA worked with the City of Oakland and State Assembly Member Mia Bonta to help secure $5,000,000 in funding for Fire State 4 in fiscal year 2023 in the State Budget. The funding is to help construct critical healthy and safety improvements at the Fire Station to ensure its ongoing operation and useful life.

2. AB 1285 (WICKS): HOMELESS HOUSING, ASSISTANCE, AND PREVENTION

PROGRAM AND ENCAMPMENT RESOLUTION FUNDING PROGRAM
TPA partnered with the City of Berkeley to sponsor AB 1285, a significant piece of legislation aimed at enhancing the coordination of state funding programs to address homelessness more effectively. AB 1285 mandates that cities, counties, and Continuums of Care collaborate on how referrals to permanent housing through the Coordinated Entry System prioritize individuals living in encampments. This approach ensures that those most in need receive timely access to permanent housing solutions.

At the start of the legislative session, TPA worked closely with the City of Berkeley to identify the relevant government code section and assist in drafting the bill language. TPA then collaborated with the City to create fact sheets and other materials that clearly articulated the purpose and necessity of the legislation, which were used to educate committee members and their staff.

As the bill progressed through the Legislature, TPA engaged with senior committee staff members to fine-tune the language of the bill, ensuring it was both effective and practical.

TPA also provided verbal lead testimony during policy committee hearings and equipped the bill's author with targeted speaking points for both committee hearings and final floor votes.

One of the most significant aspects of AB 1285 is its focus on collaboration, which is particularly beneficial for smaller cities that do not receive direct allocations of stateprogrammed homeless resources. By requiring partnerships between cities, counties, and Continuums of Care, the bill fosters a more inclusive and unified approach to addressing homelessness. This collaborative language ensures that even smaller municipalities, which might otherwise be overlooked, can have a say in the prioritization of housing resources, effectively integrating their needs into the broader state strategy.

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 5

FIRM BACKGROUND & QUALIFICATIONS
Understanding the bill's potential to benefit cities across the state, TPA helped form a coalition of supportive cities, which played a crucial role in the bill's successful passage.

This coalition demonstrated broad-based support and highlighted the bill’s importance to cities of all sizes, emphasizing that a unified approach is essential for effectively tackling homelessness statewide.

The Governor's decision to sign AB 1285 into law underscores its importance as part of his major homelessness and behavioral health reform package. The measure's emphasis on coordination and collaboration sets a precedent for future efforts, ensuring that all cities, regardless of size or direct funding allocations, are actively involved in the fight against homelessness. This collaborative framework is essential for creating a more equitable and effective system that addresses the complex and urgent issue of homelessness throughout California.

3. BROWN ACT FLEXIBILITY AND EXPANSION EFFORTS
Throughout the 2023-2024 legislative session, TPA worked closely with several clients to sponsor a suite of governance flexibility bills that implement common sense reforms to the Brown Act and the Public Records Act.

Specifically, AB 2302 (Addis) would clarify and guarantee in law that local governments are afforded the full flexibility given to them in AB 2449 (Rubio) in 2022. Some cities were unable to access the full capabilities and flexibility of participating in meetings remotely due to the unintended consequences of specific administrative proceedings. TPA helped the client identify the issue and draft language to address the concern. TPA then worked to build a coalition of similar cities and advocate for its passage. AB 2302 has passed the Legislature and is currently on the Governor’s desk.

Furthermore, TPA helped sponsor SB 1034 (Seyarto), which added an exemption in Public Records Act law to allow for additional time to respond to requests during times of emergency where staffing is limited, and public facilities are closed. This commonsense reform had a wide variety of stakeholders supporting and was signed into law by the Governor in 2024.

Finally, in 2024, TPA helped clarify in Government Code the definition of attestation of digital signatures for use on official city documents such as ordnances or minutes. This clarification gives clear directions to cities looking to use digital signatures for ease of filing paperwork.

4. AB 2496 (PETRIE-NORRIS): LOUD VEHICLE NOISE
TPA worked with a coalition of Orange County cities, including Huntington Beach, Irvine, and Laguna Beach, to sponsor AB 2496 (Petrie-Norris). The legislation works to address the prevalence of loud vehicle noise in communities. Specifically, the bill requires violators of the existing loud vehicle noise laws to prove they have addressed the problem through Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 6

FIRM BACKGROUND & QUALIFICATIONS
vehicle modification before receiving their next vehicle registration. TPA worked closely with the coalition and Assembly Member Petrie-Norris’ staff to craft language, organize letters of support and verbal testimony, and hold meetings with legislators to ensure it passed every policy and fiscal committee hurdle. The bill was approved by the Legislature in the final days of the 2022 Legislative Session and was signed into law by Governor Newsom. The Governor, in a demonstration of his appreciation for the legislation, highlighted the bill in the public overview of his final legislative actions for the 2022 Legislative Session.

RELEVANT FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS:

1. CITY OF BERKELEY: FEDERAL EARMARK FUNDING ADVOCACY
TPA worked with the City of Berkeley and Congresswoman Barbara Lee to help secure $3,000,000 in federal funding for the East Bay Regional Fire Training Facility in fiscal year 2025. The funding would be used to construct the East Bay Regional Fire Training Facility, which would serve Northern Alameda and Western Contra Costa County first responders with a facility that will become an Accredited Local Academy through the State Fire Marshal. This project will also serve as a workforce training center that will enhance the regional ability to recruit and train diverse members of the community for careers in public safety in a time when recruitment of emergency responders is extremely challenging.

2. CITY OF ONTARIO: WRDA FUNDING AUTHORIZATION
During the 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) legislative process, TPA advocated aggressively for the inclusion of a $40.7 million funding authorization on behalf of the City of Ontario for its water recycling and water supply priorities. The bill, which is reconsidered by Congress every two years, authorizes much-needed investments in projects and programs of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As a result of TPA’s diligent federal advocacy efforts, Ontario’s critical Well Treatment Facility and Euclid Avenue Recycled Water System Expansion projects will undergo expedited feasibility and environmental studies before the beginning of construction. TPA will continue to work with Ontario’s Congressional Delegation to secure appropriations funding for the competition of these projects, demonstrating our firm’s comprehensive approach and commitment to ensure success from the onset of project authorization to completion.

3. CITY OF OAKLAND: AFFORDABLE HOUSING FEDERAL ADVOCACY On behalf of the City of Oakland, TPA engaged closely with Senator Feinstein’s staff to monitor and decipher a decision from HUD on affordable housing priorities for current and past residents. HUD had recently rejected a plan in San Francisco to open a new complex of affordable housing and implement a priority system that favored those who had lived in the neighborhood previously, thus preventing a major shift toward gentrification. When HUD rejected the plan because it violated the Fair Housing Act, TPA worked closely with the Council President’s office and the California legislative delegation to determine Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 7

FIRM BACKGROUND & QUALIFICATIONS
whether similar prioritization plans implemented in Oakland might also violate the Fair Housing Act and whether the City was therefore at risk of legal action. Fortunately, TPA was able to determine that the City’s plan contained a key and essential difference, allowing it to avoid the same assessment by HUD. In maintaining consistent lines of communication with stakeholders, TPA was able to mitigate risk to the City of Oakland and its residents of affordable housing, while also ensuring that key figures in affordable housing discussions were aware of Oakland’s important efforts in this arena.

4. SAN PABLO PUBLIC INTEREST LAND CONVEYANCE ADVOCACY
TPA is currently advocating for the transfer of an Army Reserve Center site to the City of San Pablo. The armory is inactive, and the City sought to explore the possibility of acquiring the land to use as a new public works corporation yard. TPA identified that a public interest land conveyance could be legislated for this purpose through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and engaged the staff of Representative John Garamendi and the Department of Defense (DoD). DoD sought to rush a transfer to the Department of Homeland Security but working through the House Armed Services Committee, TPA successfully paused the transfer by inserting report language into the House NDAA. This language requires the DoD to provide a briefing to the committee on their processes, potential uses of the land, and a description of public engagement.

5. COVID-19 LOCAL GOVERNANCE MESSAGING AND FUNDING ADVOCACY Through the COVID-19 pandemic, TPA led a statewide effort to advocate for increased local relief funding in the passage of the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan (ARPA). TPA worked with its municipal clients, as well as in partnership with the California Mayors Coalition to ensure funding was made available for local jurisdictions. TPA coordinated with the National League of Cities and the White House to utilize and distribute TPA templates, models, and language regarding COVID-19 messaging. TPA facilitated conversations between the Department of Treasury and local public agencies regarding the implementation and reporting of CARES Act and ARPA funds and was ultimately successful in securing direct funding for local jurisdictions as part of the COVID relief packages.

6. MERCED COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS BUY AMERICA

WAIVERS
TPA advocacy resulted in ten partial Buy America waivers for MCAG. These waivers allowed five cities in Merced County to purchase ten pollution-reducing vehicles. Without the waivers, MCAG would have been prevented from using federal dollars to make the purchases as the Federal Highway Administration’s Buy America requirement mandates that steel and iron used in government projects be manufactured domestically. TPA coordinated a coalition of Congressional members from the San Joaquin Valley including Representatives Costa, Nunes, Valadao, McClintock, Denham, and McCarthy, to issue a delegation letter to the Secretary of Transportation advocating for the waivers.

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 8

FIRM BACKGROUND & QUALIFICATIONS

EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL STATE & FEDERAL EARMARKS
As the premier grant writing and advocacy firm for California municipalities, TPA has extensive experience in providing customized and effective grant writing services and has built a robust reputation by providing these services to more than 320 diverse cities throughout the state. With valuable state and federal agency relationships, an expansive understanding of countless funding programs in a wide range of policy areas, and the capacity to pursue any and all relevant opportunities, TPA has achieved over $3.2 billion in funding success on behalf of clients and has maintained a trusted client base by ensuring seamless and timely communication. The funding secured has been allocated toward projects that positively impact local communities, such as transportation infrastructure improvements, workforce development programs, regional public safety initiatives, and community beautification projects.

This table provides an overview of our funding achievements on behalf of our clients from state, federal, and local government agencies as well as private and nonprofit grant programs. These amounts represent grants secured through a competitive and/or legislative process and do NOT include any funds awarded to clients via formulas or related forms of funding entitlements.

STATE BUDGET EARMARKS
Year Total Number of Projects Total Amount Awarded
2023-2024 55 $73,910,000
2022-2023 42 $200,950,000
2021-2022 30 $377,715,020
2019-2020 15 $36,230,000
TOTAL STATE BUDGET EARMARKS SECURED: $688,805,020

FEDERAL EARMARKS
Year Total Number of Projects Total Amount Awarded
2024 52 $57,599,445
2023 34 $60,390,094
2022 30 $59,060,357
TOTAL FEDERAL EARMARKS SECURED: $177,049,896
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 9

UNDERSTANDING OF SCOPE OF SERVICES & APPROACH

PROJECT WORK PLAN AND APPROACH
TPA will utilize the following strategic and comprehensive approach to provide state and federal legislative advocacy services to the City. • Conduct Detailed Orientation: TPA will utilize a continuation of our comprehensive onboarding process that includes extensive meetings with various relevant members of City leadership and key City departments to help develop a strategic plan that is carefully tailored to satisfy the needs of the City and is designed for maximum success in the current political climate and funding environment. • Develop Legislative Strategy: Utilizing the information gathered during the onboarding process, TPA will coordinate with the City to develop an official legislative platform and strategy that represents the City’s priorities in Sacramento and Washington, DC. This blueprint will be shared with key stakeholders in the State Legislature and Governor’s Administration as well as Congress and the Biden Administration.
• Implement the Legislative Strategy: TPA will advocate for the City’s legislative agenda utilizing the following methods:
o Build and Strengthen Relevant Relationships: TPA has cultivated a network of valuable relationships that will be leveraged to promote the City’s legislative agenda. These relationships include key officials in Sacramento and Washington, DC:
o Leverage Relationships for Strategic Advocacy Plan: TPA will engage various techniques to leverage our network of key relationships on behalf of the City:
 Schedule meetings for the City to discuss relevant legislation  Prepare all briefing materials and talking points for the City  Brief legislative offices and stakeholders on the City’s legislative agenda  Follow-up on meetings to ensure commitments and deliverables are being met
o Coordinate Advocacy Trips: TPA will work with the City to coordinate advocacy trips to Sacramento and Washington, DC to meet with the City’s legislative delegation, as well as legislators that serve on committees relevant to the City’s agenda. Furthermore, whenever possible, TPA will also schedule site visits by legislators to the City.

For advocacy trips to Washington, DC, TPA will handle all details of the trip, including, but not limited to:
 Planning and scheduling of meetings
 Providing logistical support, including airport pickups, hotel pickups, travel to and from meetings
 Providing access to a private office within walking distance to the Hill and with immediate access to the Metro
 Coordinating all meal reservations, including scheduling with key members to attend
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 10

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
 Access to the National Democratic Club
 Access to the Capitol Hill Club (National Republican Club of Capitol Hill)  Organizing any additional activities of interest (White House tour, VIP Capitol Tour, Monument Tour, African American Museum tickets, etc.) o Track Legislation: TPA will identify, analyze, and monitor all bill introductions and amendments relevant to the City’s legislative platform and assess their potential impact on the City.
o Craft Testimony and Position Letters: TPA will prepare and submit written and verbal testimony regarding legislation relevant to the City. TPA will also draft and deliver position letters to legislators and key officials on specific bill language.
o Draft Bill Language: TPA will draft language and amendments for relevant legislation, as required to protect and promote the City’s agenda. o Engage in the Rule-Making Process: TPA will coordinate with the City to engage during the federal rule-making process to ensure the City’s legislative agenda is being promoted and protected in Washington, DC. Engagement activities will include crafting and publishing public comments and contacting legislators to convey either support or opposition to the proposed rule. o State Budget Funding Opportunities: To maximize state funding, TPA will work with the City to identify projects and other funding priorities that may be suitable for funding through the State Budget. TPA will coordinate with the City to develop supporting materials for the budget request. TPA will also work with members of the City’s state legislative delegation, along with the Assembly and Senate Budget Committees, to gain support for the inclusion of the City’s project in the final State Budget approved by the Legislature. o Federal Earmark Opportunities: To maximize federal funding, TPA will work with the City to identify projects and other funding priorities that may be suitable for funding through the Federal Earmark process. TPA will coordinate with the City to develop supporting materials for the earmark request. TPA will also work with members of the City’s federal legislative delegation to gain support for the inclusion of the City’s project.
o Identify Funding Opportunities: TPA will proactively identify potential funding opportunities and assess program requirements and guidelines to maximize state and federal funding success for the City.
• Provide Progress Reports: TPA will confer regularly with the City on our activities.

TPA will provide timely electronic reports on the status of all legislative activity, such as bill language, amendments, and committee analyses. In addition to written reports, TPA will be available to the City for conference calls, in-person briefings, and meetings.
• Prepare and File Lobbying Disclosure Reports: TPA will prepare and file, on behalf of the City, all applicable state and federal lobbying disclosure reports.

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 11

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH

PROJECT TEAM
With a team of 19 state and federal legislative advocates and grant writers, TPA has the breadth and depth of experience AND the ability to deploy as many advocates as needed to maximize success for the City while minimizing the burden on City staff. TPA proposes a dedicated team of five people to perform professional legislative and lobbying services for the City.

Niccolo De Luca
Vice President
Professional Credentials: Registered State and Federal Lobbyist Relevant Experience: 28 Years of Legislative Advocacy & Public Policy Experience Role: Strategic Advisor; State Legislative Advocate
Cori Takkinen
Vice President
Professional Credentials: Registered State and Federal Lobbyist Relevant Experience: 15 Years of Legislative Advocacy & Public Policy Experience Role: Strategic Advisor; State Legislative Advocate
Elisa Arcidiacono
Senior Associate
Professional Credentials: Registered State and Federal Lobbyist Relevant Experience: 11 Years of Legislative Advocacy & Public Policy Experience Role: Lead State Legislative Advocate
Joseph Melo
Senior Associate
Professional Credentials: Registered Federal Lobbyist
Relevant Experience: 10 Years of Legislative Advocacy & Public Policy Experience Role: Lead Federal Legislative Advocate
Sammi Maciel
Senior Associate
Professional Credentials: Registered Federal Lobbyist
Relevant Experience: 8 Years of Legislative Advocacy & Public Policy Experience Role: Federal Legislative Advocate
The individuals who will be principally responsible for working with the City will be Vice President Niccolo De Luca and Senior Associates Elisa Arcidiacono and Joseph Melo.

This team will be directly supported by TPA’s 17 additional legislative and funding advocates to ensure the City is able to take advantage of all legislative and funding avenues and secure significant success in both Sacramento and Washington, DC.

TPA uses a strategic approach to state and federal legislative advocacy services that will be tailored to meet the specific needs of the City. To maximize success, TPA’s team of advocates and grant writers will utilize a collaborative approach and leverage an expansive collection of relationships in the state and federal governments, as well as a variety of policy expertise, including in transportation and infrastructure, water, education, parks and recreation, and local governance. Resumes for each member of the team can be found on the following pages.

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 12

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
Niccolo De Luca, Vice President: Niccolo brings 28 years of legislative and public policy experience to TPA. Niccolo worked with the Cities of Berkeley, Concord, Emeryville, Campbell, Pinole, and Fremont to pass multiple pieces of state legislation that granted these cities the ability to create and enhance local revenue measures. Niccolo has expertise in the policy sectors of local governance, parks and natural resources, housing and homelessness, public safety, cultural resources, and cannabis.

Townsend Public Affairs, Inc.

Vice President 2008–Present
Throughout his tenure at TPA, Niccolo has been responsible for dozens of legislative proposals that have been signed into law and has secured millions in competitive grant funds for local public agency clients. In addition to his public policy expertise, Niccolo has widespread bipartisan relationships with Members and staff of the State Legislature including the Senate and Assembly Budget Chairs and the Budget Committee staff, Governor Newsom's Administration, and numerous policy committee staff. Some of Niccolo’s accomplishments include:
• Niccolo worked with Freedom West Homes to sponsor SB 593, which gives the City and County of San Francisco’s redevelopment successor agency the authority to finance up to 5,842 affordable housing units using the successor agency’s property tax revenue. This is one of the few Redevelopment Agency (RDA) successor agency bills signed into law by Governor Newsom and one of the few RDA successor agency bills signed into law since 2015, almost 10 years ago. Niccolo helped create and lead the coalition in drafting language, organizing letters of support, securing witnesses to testify, and worked closely with legislative leadership and the Governor’s. Ultimately, the Governor signed the measure into law.
• Niccolo was a major part of the coalition to help pass the state’s first ever automated speed enforcement legislation. Niccolo worked with the City of Oakland along with five local governments on AB 645, which established a pilot program to give local transportation authorities in six cities the authority to install speed safety systems. To garner momentum for its success, Niccolo worked with Oakland City staff to highlight the need, provide data on the number of accidents and collisions, and to provide technical support to the author and her office. Throughout AB 645’s progress through the Legislature, Niccolo provided lead testimony in multiple policy committees in support, drafted coalition letters, worked with the Author’s office and committee leaders on various iterations of amendments, and orchestrated support and testimony to counteract the opposition’s efforts. • Niccolo worked with the City of Oakland to secure $280 million in an FY 2021–2022 State Budget earmark for critical maritime infrastructure. Niccolo coordinated directly with Senate Budget Chair Nancy Skinner, the Oakland Mayor, and appropriate Senate and Assembly Budget Committee staff to draft the language for inclusion into the State Budget.

Niccolo’s strategy, execution, and relationships led to one of the highest budget earmarks in State history and a massive significant financial win for the City and Port of Oakland. • Niccolo led the TPA efforts to secure $33.1 million in critically needed park funding for cities and nonprofits in the Bay Area, Central Valley, and Southern California. These efforts included working on the funding guidelines, drafting the applications, lobbying for the applications, and working hand in hand with the funding agency. Niccolo was the team lead and instrumental in the many victories of our clients spanning throughout California Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 13

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
• Niccolo spearheaded the movement to secure $15 million in an FY 2022–2023 State Budget earmark to the City of Berkeley for the Berkeley Marina and Pier. This year-long effort included creating a local, grassroots effort, strategizing with the Mayor and City Council, drafting letters of support and speaking points, help drafting a budget, working in partnership with Senate Budget Chair Nancy Skinner and Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, and other related efforts.
• Niccolo was a major part of the coalition to help pass the state’s first-ever medicinal cannabis regulatory framework legislation. Niccolo served as an instrumental member of the statewide coalition that supported the views of both local government and the industry.

Niccolo actively drafted language and advocated with legislators and staff to ensure statewide regulations would be in the best interest of cities. Due to these efforts, Niccolo has been recognized as a policy expert on cannabis policy and has testified before numerous legislative committees on issues related to its statewide implementation. • Niccolo worked with the Cities of Berkeley, Concord, Emeryville, and Fremont to pass multiple pieces of state legislation that granted these cities the ability to create and enhance local revenue measures. Niccolo led the advocacy efforts on behalf of these cities which included drafting and implementing and plan of action, working closely with the author's offices to draft the legislation, building coalitions, testifying in committees, meeting with impacted state agencies and the Governor’s Administration, and other efforts. Due to these efforts, Niccolo has been recognized as a policy expert on Transactions and Use Taxes (TUT) and TPA has been hired specifically to run these legislative efforts on behalf of local governments throughout the Bay Area. • Niccolo worked closely with the City of Oakland to secure four grants in the combined amount of $18.9 million from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program. Niccolo developed the applications and shepherded them through the grant process, including leveraging relationships with the US Department of Justice and COPS staff, which resulted in critical federal funding for the City to hire additional police officers.

City of Oakland
Deputy City Administrator 2004–2007
Niccolo managed daily operations for the public works and police departments, overseeing a combined $323 million budget and supervising 45 employees. He led the creation of a crime reduction initiative adopted by the City Council, resulting in reduced crime. Niccolo also expanded neighborhood public safety gatherings for three consecutive years, nearly doubling participation annually. Additionally, he served as the lead administrative staff for three City Council committees, providing policy expertise to the Mayor and Council.

City of Oakland
Assistant Director, Public Works Agency 2001–2004
Niccolo managed three public works divisions, overseeing finances, 40 staff members, and five direct reports. He implemented citywide procedures to reduce workers' compensation claims and served as the department's spokesperson, handling all media relations. Niccolo also acted as a hearing officer for union grievances, strengthening relationships with affected unions.

City of Oakland
Assistant to Councilmember Richard Spees 1998–2001
University of Oregon
Bachelor of Arts, American History 1997
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 14

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
Cori Takkinen, Vice President: Cori brings 15 years of legislative advocacy and public policy experience to TPA. Cori has extensive experience writing grants for various local, regional, state, and federal opportunities. Cori has expertise in the policy sectors of local governance, transportation, water resources, infrastructure, sanitation, parks and recreation, and economic development.

Townsend Public Affairs, Inc.

Vice President 2011–Present
Throughout her tenure at TPA, Cori has been responsible for securing millions in competitive grant funds for local public agency clients. In addition to her expertise on municipal issues, Cori has strong experience building coalitions, identifying synergies, and leveraging all available opportunities to achieve success. Cori has a strong network of relationships with State Legislators, key staff, and various state agencies. Some of Cori’s accomplishments include:
• Leveraging relationships with the California Federal delegation, Cori had over $25 million in Community Project Funding (or earmarks) included in the nine appropriations bills that passed the House in FY 2022. In addition, Cori leveraged her relationships with Senator Padilla and Senator Feinstein to ensure the inclusion of several projects in the Senate Appropriations bills. Cori maintains a close relationship with Senator Padilla from his previous tenure in the State Senate as well as through his tenure on the Board of Directors of the Discovery Science Foundation, the founding client of Townsend Public Affairs. • Cori worked on behalf of several cities in North Orange County to secure $5 million in funding for the North Orange County Public Safety Collaborative through the federal appropriations process in FY 2022. This was the largest community project award nationwide for the OBJ/Byrne JAG program at the federal level. • On behalf of the City of Newport Beach, Cori helped to successfully secure a state audit request of the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and their management of sober living homes. Cori worked with City and state legislative staff to help craft the state audit request of DHCS and advocated to members of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC). The request was approved unanimously by the JLAC and has directed the State Auditor to conduct its investigation to provide a resolution for the City, as well as other cities across the State.
• In the FY 2021–22 State Budget, Cori worked with several municipal and nonprofit clients to secure $54 million in budget earmarks for priority projects, including funding for mental health, public safety, infrastructure improvements, and parks and trails improvements. • In the FY 2019–20 State Budget, Cori worked with five municipal clients and one nonprofit client to secure $20.2 million in budget earmarks for priority projects, including funding for a stormwater treatment facility, historical renovations, park and trail improvements, fire prevention, and children’s science education.
• Leveraging relationships with the State Legislature, Cori secured an earmark in the FY 2017–18 State Budget in the amount of $20 million to form the North Orange County Public Safety Collaborative. Since that time, Cori has identified additional funding opportunities at the state and federal level and the Collaborative has received a total of $40.8 million since 2017. These annual funds have been allocated to be used for programs to address youth violence prevention and intervention in K–12 schools, programs to Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 15

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
promote and enhance the successful reentry of offenders into the community, and programs to address homeless outreach and intervention efforts. • Cori worked on behalf of the City of La Habra to secure a direct funding allocation in the FY 2021–22 State Budget in the amount of $8.5 million to repair an underground culvert in La Habra that collapsed due to a period of heavy rainfall. • Cori worked with the City of Santa Ana to secure a direct funding allocation in the FY 2018–19 State Budget in the amount of $4 million to upgrade water infrastructure within the City. TPA worked with the City’s legislative delegation, staff from the Assembly and Senate Budget Committees, and the Department of Finance to ensure funding was included in the State Budget for this critical project to allow the City’s water customers to have real-time access to their water usage,.
• Cori worked with the Orange County Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District to sponsor AB 2022 (Gordon). The bill allowed for limited bottling of the highly treated and recycled GWRS water for educational purposes. The bill was the first legislation in the nation that allowed for the direct bottling of advanced treated recycled water. TPA secured bipartisan support for the legislation and it was signed into law. • Cori worked with the State Legislature and Administration on the development and implementation of Proposition 68, the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018. Cori worked in support of a variety of clients to create specific funding opportunities to achieve results. In addition to securing funding opportunities for municipalities, Cori’s efforts with Proposition 68 resulted in $4.8 million to fund a conservation program at West Coyote Hills in Fullerton as well as $3.5 million to fund science education at the Discovery Cube Orange County. • Cori has been engaged in State fire prevention legislation to reduce the risk of fires caused by above-ground utilities as well as to provide opportunities for local jurisdictions located in high fire hazard severity zones to receive priority for fire mitigation measures. • Cori worked with the City of Brea to secure over $10 million from local, state, and federal sources for the Tracks at Brea project. The project is a four-mile multi-use rail-to-trail project that will traverse the City. Funding sources include the US Environmental Protection Agency, California Natural Resources Agency, Strategic Growth Council, California Transportation Commission, and the Southern California Association of Governments.

County of Orange, Board of Supervisors
Policy Advisor for Supervisor John Moorlach 2010
Tom Campbell for US Senate Campaign 2010
Chapman University, Orange, CA
Master of Public Administration 2014
Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA
Bachelor of Arts Economics and Government with Leadership Sequence 2011 Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 16

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
Elisa Arcidiacono, Senior Associate: Elisa brings 11 years of legislative, funding, and public policy experience and has extensive experience in legislative analysis, communications, and relationship building. Her six years of working in the California State Assembly resulted in strong working relationships with key decision-makers in the State Legislature and with relevant state agency officials. Elisa has expertise in several policy areas including local governance, public safety, technology, emergency management, and housing and homelessness.

Townsend Public Affairs, Inc.

Senior Associate 2024–Present
As a Senior Associate, Elisa is skilled at managing clients’ legislative agendas while leveraging robust policy knowledge and relationships at both the state and federal levels to ensure legislative and funding success. Some of Elisa’s experiences include:
• Elisa’s experience working in the California Legislature has led to an extensive network of relationships both in the State Legislature and within state agencies. These relationships have led to many successes in navigating program complexities, rules, and regulations at agencies such as the California Departments of Transportation, Housing and Community Development, Environmental Protection Agency, and Education. Her understanding of the regional and political dynamics of the California legislative delegation and their interactions with other members in the Legislature are key to successfully advocating for local communities and projects.

California State Assembly, Office of Assembly Member Tom Lackey (AD-34) Chief of Staff 2023–2024
As the Member’s Chief of Staff, Elisa led a team of ten staff members in the Capitol Office and two District Offices, as well as managed the Member’s communications, team budget, staff expansion, and District fundraising. Alongside local government stakeholders, Elisa helped lead relief and recovery efforts following local disasters and fostered strong relationships with regional aerospace partners to facilitate industry growth.

Elisa staffed AB 2645 (2024, Lackey) to increase information sharing between tolling agencies and law enforcement partners to improve efforts to find missing persons. This will improve public safety statewide and make law enforcement more efficient and responsive by leveraging existing available technology in specific cases involving special alerts.

League of California Cities
Legislative Affairs, Lobbyist 2021–2023
Elisa led advocacy efforts and communications with member cities, the California State Legislature, the Governor’s Administration, and the Board of Directors on several critical issues, especially public safety, cannabis legislation, and public safety. Elisa organized and facilitated numerous statewide roundtable discussions with cities throughout the state to discuss solutions to issues facing local police and fire agencies.

Elisa worked with the Oxnard Fire Department, the Fire Chiefs Association and the California Professional Firefighters to sponsor AB 662 (2022, Rodriguez) to establish peer-to-peer suicide prevention programming for firefighters and emergency medical personnel.

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 17

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
Elisa worked with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to educate California cities on local impacts following updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone mapping. This included efforts to increase local input and improve communication across agencies.

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Justice Deputy to Supervisor Kathryn Barger 2018–2021
Elisa was the lead public safety policy advisor to the Supervisor, managing more than a dozen departments, and acted as the main point of contact for all emergency notifications in the Supervisor’s District. Elisa also maintained regular communication with all law enforcement and first responder agencies regarding community impacts, resources, and needs within the District.

Elisa worked amongst Supervisorial offices to reform the County Probation Department and reimagine the use of carceral facilities in the City of Lancaster. Elisa facilitated multiple focus groups with impacted community members and partnered with County agencies to increase public safety partnerships and oversight.

Elisa led efforts to backfill resources and ensure continuity of efforts for the LA County Sheriff’s Department’s Mental Evaluation Team and Homeless Outreach Services Team during years with significant budgetary restraints. These vital services improve interactions and connection to services with people experiencing homelessness or living with mental health conditions.

California State Assembly, Office of Assembly Member Tom Lackey (AD-36) Legislative Director, Legislative Assistant 2014–2018
Elisa staffed the Member on the Public Safety and Local Government Committees and made recommendations for all Floor votes. Elisa also trained and managed staff, led legislative research, and developed policies on behalf of the Member and local stakeholders. Additionally, she secured the allocation of $10 million to provide housing for youth experiencing homelessness and led quarterly community stakeholder roundtables to maintain open dialogues with priority groups in the District.

California State University, Channel Islands
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science 2013
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 18

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
Joseph Melo, Senior Associate: Joseph brings 10 years of federal legislative, funding, and public policy experience. Joseph has extensive experience managing legislative and funding activity, including bill analysis, research, and drafting, particularly for federal funding opportunities. Joseph has expertise in several policy areas including energy and commerce, technology, education, housing, foreign affairs, and local government governance.

Townsend Public Affairs, Inc.

Senior Associate 2023–Present
As a Senior Associate, Joseph is skilled in leveraging his extensive policy knowledge and relationships at both the state and federal levels to advocate for TPA clients and ensure legislative and funding success. Some of Joseph’s experiences include:
• Through the FY 2024 federal appropriations process, Joseph secured over $3.9 million in community project funding working closely with both the Senate and House of Representatives. Joseph’s knowledge of the process led to the only federal earmark secured for a community college in the NASA appropriations bill. • Joseph helped identify a previously unfunded water recycling and reuse project worth up to $20 million authorized by Congress in 1996. Joseph is now working alongside the Bureau of Reclamation and the City of Tracy to implement the authorizing language and secure the funding.
• Joseph is currently advocating for the transfer of an Army Reserve Center site to the City of San Pablo. The armory is inactive, and the city sought to acquire the land to use as a new public works corporation yard. Joseph engaged the staff of Representative John Garamendi, the House Armed Services Committee, and the Department of Defense to pursue a public interest land conveyance legislated through the National Defense Authorization Act.
• Joseph successfully elevated the profile of California-based Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) public agencies in Washington, DC by leading the efforts to inform congressional and agency staff of the work performed by CCAs and ensure they are eligible for relevant funding opportunities. Through a joint CCA advocacy trip and correspondence delivered to five federal agencies, Joseph organized a coalition to advocate for the roles of CCAs in federal clean energy programs. • Joseph’s experience working for two California Congressional Representatives has led to an extensive network of relationships both on Capitol Hill and within federal agencies.

These relationships have led to many successes in navigating program complexities, rules, and regulations at agencies such as the Departments of Education, Energy, Commerce, the Treasury, and EPA. His understanding of the regional and political dynamics of the California Congressional delegation and their interactions with other members of the Senate and House are key to successfully advocating for California-based clients.

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 19

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
• Joseph has extensive knowledge and understanding of the current federal appropriations process and has experience in successfully securing millions of dollars worth of earmarks for California projects. While serving as Policy Advisor to Congressman McNerney, Joseph assisted in securing $27 million in community project funding for 15 community projects in Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties, greatly benefiting local California communities.

U.S. House of Representatives, Office of Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-09) Policy Advisor, Legislative Assistant, Legislative Correspondent, Intern 2019–2023 As Policy Advisor, Joseph led the Congressman’s legislative portfolio on issues under the jurisdiction of the Energy & Commerce Committee (Subcommittees on Energy, Communications & Technology, and Consumer Protection & Commerce) and the Science, Space & Technology Committee (Subcommittee on Energy). He assisted in staffing, advising, and preparing the Congressman’s questions and talking points for committee hearings and markups. Joseph co-led the Congressman’s appropriations process and initially helped to secure more than $27 million for fifteen community projects located in California’s Contra Costa County and San Joaquin County as well as managed the Congressman’s caucus work as co-chair of the Artificial Intelligence Caucus and Wi-Fi Caucus. Before serving as the Congressman’s Policy Advisor, Joseph served as Legislative Assistant, Legislative Correspondent/Staff Assistant, and Intern, demonstrating expertise in a wide range of policy areas, including energy and commerce, technology, education, housing, foreign affairs, and local governance.

Save the Children Action Network
Public Policy and Advocacy Intern 2018
Joseph supported bipartisan federal, state, and local government relations efforts through research on elected officials, congressional candidates, and legislation. He also wrote a memorandum on education programs and policies, and he drafted policy documents advocating for specific legislation and institutions relating to early childhood education.

Oracle Corporation
Enterprise Account Manager 2015–2017
While at Oracle, Joseph progressed from Business Development Consultant to Account Manager in under two years. As Enterprise Account Manager, Joseph supported Fortune 100 companies and associated subsidiaries in initiating, developing, and closing sales cycles with Oracle’s cloud portfolio as well as led meetings and managed relationships with executive leadership.

U.S. House of Representatives, Office of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) District Intern 2014
Joseph assisted in casework and advocated for constituents by calling, emailing, and helping draft letters to federal agencies. Additionally, he worked alongside congressional aides to research and complete policy-focused projects.

University of California, Berkeley
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science 2015
The Wilson Center
Foreign Policy Fellowship Program Certificate 2022
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 20

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
Sammi Maciel, Senior Associate: Sammi brings eight years of federal legislative, funding, and public policy experience. Sammi has experience managing legislative activity, including bill analysis, research, and drafting, particularly for federal funding opportunities. Sammi has expertise in several policy sectors including local governance, transportation, broadband, energy, and cultural resources.

Townsend Public Affairs, Inc.

Senior Associate 2021–Present
Since joining TPA, Sammi has kept clients informed of significant actions and pertinent developments in the federal government and strategizes ways in which to influence and enact changes in Washington, DC that have concrete results for clients. Some of Sammi’s experiences include:
• Sammi led TPA’s Community Project Funding efforts for the past three years, during which the firm secured more than $177 million in federal funding for 116 projects. • Sammi has strong relationships with key officials within the Department of Transportation, Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency, which have been critical in helping to advocate and navigate the hundreds of new funding opportunities implemented through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Sammi has leveraged these relationships to guide clients in the submittal process for the millions of dollars available to improve our client’s infrastructure priorities.
• Sammi has leveraged her relationships with regional and national EDA officials to assist in drafting applications for the newly Authorized Recompetes program, made available through the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.
• In FY 2023, Sammi worked with the City of Half Moon Bay to secure a $2 million earmark for the City’s Highway 1–Frenchman Creek Intersection and Bike/Pedestrian Improvement project. Sammi assisted in developing and submitting the project for consideration and leveraged her extensive federal relationships to ensure success. • Sammi’s four years of experience working for two California Senators has led to an extensive network of relationships both on Capitol Hill and within federal agencies. Her understanding of the regional and political dynamics of the California Congressional delegation and their interactions with other members of the Senate and House are important to successfully advocating for California-based clients. • Sammi has first-hand knowledge of the current federal appropriations process, including community project funding requests. This process differs from the pre-2011 earmark process and an understanding of the need to balance transparency and politics to submit a competitive request is key. Sammi has utilized her experience to successfully aid clients in securing millions of dollars’ worth of earmarks in the FY22 and FY23 process. • Sammi has identified new and previously underutilized federal grants for the benefit of TPA clients. She has leveraged her relationships with key grant officials at various federal Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 21

UNDERSTANDING & APPROACH
agencies to ascertain their specific priorities and buzzwords required for successful grant applications. Sammi then leverages that information to help TPA clients develop and submit more competitive federal grant applications and provides more effective tailored advocacy to secure funding awards.

U.S. Senate, Office of Senator Kamala Harris (CA)
Field Representative 2019–2021
Sammi represented a 30-county region on behalf of Senator Harris, attending events, hosting meetings, and facilitating outreach to constituents. She tracked key issues, facilitated rapid response, and built an extensive network of relationships with local elected officials and advocacy groups within her 30-county region. Additionally, Sammi drafted letters of support on behalf of her region addressed to numerous federal agencies, requesting funding for key projects.

U.S. Senate, Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA)
Legislative Intern Summer of 2017
As a legislative intern with Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office, Sammi researched and drafted memos for state field representatives regarding state legislature bills in the policy areas of transportation and water infrastructure, cannabis, and sanctuary cities.

Dominican University of California
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science 2017

INVOLVEMENT OF CITY STAFF
TPA state and federal advocates diligently work to build and leverage relevant relationships, coordinate with stakeholders, monitor and analyze legislation, implement quality control measures, and maintain consistent communications to identify and pursue all legislative opportunities relevant to the City’s interests. TPA will rely on City staff for specific timely engagement on legislative issues throughout the state and federal legislature processes, as well as to provide applicable technical project information for legislative-directed spending opportunities. However, TPA will work to reduce the burden on City staff while implementing its state and federal legislative agendas. This approach enables the TPA team to be an extension of City staff, ensuring that both TPA and the City continue to work together seamlessly to secure legislative successes in the current political and funding environments in Sacramento and Washington, DC.

TPA’s team of 19 state and federal legislative advocates has the capacity to work collaboratively and diligently to pursue multiple opportunities on behalf of the City at any given time. As a firm comprised of both legislative advocates and grant writers, our uniquely comprehensive approach to advocacy ensures that no opportunity is missed, and the City is aware of any and all legislative and funding activity occurring at the state and federal levels. Through consistent communication and proactive engagement, TPA’s team of advocates will be able to quickly respond to legislation, coordinate with City staff, and implement the appropriate advocacy strategies within the timeframes of the City, state, and federal governments.

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 22

REFERENCES

1. CITY OF COMPTON
Contact Name: Emma Sharif
Contact Title: Mayor
Address: 205 South Willowbrook Ave, Compton, CA 90220
Phone Number: 310-722-3203
Email Address: [email protected]
Start & End Date: July 2022 – Present
Project Description: TPA provides state and federal legislative advocacy and grant writing services to the City.

2. CITY OF SAN PABLO
Contact Name: Matt Rodriguez
Contact Title: City Manager
Address: 1000 Gateway Avenue, San Pablo, CA 94806
Phone Number: 510-215-3016
Email Address: [email protected]
Start & End Date: November 2010 – Present
Project Description: TPA provides state and federal legislative advocacy and grant writing services to the City.

3. CITY OF HESPERIA
Contact Name: Rachel Molina
Contact Title: City Manager
Address: 15776 Main Street, Hesperia, CA 92345
Phone Number: 760-947-1018
Email Address: [email protected]
Start & End Date: October 2013 – Present
Project Description: TPA provides state and federal legislative advocacy and grant writing services to the City.

4. CITY OF EL MONTE
Contact Name: Alma Martinez
Contact Title: City Manager
Address: 11333 Valley Boulevard, El Monte, CA 91731
Phone Number: 626-580-2089
Email Address: [email protected]
Start & End Date: January 2015 – Present
Project Description: TPA provides state and federal legislative advocacy and grant writing services to the City.

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 23

REFERENCES

5. SAN GABRIEL VALLEY COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
Contact Name: Ricky Choi
Contact Title: Director of Government and Community Relations Address: 1333 Mayflower Avenue, Suite 360, Monrovia, CA 91016 Phone Number: 626-319-5050
Email Address: [email protected]
Start & End Date: October 2023 – Present
Project Description: TPA provides state and federal legislative advocacy services to SGVCOG.

CURRENT CLIENTS
TPA currently provides state and/or federal legislative advocacy and/or grant writing services to the following public agencies:
• City of Agoura Hills
• City of Alhambra
• City of Anaheim
• City of Atascadero
• City of Atwater
• City of Avalon
• City of Berkeley
• City of Brawley
• City of Brea
• City of Buena Park
• City of Campbell
• City of Chino Hills
• City of Citrus Heights
• City of Compton
• City of Concord
• City of Costa Mesa
• City of Del Mar
• City of Dinuba
• City of Dublin
• City of El Monte
• City of Emeryville
• City of Farmersville
• City of Fontana
• City of Fort Bragg
• City of Fountain
Valley
• City of Fremont
• City of Fullerton
• City of Gardena
• City of Guadalupe
• City of Half Moon
Bay
• City of Hanford
• City of Hayward
• City of Hesperia
• City of Huron
• City of Irvine
• City of Kingsburg
• City of La Habra
• City of La Palma
• City of La Verne
• City of Lafayette
• City of Laguna
Beach
• City of Los Alamitos
• City of Los Banos
• City of Madera
• City of Malibu
• City of Manteca
• City of Mendota
• City of Menifee
• City of Millbrae
• City of Mission Viejo
• City of Modesto
• City of Monterey
Park
• City of Moreno
Valley
• City of Morro Bay
• City of Murrieta
• City of Newport
Beach
• City of Oakland
• City of Oakley
• City of Oceanside
• City of Ontario
• City of Orange
• City of Orange Cove
• City of Pacifica
• City of Orinda
• City of Palm Desert
• City of Palm Springs
• City of Palmdale
• City of Palo Alto
• City of Parlier
• City of Paso Robles
• City of Pico Rivera
• City of Pinole
• City of Pismo Beach
• City of Placentia
• City of Placerville
• City of Pleasanton
• City of Reedley
• City of Rialto
• City of San Leandro
• City of San Pablo
• City of Santa Ana
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 24

REFERENCES
• City of Santa
Barbara
• City of Santa Clara
• City of Shafter
• City of Sierra Madre
• City of Soledad
• City of South El
Monte
• City of South San
Francisco
• City of Stanton
• City of Temecula
• City of Tracy
• City of Tulare
• City of Turlock
• City of Tustin
• City of Union City
• City of Walnut Creek
• City of West
Sacramento
• City of Westminster
• City of Wheatland
• County of Kern
• County of Imperial
• County of Mariposa
• County of Orange
• County of Shasta
• County of Stanislaus
• Merced County
Association of
Governments
• San Gabriel Valley
Council of
Governments
• Tri-Valley Cities
Coalition
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 25

DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
TPA does not have any potential or current conflicts of interest to disclose in relation to this RFP or work with the City.

Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 26

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
FIRM’S STRENGTHS AND RELATIONSHIPS
TPA is uniquely positioned to deliver comprehensive state and federal advocacy services to the City of Lawndale. Our integrated approach as both state and federal lobbyists enables us to advocate on issues of importance in Sacramento and Washington, DC, ensuring that legislative opportunities, competitive funding, and policy trends are tracked and leveraged from development to implementation. By working with TPA, the City will gain a partner with deep-rooted relationships in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., and a team that consistently delivers strategic guidance, timely action, and tailored solutions aligned with the City’s goals.

Unlike other firms, TPA seamlessly integrates both state and federal services under one roof, providing our clients with a strategic advantage. This unique structure allows us to track the progression of federal policies and funding opportunities from their inception, ensuring that when these funds and programs reach California, Lawndale will be wellpositioned to respond and benefit. This comprehensive approach means we can follow the entire lifecycle of legislative initiatives and funding streams, maximizing advocacy and grant outcomes and solidifying the City’s voice and visibility on key policy issues at every governmental level.

As a proud partner of the League of California Cities and other key statewide associations, TPA is committed to leveraging our longstanding relationships with these organizations to amplify the City’s interests. TPA maintains active involvement in Cal Cities, staying apprised of their policy goals and participating in events that provide valuable opportunities for networking, advocacy, and collaboration. By leveraging these partnerships, we can provide the City with critical insights into legislative developments, emerging issues, and funding opportunities, while ensuring that the City maintains a strong and unique voice in Sacramento and Washington, DC. TPA also has strong relationships with the following legislators, representatives, agencies, and departments that will ensure the City’s priorities are being heard by top decision-makers.

City’s State Legislative Delegation:
• Senator Steven Bradford
• Assembly Member Tina McKinnor
Governor’s Administration and Agency Leadership:
• Governor Gavin Newsom
 Chief of Staff Dana Williamson
• Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis
• State Treasurer Fiona Ma
• State Controller Malia Cohen
• Attorney General Rob Bonta
• Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond
• Secretary Wade Crowfoot, Natural Resources Agency
• Secretary Toks Omishakin, California State Transportation Agency Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 27

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• Secretary Amelia Yana Garcia Gonzalez, California Environmental Protection Agency
• Secretary Tomiquia Moss, Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency • Director Armando Quintero, Department of Parks and Recreation • Director Karla Nemeth, Department of Water Resources
• Director Joe Stephenshaw, Department of Finance
• Director Gustavo Velasquez, Department of Housing and Community Development
State Legislative Leadership:
• Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire
• Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez
• Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones
• Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas
• Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood
• Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry
• Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher
Key Legislative Committee Leadership
• Senate Appropriations Chair Anna Caballero
• Senate Budget Chair Scott Wiener
• Senate Human Services Committee Chair Marie Alvarado-Gill • Senate Transportation Committee Chair Dave Cortese
• Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee Chair Dave Min • Senate Public Safety Committee Chair Aisha Wahab
• Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Lori Wilson
• Assembly Appropriations Chair Buffy Wicks
• Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel
• Assembly Local Government Committee Chair Juan Carrillo • Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee Chair Chris Ward • Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee Chair Diane Papan City’s Federal Legislative Delegation:
• Senator Alex Padilla
• Senator Laphonza Butler
• Representative Maxine Waters
President’s Administration and Federal Agencies:
• White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
• Stephanie Sykes, Special Assistant to the President
• Department of Agriculture
• Homer Wilkes, Under Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment • Carlos Suarez, California State Conservationist
• Department of Commerce
• Michell Morton, Broadband Program Specialist
Proposal for Professional Legislative & Lobbying Services | City of Lawndale Page 28

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• Department of Education
• Adam Honeysett, Managing Director, State and Local Engagement • Department of Homeland Security
• Department of Energy
• Rose Dady, Director of Community Engagement
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Patrick Byrne, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Intergovernmental Relations • Chi Chukwuka, Senior Advisor
• Department of the Interior
• Department of Justice
• Shannon Long, COPS Office
• Department of Labor
• Department of Transportation
• Evan Wessel, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs • Army Corps of Engineers
• Mark Cohen, Operations Division Chief, Los Angeles District • Lisa Sandoval, Civil Works Branch Chief, Real Estate Division • Darrell Buxton, Chief Civil Works Branch, Los Angeles District • Bureau of Reclamation
• Jack Simes, Area Manager, Southern California Area Office • Federal Aviation Administration
• Faviola Garcia, Deputy Regional Administrator
• Nathan Morrissey, FAASTeam Ops
• Economic Development Administration
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Martha Guzman, EPA Region 9 Administrator
• Jamie Piziali, Municipal Ombudsman
• Fish and Wildlife Service
• National Marine Fisheries Service
• National Park Service
Key Congressional Legislative Committees:
• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee • Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
• House Appropriations Committee
• House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

Gregory M. Murphy, City Attorney
Hrant Manuelian, Finance Director/City Treasurer
SUBJECT:

Purchasing Policy Reorganization and Amendment to Authorize City Manager Purchases in Specified Situations

BACKGROUND
Over the past year, the City Manager brought two items to the City Council for review and ratification. The first involved repairs to a security gate at a City Hall parking lot. The second involved repairs to City vehicles. Both situations involved contracts that were properly let according to the Municipal Code but which, once work was in process, wound up exceeding the contracting threshold. Technically speaking, each situation should have seen work come to a stop and then a higher level of contract procurement take place before work was completed. But in the context of the first situation it would have meant the security gate sat inoperable and blocking the driveway during procurement. And in the second situation it would have meant the vehicles sitting in one repair shop while bids from other repair shops were sought. In neither circumstance were the additional factors requiring a higher price known or knowable before work began and the equipment being serviced was taken apart.

In both circumstances, the City Manager relied on his inherent authority under Sections 3.08.040 and

3.08.050 of the Municipal Code to have work completed. He then brought the completed work to the attention of the City Council as an agenda item at a Council meeting for the sake of transparency and good government.

The initial changes to the City’s purchasing policy would clarify the situations, like the two recent ones, in which the City Manager has express authority from the Council to move forward with ongoing contracts instead of stopping and going to a higher level of procurement processes. These were called “exigent” circumstances and are found in new Section 5.b of the policy. The second changes, requested by the City Council when this matter was first brought forward, would define “emergency” circumstances; these are found in new Section 5.a. and include: a situation in which a State of Emergency has been formally declared by the Federal, State, County, or City government in accordance with the statutes or ordinances giving it the power to do so. It shall also mean a situation in which due to weather conditions, natural disaster, civil unrest, or other circumstances affecting the City there is an immediate need to obtain goods and/or services to prevent harm to City facilities or personnel (or the public) and the immediate need makes infeasible or impossible full compliance with the Purchasing Ordinance.

The remaining changes to the policy were requested by City staff as a way to streamline and shorten the policy while retaining the substance of it. Items had been added over the years that could be combined for ease of use. This was done as part of the revision process.

STAFF REVIEW
The City Council is asked to review the redline and final versions of the revised purchasing policy and then adopt the changes. The changes will simplify portions of the policy while also granting the City Manager clear authority to act in situations of emergency and situations in which contractor estimates are exceeded by the actual cost of work being performed.

LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney’s office has prepared the proposed changes and approved them as consistent with the purchasing ordinance in the Municipal Code.

FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact as a result of this item.

RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council review the proposed changes and adopt Resolution No. CC-2409- 095 making the changes to the purchasing policy.

Attachments
A. 53-00 Purchasing Policy Lawndale 2021 redline 4879-8749-2322 v (1).pdf B. CC-2409-095 Updating Purchasing Policy No. 53-00.pdf

ATTACHMENT A
Council Policy No. 53-00

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Lawndale City CouncilJanuary 21, 2025

Lawndale City Council
January 21, 2025