Matt Spoor, assistant county administrator, briefed commissioners on the results of a request for qualifications (RFQ) for state government relations services during the Aug. 14 work session and said a six-member committee reviewed six qualified proposals and ranked the top three firms for recommended interviews: Grey Robinson, Shoemaker Advisors Florida and Sunrise Consulting Group. "The goal of your discussion today is to select those firms you wish to present to you in 2 weeks on August 28," Spoor said.

Spoor said the committee’s recommended top three were selected based on qualifications, experience and responsiveness; he added the RFQ process intentionally prioritized qualifications so the commission could invite any of the qualified firms for interviews. The committee’s alphabetized list of all six qualified firms presented to the board included Capital City Consulting, Grey Robinson, Johnston and Stewart Government Strategies, Shoemaker Advisors Florida, Sunrise Consulting Group, and Allegis Group; proposed three-year contract totals discussed in the meeting ranged from approximately $144,000 to $270,000 depending on firm and bid structure.

Commissioners and staff discussed the trade-offs between locally based or mid-sized firms that may give the county more attention versus larger firms with broader access in Tallahassee. Several commissioners said they wanted one or more locally based firms included in the interview slate; Commissioner Peters asked to include the local firm Johnson Stewart (referred to in the discussion as Johnson and Stewart/Johnson Stewart) among the interview candidates. Commissioner Lobel and others favored limiting the interview list to a short set — commissioners proposed Grey Robinson, Shoemaker, Johnson & Stewart and Sunrise as the set to invite.

County Attorney’s Office counsel emphasized procurement rules: the county attorney reminded commissioners and staff that the county’s purchasing code contains a lobbying prohibition that bars firms from lobbying about the procurement and warned that violating the procurement prohibition could result in disqualification. "This is really for their protection because they can be disqualified if they violate the lobbying prohibition that is currently in your purchasing code," the attorney said; staff noted firms may talk about other, unrelated matters with commissioners but should not lobby on the RFQ.

Logistics for interviews were set: staff proposed 30-minute interview slots (10-minute presentations and follow-up questions) on Aug. 28 with lunch provided; commissioners asked staff to tell firms to limit opening remarks to 10 minutes and to keep total interview time to 30 minutes with contingencies if they run over.

Ending: The board indicated a preference to invite Grey Robinson, Shoemaker Advisors Florida, Sunrise Consulting Group and Johnson Stewart for in-person presentations on Aug. 28; staff will schedule interviews and circulate contractual totals. No final contract award occurred at the Aug. 14 session; the board will make final selection after the interviews.