RFQ NO. 16-01 CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS PUBLIC INFORMATION ISSUE DATE: 9 JUNE 2016 RESPONSE DATE: 28 JUNE 2016
SECTION 1: INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE 1.1 PURPOSE The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea is soliciting qualifications from individuals or firms interested in providing public information support services to the City. Prospective Proposers must offer a proposal that will meet the scope of services, qualifications and general description of work identified in Section 2 of this Request for Qualifications (RFQ). The City anticipates entering into a contract with the selected Proposer(s) for a one year term (1 July 2016-30 June 2017), subject to annual renewal. 1.2 RFQ PROCUREMNT OFFICER The RFQ Procurement Officer identified below is the sole point of contact regarding the RFQ from the date of issuance until the selection of the successful Proposer. Sharon Friedrichsen Director of Budgets and Contracts City of Carmel-by-the-Sea P.O. Box CC Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921 sfriedrichsen@ci.carmel.ca.us 1.3 PRESENTATION/CLARIFICATION OF CITY S RIGHTS AND INTENTIONS The City intends to enter into a contract with the selected Proposer to supply the services described in Section 2. However, this intent does not commit the City to award a contract to any responding Proposer, or to pay the costs incurred in the preparation of the proposal in response to this request, or to procure or contract for any services. The City reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (a) accept or reject in part or in its entirety any proposal received as a result of this RFQ if it is in the best interest of the City to do so; (b) award one or more contracts to one or more qualified Proposers if necessary to achieve the objectives of this RFQ. 1.4 TIMELINE The schedule of events for this RFQ is anticipated to proceed as follows: All requests for RFQ clarification must be submitted in writing to the Procurement Officer at the email address provided in Section 1.2 and received no later than 10:00 AM PDT on 21 June 2016. As deemed as appropriate, questions will be answered and documented, in writing, as an Addendum to the RFQ. These will be posted on the City s website at www.ci.carmel.ca.us on or around 22 June 2016. 2 P a g e
Final RFQ submissions must be received by 10:00 AM PDT on 28 June 2016 at the address shown in Section 3.1. At the City s option, a short list of the best qualified Proposers may be established for interviews, which will occur after submittal of the Statement of Qualifications. 1.5 OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANIZATION Carmel-by-the-Sea was first incorporated as a City in 1916. It was founded by artists and writers-among them Jack London, George Sterling, Mary Austin and Robinson Jeffers. Carmelby-the-Sea is known for its urban forest, its beach and natural parklands and its village atmosphere. The City s boundary is one square mile in area, with a population that has remained steady at around 4,000. It is located within Monterey County approximately 120 miles south of San Francisco. As a General Law City, Carmelby-the-Sea has a Council/City Administrator form of government. The Council consists of the Mayor and four Council members, all of whom are elected at large. The Mayor serves a two-year term while Council members serve a fouryear term, with overlapping terms with municipal elections occurring in April of each even numbered year. The City s annual budget is about $20 million and it employs approximately 90 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in order to provide a variety of municipal services, including library and community activities, planning and zoning, building inspections, public safety (ambulance, fire and police), maintenance of beach, parks, facilities and the urban forest, public works and general administration. SECTION 2: SCOPE OF WORK 2.1 SCOPE OF WORK Listed below is a preliminary outline of possible support tasks that may be included within this contract. Additional tasks may be required during the contract term and such tasks would be included within the Proposer s cost proposal. Task 2.1.1 COMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPMENT/TRAINING The selected Proposer will provide ongoing communications training to City staff. In this regard, the Proposer will help serve as a mentor and coach to City staff and provide staff with communication strategies, tools and training to more effectively communicate with residents, 3 P a g e
businesses, other government entities and the media about City programs, projects and other City items of interest. Such training may include the development of messaging, media strategies, audiences, communication options and timelines. The selected Proposer may be requested to attend Council and/or Commission meetings, City-sponsored public workshops and/or internal staff meetings. Task 2.1.2 PRESS AND MEDIA RELATIONS The selected Proposer may also be requested to work with City staff to craft press releases, story pitches and other documents pertaining to City programs, projects, and events. In keeping with Task 2.1.1, the development of press releases would also include creating templates and other documents for City staff use. The selected Proposer would also work with press contacts to have press coverage through interviews, op-ed, feature stories and media coverage of special publicity events; support groundbreaking/ribbon-cutting ceremonies and other City sponsored events; and provide crisis communications and emergency event Public Information Officer (PIO) support. Task 2.1.3 COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTS The selected Proposer may be requested to assist in creating other City publications, such as annual reports, newsletters and brochures. This may include development of information pertaining to pilot programs, public-private partnership initiatives and other City activities. Such communication instruments would include print and electronic mediums, including possible use of social media venues. The City anticipates a redesign of its current website and the selected Proposer may be requested to assist City staff in making recommendations regarding the content and organization of information on the current City website and/or participating in the City s process for developing a new website. SECTION 3: SPECIFIC PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS 3.1 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSER S STATEMENT A. ACCEPTANCE PERIOD AND LOCATION The Statement of Qualifications must be received at the address below on or before 10:00 AM PDT on 28 June 2016. There will be no public opening of the submittals. To be considered, the sealed Qualifications Statement must arrive on or before the location, time and date specified in Section 3.1.A. late submittals will not be considered nor will requests for extensions of the submission deadline be granted. Location: US Post Office: OR UPS/FedEx/ Hand Delivery: City of Carmel-by-the-Sea City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Carmel City Hall Carmel City Hall Attn: City Clerk Attn: City Clerk PO Box CC Eastside Monte Verde between Ocean & 7th Avenues Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921 Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921 4 P a g e
B. REQUIRED COPIES Proposers must submit one (1) signed non-bound original Qualifications Statement and three (3) copies. The City encourages formatting that is double-sided. The Statement should be sealed and clearly be marked : Public Information Consulting Services. The Proposer will make no other distribution of proposals. An official authorized to bind the Proposer to its provisions must sign the proposal. C. CLARIFICATION OF RFQ AND QUESTIONS/ADDENDA TO THE RFQ Questions regarding the RFQ may be submitting in writing or via email as specified in Section 1.2 by the deadline stated in Section 4.1. Questions and answers will be posted on the City s website and, in the event it becomes necessary to revise any part of the RFQ, an addendum will be issued and posted on the City s website. 3.2 ORGANIZATION OF QUALIFICATIONS AND PROPOSAL STATEMENTS The following information must be included within the Qualification Statement and the information should be presented in the same order as noted below. A. PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION AND QUALIFICATIONS Name of individual or firm; Contact information (address, telephone, email); If firm, specific individual(s) that will be assigned to work with the City and provide his/her experience and number of years working for the firm; Experience in providing services as identified in Section 2, including experience working with other public entities; Examples of record of success in representing public entities or other clients; Individual/firm s ability to provide services on a continuous basis and in a timely manner; particularly for situations that are time sensitive; Other information which the Proposer deems relevant; and Cover letter shall be placed on letterhead and signed by individual with authority to bind the firm or individual responding to the RFQ. B. APPROACH TO CONTRACT Provide a detailed description of approach to be undertaken, clearly outlining the anticipated scope of services to be provided. Describe in detail your approach to management of the Contract, including familiarity with City of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Describe any value added services you or your firm will provide as part of this contract and any specific benefits to the City as a result of this partnership. C. REFERENCES Provide a minimum of three clients for whom your company has provided similar services. Include the following information for each client: Name and address of the client; Name and telephone number of contact person; Summary of the services provided. 5 P a g e
D. COST PROPOSAL Proposer shall include the hourly rate for performing services specified in Section 2, including any assumptions regarding reimbursement for other costs such as travel, print, etc. SECTION 4: SELECTION METHOD AND CRITERIA 4.1 Method of Evaluation Selected City staff will form the evaluation committee for this RFQ. All properly prepared and submitted Qualifications for Statements shall be subject to evaluation deemed appropriate for the purpose of selected the Proposer whom a contract may be executed. 4.2 SELECTION CRITERIA The City desires to award the contract to the Proposer(s) that demonstrate the ability to provide the highest quality of service at the best cost. The submittals will be evaluated on the criteria below and any other criteria deemed relevant to serve the best interest of the City. Proposers who submit a proposal may also be required to make an oral presentation of the proposal to the evaluation committee. At this time, the City is under no obligation to offer any Proposer the opportunity to make such a presentation. Evaluation Criteria: Qualifications and experience of personnel assigned to this project (35 points) Location of firm or individual and degree of accessibility to the City (10 points) Approach to the contract/value-added services (30 points) Performance of similar services for clients including at least three references (25 points) 4.3 CONTRACT FOR SERVICES The final fees for professional services and the scope of services will be negotiated with the firm selected based upon its submittal and City requirements. The firm or individual selected will be required to enter into a formal agreement with the City. SECTION 5: GENERAL INFORMATION FOR THE PROPOSER 5.1 RESERVATION OF RIGHTS The City reserves the right to ruse any and all proposals, in part, or in their entirety, or select certain services from various Prospers proposals, or to waive any informality or defect in any proposal. The City is not committed to award a contract and reserves the right to make selections based solely on proposals or negotiate further with one or more Proposers. 5.2 MATERIALS SUBMITTED Materials submitted by respondents are subject to public inspection under the California Public Records Act (Government Code Sec. 6250 et set.), unless exempt. 6 P a g e