Request for Proposals for State Legislative Consultant Services

The City of Solana Beach is a small, general law coastal city in North San Diego County with a population of approximately 13,000 residents. As a built-out 3.5 square mile community that lies entirely within the State-designated Coastal Zone, with 1.7 miles of coastline and a critical segment of the LOSSAN rail corridor, the City faces unique challenges regarding coastal erosion, climate adaptation, and the preservation of community character. While the City is proactive in its local governance, it is increasingly impacted by a complex and fast-moving state legislative environment. Recent shifts in California housing and land-use laws, as well as evolving environmental regulations, have heightened the need for targeted advocacy that protects local control and secures the City’s fair share of state resources.

The City’s Legislative Policy and Work Plan (cityofsolanabeach.ca.gov/legislative) outlines ambitious goals for affordable housing, sustainable transportation, and environmental stewardship, among other key topics. As a smaller municipality with limited internal staff dedicated to legislative affairs, the City requires professional representation in Sacramento to ensure its voice is heard during committee hearings and budget deliberations. In particular, the City’s Work Plan emphasizes the need for bluff stabilization, sand retention, and infrastructure modernization along the coast. These multi-million-dollar projects are beyond the scope of the local general fund and necessitate vigorous pursuit of competitive state grants and earmarks.

The current budget for this contract is expected to begin at $38,000 per year. Actual budget and allocation may be adjusted based upon deliverables and scope of the awarded contract.

Core Legislative Monitoring & Analysis 

• Legislative Tracking: Monitor all introduced and amended legislation, budget trailers, and regulatory actions. Provide specific focus on the five areas of the City’s 2025-2026 Legislative Policy: 
  • Affordable Housing and Livable Communities (with a focus on local control).  
  • Transportation and Mobility (including rail and transit-oriented development). 
  • Environmental Sustainability and Energy. 
  • Youth, Senior, and Community Well-being.  
  • General Governance and Fiscal Responsibility. 
• Impact Assessment: Provide written analysis of bills that may result in unfunded mandates, loss of local land-use authority, or changes to municipal revenue streams. 

Direct Advocacy & Representation 

• Position Letters: Draft, coordinate, and submit formal position letters (Support, Oppose, Support if Amended) to legislative committees and the Governor’s Office. 
• Legislative Testimony: Represent the City at committee hearings in Sacramento to provide oral testimony on high-priority bills. 
• Relationship Management: Maintain and strengthen relationships with the City’s legislative delegation, the Governor’s staff, key state agencies (e.g., Caltrans, HCD, California Coastal Commission), and partner municipalities and agencies (e.g., Del Mar, SANDAG). 

Strategic Communication & Reporting 

• Monthly Meetings: Lead standing monthly conference calls with the City Manager and Government Affairs Manager to review the legislative calendar and strategy. 
• Bi-Annual Council Reports: Prepare and present formal semi-annual updates to the City Council regarding legislative wins, challenges, and future outlooks. 
• Legislative Platform: Assist City staff in the annual update of the City’s Legislative Policy and advocacy priorities. 
• Annual Council Presentation: Provide an in-person presentation and lead discussion with the City Council at a regularly scheduled Council meeting regarding key updates, analysis and strategies of the previous and upcoming state legislative session.  

Specializations  

• Coastal Commission Advocacy: Monitor and influence regulatory changes or legislation affecting the Coastal Act that could impact local shoreline management and beach access. 
• Grant & Funding Identification: Actively identify state grant opportunities for: 
  • Coastal bluff stabilization and sand retention projects. 
  • Climate adaptation and sea-level rise mitigation. 
  • Active transportation and rail corridor safety. 
• Coalition Building: Facilitate partnerships with organizations such as the League of California Cities to amplify the voice of smaller municipalities and to build coalitions around the City’s priority issues. 
• Housing Accountability Defense: Provide strategic advice on navigating state-mandated housing requirements (RHNA) while preserving the unique community character of Solana Beach. 
   

All proposals must include the following:

1. Background: Provide a description of your firm's background, licensing, qualifications to perform the various items of work included in the request for proposals and associated scope of work. 
   • Individuals Proposing - If an individual or an individual owner of a privately held business proffers the proposal, the individual/owner’s name and current address must be provided on the proposal.
   • Proposals on Behalf of a Partnership - If the proposal is made on behalf of a firm or partnership, the company name and/or general partner’s name must be provided on the proposal form along with the street address of the business.
   • Proposals on Behalf of Corporation - If the proposal is made on behalf of a corporation, the proposal must include the State under the laws of which the corporation was incorporated, and the name, titles, and business addresses of the president, secretary, and treasurer of the corporation.
2. Experience: Provide a list of similar work that the consultant or company has completed on behalf of similarly situated clients (local agencies) in the past 5 years. Include the name of the local agency and contact for each project.
3. Sub-Contractor’s Experience: If applicable, provide a list of all proposed sub-Contractors, their background and qualifications, and degree of involvement.
4. Key Personnel: Describe the constant team and include resumes of key personnel. Proposed members should be available for ninety (90) days from the proposal due date. Include provisions for providing back-up staffing should regular staff be unable to perform due to unexpected illness or emergencies. The City must be notified of any changes in key personnel prior to award.
5. Project Understanding: Provide a complete Scope of Work and Project Work Plan required to perform the work associated with this project. Modify the provided Preliminary Scope of Work (Exhibit A in the RFP) as necessary.
6. Price: All proposals must include the price for services in numerical figures as well as narrative format.
7. PSA Consideration: Please review the sample Professional Services Agreement (PSA) - Exhibit B in the RFP. Should your firm be selected, a similar PSA will be executed. You must note any exceptions to the PSA in your proposal. Failure to include any exceptions or a statement that no exceptions are requested may be grounds for rejection of the proposal. Exceptions not noted in the submittal but brought up later will not be considered by the City. There is no guarantee that any exceptions will be accepted by the City.

Each proposal should be limited to no more than 20 pages. If the submittal is made electronically via email or BidNet (preferred method), then the electronic submittal is sufficient. If the submittal is a hardcopy, then please submit three copies.

The City anticipates that the final selection would be made within two to three weeks after the review and/or interviews are complete.

The Proposal(s) that the City selects may begin performing services as early as July 1, 2026.

Pursuant to Solana Beach Municipal Code §3.08.120, the City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive any irregularities or informalities in proposals received.

All submittals must be submitted or received by the City no later than 3:00 PM on Monday, June 8, 2026.

Please submit your Statement of Qualifications and Proposal to the City of Solana Beach using one if the following ways:

Email 

Applicants can email their completed packets to Dion Akers, Internal Compliance & Governmental Affairs Manager, at dakers@cityofsolanabeach.ca.gov.

BidNet 

Applicant that are registered with BidNet can submit their items online through the BidNet portal. The City's State Legislative Consultant Service applicant on BidNetcan be found here.

Mail-in or Drop-off 

Applicants can mail in or drop off their a hard copy of their completed proposal packets to the address below. If submitting a hard copy, then you must submit three copies.

City of Solana Beach
ATTN: Dion Akers
635 S. Highway 101
Solana Beach, CA 92075

Pursuant to Solana Beach Municipal Code §3.08.140, the City reserves the right to award the contract to the most qualified individual, partnership or corporation submitting qualifications and proposals based on demonstrated competence and professional qualifications necessary for the satisfactory performance of the services required as well as the cost of the service. After the review of the qualifications and proposals and if appropriate, a short list of proposals may be selected for the purpose of conducting interviews. The review panel may choose to conduct interviews or select a winning proposal without interviews. The award, if made, will be made based on the suitability of the services offered as determined by the City Manager and/or City Council.

Pursuant to Solana Beach Municipal Code §3.08.120, the City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive any irregularities or informalities in proposals received.