Consideration and Approval of Contract: Consultant Services Agreement with Nexxus Consulting, LLC in an amount of $108,615.15, plus reimbursable expenses, annually, for Federal Lobbying Services.
 

1. Approve the Consultant Services Agreement with Nexxus Consulting, LLC in an amount of $108,615.15, plus reimbursable expenses, annually, for Federal Lobbying Services; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute the necessary documents.

The City contracts for federal lobbying services to advocate and monitor specific legislation impacting the City's interests and established priorities. The City’s lobbyist is required to provide regular and timely information to the City Manager and weekly updates to the City during Legislative Sessions, and conduct a post-session recap for City Council at public meetings. The lobbyist is responsible for ongoing communication throughout the Legislative session as well as seeking direction regarding important bills, amendments, developments, and other direction provided from the City. Each year, the City Council adopts priorities to provide necessary direction to staff and the lobbyist.

The City's Purchasing Section conducted a Request for Proposals (RFP) solicitation and advertised the RFP twice in the Arizona Daily Sun on August 7, 2025 and August 14, 2025. The RFP was also posted to the PlanetBids website on July 31, 2025, which is a third-party bidding site with hundreds of registered vendors throughout the country. Proposal responses were due no later than August 22, 2025.  The City received a total of four (4) responses from Ballard Spahr, Gray Robinson, LPC Enterprises LLC, and Nexxus Consulting, LLC. The evaluation committee comprised of five evaluators, with all evaluators being within the City organization. Once the evaluation and scoring were completed, the scores were aggregated into a matrix. The evaluation committee determined Nexxus Consulting, LLC to be both responsive and responsible with high scores given by all five evaluators.

Nexxus Consulting, LLC has represented the City of Flagstaff in its federal lobbying efforts for nearly 25 years. This partnership with the City has resulted in nearly $200 million in direct appropriations and grant awards to Flagstaff.

The Consultant Services Agreement with Nexxus Consulting, LLC is for an initial three-year term with two, one-year renewals available. The cost for the first year is $108,615.15, plus reimbursable expenses. There will be an annual 2.5% increase each year for the remaining four years of the contract.

Funding for federal lobbying services is included in the FY2025-26 adopted budget in account 001-01-017-0070-1-4206 in the General Fund within the Communication and Civic Engagement Division for $193,089 for federal and state lobbying services.

Previous Council decision on a contract for federal lobbying services occurred in November 2015 and November 2020. 

1. Approve the Consultant Services Agreement with Nexxus Consulting, LLC, as recommended; or
2. Direct staff to conduct another Request for Proposals (RFP) procurement process; or
3. Discontinue the use of any professional lobbying services.

The City of Flagstaff’s Intergovernmental Affairs program coordinates the City's dealings with the federal, state, tribal, and other local governments and seeks to foster constructive links between the City and these entities. The Intergovernmental Affairs program works to advocate for the Flagstaff community by fostering and maintaining relationships with individuals and entities that affect the City’s interests. 
 
The Intergovernmental Affairs program keeps the Mayor and Council informed about intergovernmental issues and assists in representing the City's interests in these matters. The Intergovernmental Affairs program is part of the Communication and Civic Engagement Division and serves all City divisions, the Flagstaff City Council and the Mayor.
 
The City contracts lobbying services to advocate and monitor specific legislation impacting the City's interests and established priorities. The City adopts state and federal legislative priorities to establish City positions on issues, policies and projects of legislative interest. The City’s lobbyist is in constant communication with staff. Together, the lobbyist and staff brief the Mayor and City Council throughout the legislative session. While the adopted priorities provide necessary direction, ongoing communication is also critical throughout the session to seek direction regarding important bills, amendments and project developments.

The federal lobbyist supports and advocates for all priorities and objectives as necessary.

The federal lobbyist will advocate for the goals outlined in the Regional Plan.

The federal lobbyist will advocate for the goals outlined in the Carbon Neutrality Plan.

The federal lobbyist will advocate for the goals outlined in the 10-Year Housing Plan. 

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