PHB Public Affairs. February 25, 2015

Transcription

1 PHB Public Affairs Exhibit 6 February 25, 2015 Mr. Sean Kolaskar, Legislative Coordinator Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Professional Standards Governmental Center, Room S. Andrews Avenue Fort Lauderdale, FL Dear Mr. Kolaskar: I appreciate being given the opportunity to respond to the solicitation for lobbying services with respect to the Army Corps of Engineers civil works program and Broward County. The port sector is my particular specialty and I have long experience in the civil works program. My basic approach to work in Washington is to learn as much as one needs to know of the client and the situation/projects in order to best represent the client s interest, to be in frequent communication with team members to ensure we are working in an informed and coordinated manner, and to proactively pursue the client s objectives. I have some familiarity with the Port Everglades project and as one who has worked on water resource legislation for a good many years I was impressed by what the County and Port were able to accomplish in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of Please find attached my answers to the questionnaire. I welcome any additional questions that may be prompted by the information below and look forward to hearing from you as you see fit. Sincerely, Signed/ Paul H. Bea Jr. 2/25/2015 2:31 PM Connect icut A venue, N.W (o) Suite (m) Wa shington, D.C (f) pbea@phbpa.com

2 February 24, 2015 Evaluation Criteria 1. Give an overview of the firm, list the names, titles, and describe the experience, qualifications and other vital information of all key personnel that will be assigned to work on Broward County matters. If the firm intends to use any subcontractors to perform services identified in Attachment A, then identify the firm that will be providing services and describe in detail its lobbying experience, qualifications and its specific engagement role in this contract. Your answer should include an outline of each key person s area of lobbying responsibility, including any relevant lobbying experience on legislative or executive branch issues or projects performed for Broward County or other similar urban local governments. (Refer to Attachments A and B in considering your response). PHB Public Affairs (PHBPA) is the sole proprietorship of Paul H. Bea, Jr., Principal. PHBPA provides guidance on federal policy and government relations to clients in the public and private sectors and with a particular focus on ports and the multimodal Marine Transportation System. It is a subject area studied and practiced for thirty-five years, in addition to eight prior years working on the New Jersey Governor s Washington, DC staff and as legislative aide to a New Jersey congressman. For over twentyfive years Paul Bea was on staff to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey in Washington, DC. During that time he covered a range of freight and passenger modal issues with a concentration on port/maritime matters, including US Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects, funding and related environmental issues. Paul Bea worked in close coordination with Port Authority leadership, planners, engineers and other personnel on navigation projects including the 50-foot deepening of that port s channels as authorized by Congress in the Water Resources Development Act of Such work entailed close communications with congressional offices, Corps of Engineers Headquarters, and Administration appointees. The work has included involvement in aspects of water resources legislation development since the landmark 1986 act and through to the recent WRRDA After the attacks of September 2001 the work included the fast-developing federal response to terrorism and the need to protect critical infrastructure including transportation facilities. After retiring in 2005 from The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, Paul Bea established his PHBPA consulting practice. He brought to his consulting work the same work ethic that served him well in representing a major transportation 2

3 agency with much at stake in federal regulation and policy. That work ethic is to be proactive and nonpartisan in order to win cooperation and support for the client s position. Clients have included public port authorities, marine transportation entrepreneurs, and marine terminal associations. The scope of work as outlined in this solicitation properly would require the additional resources of persons experienced in the fine points of civil works project planning and execution in coordination with Army Corps of Engineers personnel in Washington and at other Corps commands. Those additional resources would provide consulting and engineering services in close collaboration with PHBPA, which would provide the necessary lobbying services for the client. As such, PHBPA would engage Tampabased Gahagan & Bryant Associates, Inc. (GBA) to serve in that capacity as a subcontractor. GBA was formed in 1975 to provide consulting and engineering services for dredging, coastal engineering, land reclamation, and port development projects. GBA has extensive experience in the planning, design and management of navigation, coastal and environmental restoration projects. Projects have included navigation channel projects as described below as well as in the ports like New York/New Jersey, Galveston, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Long Beach. Key Persons, Roles and Applicable Experience: Person Role Experience Paul Bea, Principal, PHB Public Affairs Principal consultant; lobbyist on matters as outlined in the solicitation document. Washington Representative, The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey ( ) Consultant Lobbyist, Port of Palm Beach District ( ) Consultant Lobbyist (subcontractor to The Ferguson Group), Broward County and Port Everglades ( ) Consultant Lobbyist (subcontractor to The Ferguson Group), Port of Olympia (2012-present) Consultant Lobbyist, Port of Cleveland (2012-present) Work with each of the above port authorities included, among other things, port related infrastructure such as navigation projects, dredged material management and associated activities entailing congressional funding and 3

4 Grady Bryant, Principal, Gahagan & Bryant Associates, Inc. Dana Cheney, V.P., Gahagan & Bryant Associates, Inc. Subcontractor to provide technical support for client and PHBPA in preparing and implementing strategy. (This is nonlobbying assistance that will be essential in the Port s lobbying and valuable to the project s next stages.) legislation. Port of Corpus Christi This is an ongoing project for coordination of the deepening and widening of the ship channel. The GBA role includes assisting the port authority with the negotiation of a Project Partnership Agreement with the Corps of Engineers at HQ level. Port of Houston Authority This project for the widening and deepening of the Bayport Ship Channel and Barbours Cut Channel. GBA work in assisting the port has been wide ranging including planning and securing approval of environmental permits and is projected to be complete in Philadelphia Regional Port Authority The deepening of the Delaware River is one of the major USACE navigation projects now in construction. GBA is providing a wide range of engineering and project related consulting services to assist the port authority, the project sponsor. 2. Provide a brief description of 2 contracts performed by the firm that is similar to this engagement, whether ongoing or completed in the last three years, excluding Broward County. The descriptions should include the following information: a) Client name; b) Description of work performed; c) Approximate per month contract dollar value; d) Dates covering the term of the contract; e) Name of primary contact and phone number; f) Results of the services/project performed. Example #1 a) Port of Cleveland b) Work in support of the client s efforts to maintain continuity in annual maintenance dredging funding and to obtain USACE support for the port s long term management of dredged sediments. Efforts, in no particular order, have included maintaining an active relationship with key congressional delegation Members and staff; briefing congressional offices on project related detail; coordinating with other lobbying team members; at least weekly conference call 4

5 meetings with the client; advocating the client s case to USACE headquarters leadership; providing drafting services for legislation and other useful material; advising the client on strategy; and updating the client on developments of interest to ports in Washington on an almost daily basis. PHBPA is a part of a very active and closely coordinating lobbying team that is working on behalf of the client. That team includes a technical advisor who brings the particular skills needed for this work. Note, he is not included in the PHBPA contract, nor is he associated with GBA. c) $2500 per month (PHBPA only) d) Current contract for the 13-month period of December 2014 through December e) Will Friedman, President/CEO; telephone (216) f) The short and long term objectives of the client with respect to channel dredging are complicated by challenges both in the port/usace relationship and with a USACE finding that some sediments are suitable for placement in Lake Erie, a finding that the State of Ohio disputes. a. Long term objective: The proposed Cleveland/USACE tipping fee agreement (under section 217) has the initial approval by USACE HQ leadership of a draft agreement document and continues to be under USACE review. Key congressional delegation offices continue to support the port s objective and have directly engaged USACE leadership to seek a resolution on the tipping fee agreement. b. Short term objective: The dredging of Cleveland Harbor in 2015 is likely but not lacking in challenges including those noted above. Funding is already provided and the president s budget for the next year continues to indicate support for the channel s annual maintenance dredging. Annual project maintenance has support among congressional delegation members but questions remain as to USACE demands for the sharing of costs. The lobbying effort takes nothing for granted and is aimed at maintaining pressure on USACE to proceed with the dredging in a timely way without its demand for the local share, which is explained by a difference in preferred sediment placement locations. That ongoing effort includes responding to key congressional office interest in preparing legislation and lines of questioning for Corps of Engineer officials. 5

6 Example #2: a) Port of Olympia b) The client port authority is undertaking to prepare for a full maintenance dredging project by the Corps of Engineers of its channel and turning basin for the first time in decades. The effort consists of several elements including client plans to expand the functioning berths and terminal acreage by constructing a sediment containment facility, and the need to have the federal maintenance project added to the President s civil works budget in the next years. The project is complicated by the fact that port sediments have a level of contamination that exceeds state set limits for placement in the traditional water placement site. Other challenges include the desire to be respectful of the area community s concerns about dredging activity and sediment quality. The effort on behalf of the client has included recommending and implementing a strategy to draw support for the overall effort, improving communications and relationships with USACE and other agencies in the state, proactively and periodically making the case to USACE HQ and the Office of Management and Budget, and establishing closer ties to area congressional delegation members. The lobbying contract is for a team effort in Washington DC and in the state. c) $7000 per month d) The existing contract is for the period of May 2014 through April e) Alex Smith, Environmental Programs Director; telephone (360) f) The federal navigation maintenance project is a few years away and the current target for federal funding is FY Progress has been measured in increments: crafting a public affairs approach that marries the benefits of contaminant removal with the related benefits of greater economic activity resulting channel maintenance. Early stage work (sediment characterization) toward channel maintenance was included in the President s budget (FY 2014). That was made possible with the improved cooperation of the USACE District and reflected USACE confidence in the direction being taken by the port. Detailed analysis of the contamination levels and the implication for sediment placement plans and project costs has introduced new, complicating factors. Those factors are being assessed and will affect the direction the strategy will take. 6

7 3. Attach a complete list of the firm s clients during the past three (3) years, including clients represented before the Broward County Board of County Commissioners, regardless whether the firm was the prime contractor or a subcontractor. Indicate whether the firm has represented clients in front of the Broward County Board of County Commissioners. PHBPA has not represented clients before the Broward County Board of County Commissioners or other bodies of the County. PHBPA clients over the past three years are these: a) New York Shipping Association (current) b) National Association of Waterfront Employers (current) c) United States Maritime Alliance (current) d) The Port of Cleveland (current) e) The Port of Olympia (through The Ferguson Group) (current) f) Broward County/Port Everglades (through The Ferguson Group) g) American Feeder Lines h) PB Consult (as subcontractor) i) TEC Inc. (as subcontractor) j) New Jersey Department of Transportation (as subcontractor) 4. Describe the firm s understanding of, and experience with, major port dredging and beach nourishment projects and what unique quality the firm can provide which makes the firm different than other potential proposers. My experience and understanding is solidly based in Washington, DC and in coordination with others at the client port who are tasked with managing, planning, designing, and contracting for projects. I am not able to conduct economic analysis or perform value engineering but I do know Capitol Hill and how to work with federal entities including the Army Corps of Engineers. Starting in 1980 I worked closely with port personnel at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey as plans were executed for improvements to navigation channels including the two major deepenings from 40 to 45 and then from 45 to 50. That work in Washington included collaborating with key personnel at the port, as already noted, and in the congressional delegations to advance the project authorization process and then 7

8 project implementation. While I have years of experience on the navigation side of the civil works program my experience with respect to beach nourishment is more as observer. Coastal restoration, flood control and environmental restoration projects the other USACE mission areas are a constant in the water resources policy world. It has always been important to maintain some understanding and awareness of those, as well as other civil works projects and policy issues. Doing so is a way to be alert to new policy developments and some of the practical considerations involved in producing federal water resource legislation and projects. Moreover the skills employed in lobbying in one area of the civil works program apply to the others. That said, where I do not have practical experience on beach nourishment projects the Gahagan & Bryant firm does. GBA s broad project range of experience has included shoreline protection, beach nourishment, and environmental restoration in addition to navigation work. As noted earlier, the firm s services and established USACE relationships enable it to provide clients with assistance when working with USACE personnel and in planning, engineering, design, and project management, as needed. 5. List the legal name of the firm, principal business address, Federal Employment ID number, telephone/fax numbers and addresses for key personnel, type of business, and authorized contacts for the firm. Mr. Paul H. Bea Jr. d/b/a PHB Public Affairs Principal Business Address: Suite Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC Type of Business: Government Relations Advisor Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN): Cell: (preferred) Fax: Desk: pbea@phbpa.com Gahagan & Bryant Associates, Inc. Mr. Grady T. Bryant, CEO/Principal Principal Business Address: Suite B W. Bay to Bay Blvd Tampa, Florida Type of Business: Consulting engineering services Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN): Office: Fax: Cell: gbryant@gba-inc.com 8