Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Carolyn Bloede, Director, Office of Sustainability
Subject: Gift of pro bono consultant services, valued at approximately $20,000, to prepare home electrification case studies
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing and accepting the gift of pro bono consultant services, valued at approximately $20,000, to prepare home electrification case studies.
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BACKGROUND:
County staff conducted a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to contract with a consultant to provide project assistance and home electrification expertise for home electrification case studies. The case studies will be conducted under the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) Single-Family Residential sub-program in order to develop and share information about the costs and options for converting existing single-family homes to be all-electric.
Staff released the RFQ on March 23, 2021 and closed the solicitation process on April 16, 2021. Nine applications were received. The review committee consisted of four individuals with program and topic-area expertise and included both Office of Sustainability staff and external public agency and program implementer partners. The committee invited the top two proposers to participate in interviews and scored the proposers according to criteria outlined in the RFQ. The committee ranked Josie Gaillard and Tom Kabat’s proposal as the best overall due to their qualifications, experience, and innovative approach to the home electrification case studies.
DISCUSSION:
Subsequent to the determination of the award to Josie Gaillard and Tom Kabat as the most qualified bidders, Josie Gaillard and Tom Kabat made the decision to provide a gift of pro bono consultant services to the County, valued at approximately $20,000, to prepare the home electrification case studies. They are both members of the Menlo Park Environmental Quality Commission, and out of an abundance of caution, they made this decision to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest.
The County’s receipt of the gift of pro bono consultant services complies with Administrative Memo B-3 which provides that all gifts having a value of over $2,500 be acknowledged in writing by the department head and referred to the Board of Supervisors for acceptance.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with this Agreement.
ATTACHMENTS:
Gift Agreement
OOS Director Gift Acknowledgement to Josie Gaillard
OOS Director Gift Acknowledgement to Tom Kabat