Lobbying
Akerman, Cardenas want in on Miami-Dade contract
August 31, 2010 By: Julie Kay
Two Florida lobbying groups cut out of a lucrative Washington contract with Miami-Dade County are mounting their own pitches to be included.
Thus far, one law firm has gained ground in reversing a judging panel’s decision to omit it from a list of recommended firms.
County staff originally recommended three law firms should share a $720,000 annual contract for lobbying work in the nation’s capital. They are Washington-based Patton Boggs, longtime county lobbyist Alcade & Fay of Virginia, and Greenberg Traurig, the only firm in the group with deep Florida ties.
But two spurned firms — Akerman Senterfitt and Cardenas Partners founded by Tew Cardenas partner Al Cardenas — are pushing behind the scenes for a piece of the pie.
So far, only Akerman has gained traction, winning the support of County Mayor Carlos Alvarez and County Manager George Burgess, who are recommending Akerman be awarded an extra $150,000 as the fourth national lobbyist for the county.
Alvarez and Burgess argued in a joint memo to County Commission chair Dennis Moss that Akerman should pick up a share of the work because it scored just one point below Greenberg Traurig on a 600-point scale without getting credit for its strong Miami connections. They did not recommend adding the Cardenas Partners.
“Notwithstanding the board’s previous direction to award up to three contracts, the one-point difference presents a unique and compelling situation that substantiates adding Akerman,” the two said in a July 20 memo. “There is no similar situation regarding the points to substantiate recommending the fifth-ranked firm, Cardenas Partners.”
The furious jockeying and politicking for the county’s lobbying contract — which is worth a total of $2.9 million over three years — has been under way for six months. The county’s current contracts with Alcade & Fay, Greenberg Traurig and Cardenas ended in March.
Since then, the county has extended those contracts on a month-to-month basis while the intense selection process plays out. One scheduled commission vote was abruptly canceled, and another vote is scheduled Sept. 10.
A committee empaneled to solicit proposals received 11, including submissions from three Florida firms, Greenberg, Akerman and Cardenas. An extensive ranking process gave Akerman 533 points, with heavy credit for connections to the Obama administration, scoring 81 of 90 possible points.
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Akerman touted three former attorneys with administration posts — Commerce Undersecretary Frank Sanchez, ambassador to Portugal Allan Katz and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Pam Marsh — in its application.
“We made the case at a public meeting that we should be added based on our relationship with the White House, which was an important part of the proposal, and our significant relationship with the South Florida delegation on both sides of the aisle from Mario Diaz-Balart to Debbie Wasserman Schultz,” said Michael Abrams, co-chair of Akerman’s government affairs and public policy division. Abrams is a former county Democratic Party chair and state legislator.
Akerman has considerable political muscle, with such legislators as state Sen. Alex Villalobos, state Rep. Joe Gibbons and state House candidate Jose Diaz at the firm. State Sens. Dan Gelber, Democratic nominee for Florida attorney general, and Joe Negron, recently left the firm. The firm also teamed up with Brian Cave, a D.C.-based governmental affairs firm, for the project.
The firm became incensed at being labeled a “non-Miami vendor” by the selection committee, even though being based in Miami-Dade County was not a requirement. “Someone on the county staff in their infinite wisdom decided we are a non-Miami law firm,” Abrams complained. “We have more lawyers in our Miami office than any other law firm. It is our largest single office. That is just preposterous.”
Alvarez’s letter to commissioners was dated the same day Jose Villalobos, an Akerman attorney and father of Alex Villalobos, wrote county commissioners and county attorneys complaining about the outsider label despite having 235 employees in its Miami office — just five blocks from the County Government Center. The firm occupies several floors in the SunTrust International Center in downtown Miami.
“Akerman Senterfitt is consistently being designated by the Miami-Dade County Procurement Department as a nonlocal vendor. Inasmuch as Akerman Senterfitt meets all of the criteria stated … we would respectfully request that you correct your records to reflect that Akerman Senterfitt has and does meet this criteria or kindly provide the specific section of the Miami-Dade County Code that provides otherwise,” Jose Villalobos wrote.
In a separate letter to commissioners, he touted its appointment of former 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Hatchett as the firm’s diversity chair.
Cardenas, head of Cardenas Partners, a former Florida Republican Party chair with close ties to former President George W. Bush and and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, said he was disappointed about being left off the list after four years as one of the county’s Washington lobbyists.
“We believe we’ve done a very good job for the county in our employment for them and think we deserve to help them based on our merits,” he said. “They’ve always renewed our contract every year, and we received good commendations.”
But some said Cardenas — even though he has teamed up with Florida Democratic Party chair Karen Thurman, a former congresswoman — is perceived as lacking Obama administration access.
“Al is a former chairman of the Republican Party,” said veteran Miami lobbyist Bob Levy. “You can’t get more partisan than that. And the Democrats are firmly in charge in Washington.”
Both Levy and Ron Book, another longtime South Florida lobbyist, agreed the county should add Akerman, but no other firm.
“You have to draw the line somewhere,” Book said. “You can’t put every firm at the table. First of all, it costs too much. And you dilute the process, and it’s unnecessary.”
Levy agreed, saying: “There’s a diminishing return after awhile. It lessens your effectiveness. I could see adding Akerman, however. You want more local firms.”
Cardenas said his firm is not asking for additional funds from the budget but rather to divide the $720,000 among five firms. He argues there is plenty of work to keep five firms busy in Washington.
“We don’t all work on the same matter. It’s bifurcated,” he said. “The county sometimes has 50, 60 issues. This would be a win-win for all.”
Julie Kay can be reached at (305) 347-6685.
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