Hillsborough County evaluation committee awards top score to Johnston & Stewart in RFP for state lobbying services

An evaluation committee for Hillsborough County has completed consensus scoring of seven proposals submitted for RFP 25-00318, the county's solicitation for state lobbying services, and recorded Johnston and Stewart Government Strategies LLC as the top-scoring firm.

The committee met publicly but limited active participation to committee members. Dawn Denima, the county’s chief buyer, opened the meeting and said, “All questions, comments, and concerns must be directed to my attention and my attention only,” and noted the session was being recorded and that the county’s phone-of-silence procurement restriction remained in effect.

Why it matters: The committee’s consensus scores will feed the county’s procurement recommendation for a contract to provide state lobbying and government relations services. Procurement staff will post the meeting record and the evaluation summary, and the chair was asked to forward a written recommendation.

What the committee did…