CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
The City of Santa Clarita retained The Afriat Consulting Group to lobby all five Los Angeles County Supervisors against a proposed concrete mining facility just outside city limits in unincorporated Los Angeles County. The Afriat Consulting Group delivered a stunning victory when the Board of Supervisors sided with the City of Santa Clarita and voted unanimously to deny approvals for the Cemex concrete mining facility.
A short time later, The Afriat Consulting Group delivered yet another major victory
for the City of Santa Clarita when the Los Angeles City Council voted 10-5 against
processing an application to annex a proposed 555-acre/5553-home mini-city near Santa
Clarita into the City of Los Angeles.
The firm worked closely with the area Councilmember to secure the vote,
which overturned a green light by the City Council’s Planning & Land
Use Management Committee.
SMARTE CARTE
The Afriat Consulting Group successfully represented Minnesota-based Smarte Carte, Inc. before Los Angeles World Airports and the City Council. The firm secured the airport agency’s luggage cart concession contract for city airports, including Los Angeles International. We have since successfully represented Smarte Carte in various extension and renewal negotiations.
MV TRANSPORTATION
As a result of The Afriat Consulting Group’s negotiations with decision-makers, the City of Los Angeles awarded MV Transportation the lucrative CityRide contract to transport senior and disabled residents, and portions of the DASH bus service contract. In the City of West Hollywood, the firm worked with city officials to secure the CityRide shuttle service contract and CityLine bus service contract.
CBS OUTDOOR & JCDECAUX
With The Afriat Consulting Group on their
side, the CBS Outdoor and JCDecaux USA
partnership was awarded a lucrative 20-year
street furniture and advertising contract
by the City of Los Angeles in 2002. The
contract, which would include bus shelters,
self-cleaning public toilets and advertising
displays, is expected to generate as much
as 900€ million in revenues over its 20-year
lifespan. Of that amount, $150 million is
guaranteed to the city.
Following this success, the West Hollywood City Council awarded CBS Outdoor and JCDecaux the city’s bus shelter advertising and maintenance contract. Subsequently, CBS Outdoor again retained The Afriat Consulting Group for assistance in securing advertising contracts from LA Metro for bus and rail service, together worth more than $134 million. With many of the Metro Board Members conflicted out and others out of town, the firm worked carefully to arrange the vote, securing the unanimous approval of the Metro Board of Directors for both contracts to be awarded to CBS Outdoor.
MAXIMUS
The Afriat Consulting Group secured Los Angeles County’s controversial GAIN welfare-to-work contract for Maximus following intense negotiations aimed at salvaging the bid to outsource a portion of county services. A short while later, with the help of The Afriat Consulting Group, Maximus secured the Los Angeles United School District’s $40 million Integrated Student Information Systems contract to develop and implement a comprehensive new computer system.
ACE OF CALIFORNIA
Adult entertainment establishments in the City of Los Angeles retained The Afriat Consulting Group to fight an ordinance by the City Council establishing a 6-foot rule separating patrons from entertainers. The intention was to close the businesses. Known for its willingness to go to great lengths on behalf of clients, the firm coordinated an aggressive signature-gathering effort and collected nearly twice the number required for a referendum. The Council was left with no other choice than to repeal the ordinance in order to avoid a costly election.
KIEWIT PACIFIC & JF SHEA
When the Kiewit Pacific and JF Shea partnership was pursuing the LA
Metro Red Line subway tunnel and station construction contracts, they
came to The Afriat Consulting Group. Following an arduous procurement
process, the Metro Board of Directors, made up largely of elected
officials, not only awarded the partnership the tunnel construction
contract but also two subway station contracts for Sunset / Vermont
and for Hollywood / Western.
located adjacent to the 110 Harbor Freeway in
Downtown Los Angeles between 8th Street and
James M. Wood Boulevard, the Metropolis is a mixed use
project of the IDS Real Estate Group. It consists of
3.2 million square feet of residential, office, hotel and
retail uses in four high-rises. The Afriat Consulting Group
worked diligently to secure the full backing of the
local City Councilmember for this landmark project.
Then, with the support of the Councilmember in
hand, the firm secured approvals from the City
of Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, the City Council’s Housing, Community
& Economic Development Committee and the full Los Angeles City Council.
approvals of a new high-rise office tower in Century City. The local
Councilmember opposed the project, which would typically mean that the
project is dead on arrival. Not one to back away from a challenge, The Afriat
Consulting Group immediately began lobbying the remaining fourteen
City Councilmembers to support the project over the objections of the
local Councilmember. The project was ultimately approved by an impressive
majority of the City Council.
Steven Afriat became the consultant of choice
for Los Angeles officials in 1995 following then-Mayor Richard Riordan enlisting Afriat to serve
as Campaign Director for the historic Yes on
Charter Amendments 1-8 campaign. Afriat
was assigned the responsibility of organizing a
coalition which worked closely with the Mayor. He
handled intricate communications with members
of the diverse coalition, which included a great
majority of the City Council, Democratic and
Republican organizations, and business, labor
and community leaders. Afriat enlisted support
from across the societal spectrum without ever raising the specter of
opposition. All eight amendments were approved by an overwhelming
majority of voters on Election Day.
labor-backed opponent, The Afriat Consulting
Group was retained to assist in the final re-election
of Supervisor (and former Member of Congress)
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke. Despite sustained
attacks against the Supervisor, The Afriat Consulting
Group’s carefully orchestrated campaign ensured a landslide victory for the Supervisor. Once all the
ballots were counted, the Supervisor’s opponent
and his backers were handed a stunning defeat,
with more than 80 percent of voters backing Burke
for re-election to the Board of Supervisors.
In 2001, The Afriat Consulting Group managed
the successful campaign of then-Councilmember
Laura Chick for Los Angeles City Controller.
Chick was vying to replace outgoing Controller
Rick Tuttle. The firm’s campaign strategy proved
successful on Election Day, securing more than
60 percent of the vote during the primary despite
then-Mayor Richard Riordan’s active support of
another candidate. Chick was able to avoid a
costly runoff election and was sworn into office
right away, marking the first time a non-incumbent
had been elected during the primary to citywide
office. Chick also became the first female citywide elected official in
the city’s more than 200-year history.
In 1999, The Afriat Consulting Group managed
the successful re-election of then-West Hollywood
Mayor Sal Guarriello. Four years later, the firm
again managed Guarriello’s re-election to the City
Council. This time, however, he was not expected
to prevail. Of the three open seats, one was to
go to a popular colleague who was also up for
re-election, and another to a former colleague
who was returning to the City Council and was
expected to win by a landslide. Guarriello was left
vying for the last of the three open seats on the
City Council along with another colleague, who
many expected to beat Guarriello. The Afriat Consulting Group sprung
into action, enlisting support from community leaders, organizations
and elected officials. The firm also orchestrated an aggressive targeted
mail campaign as well as phone banks and a grassroots effort.
Despite continued attacks, Guarriello prevailed and his colleague
did not, marking the first time an incumbent had lost re-election in
West Hollywood. In 2007, Guarriello yet was not expected to win re-election.
But with The Afriat Consulting Group managing his campaign,
Guarriello overcame a much fiercer race than the previous. And each
time, Guarriello was re-elected with an increasing margin of victory.
In 2001, top city officials in Los Angeles
called upon The Afriat Consulting Group
to ensure the passage of Proposition F for
$517 million in Fire and Animal Services
bonds. At the city’s animal shelters, pets
were being euthanized at alarming rates
due to overcrowding. Outdated fire
stations required significant upgrades
and some complete replacement, posing
a public safety hazard. Afriat, formerly
President of the Los Angeles City Animal
Regulation Commission, spearheaded an aggressive campaign which
proved successful on Election Day. The measure was approved by 71%
of voters, the highest margin of approval for any bonds in the city’s
history.