Ken Carpi manages the Carpi Clay & Smith Washington, D.C. office and legislative activities. With more than 25 years of experience in the public sector, including more than 20 years at the federal level, he plays a major role in developing and implementing effective federal legislative and regulatory strategies. He directs a staff that works to craft successful approaches and develop strategic partnerships that meet, and often exceed, client expectations.

As legislative director for U.S. Senator Pete Wilson from 1982 to 1986, Ken spearheaded and directed all legislative efforts on behalf of the nation’s largest state. He supervised a large professional staff focused on natural resources issues, transportation funding, housing and public works projects – all of key importance to the legislative program. Ken also served as the Senior Policy Assistant to Pete Wilson during his tenure as Mayor of San Diego. Ken has a degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University and has completed graduate work in Urban Studies. He holds the rank of Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Ken is also active in local Washington, D.C. civic affairs. He serves on the board of Green Door, a non-profit provider of behavioral health services to over 1200 people in need.

RJ Lyerly brings 25 years of public policy expertise to the firm, helping to develop and implement federal legislative and regulatory strategies to meet the objectives of a broad range of clients. Her career in government relations and lobbying began in 1977, when she served on the staff of U.S. Representative Omar Burleson of Texas. Following Burleson’s retirement in 1980, she worked for his successor, Congressman Charles Stenholm.

RJ managed the federal government relations office of Tenneco Inc., one of the 40 largest industrial companies in the nation, until the late 1980s. At that time, she opened the Washington federal lobbying office of Amdahl Corporation, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. RJ represented Amdahl and its subsidiary, DMR Consulting, in both a lobbying and business development capacity through July 2001.

Her current clients include various cities and ports within California, the California Marine Affairs and Navigation Conference and the California Independent Petroleum Association. RJ’s focus on behalf of clients is the development and implementation of strategy to support federal funding requirements and policy initiatives. Accomplishments include millions in federal support for water, transportation and other infrastructure projects. RJ is also accomplished in securing legislative policy changes and intervention or relief on certain regulatory matters.

RJ has a degree in business administration and English from Trinity College, and a Masters Degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University.

David Wetmore brings 20 years of hands-on government and congressional relations experience to our clients and a record of providing strategic guidance to elected officials on a bipartisan basis. Throughout his career he has stood at the intersection of federal-state-local relations and has had a hand in major federal legislation and decisions impacting California.

His experience and expertise include the legislative process, public policy and issue management/development, and strategic planning and communications. He has been the direct liaison with the Executive Branch, the Congress, the nation’s governors and their senior staff, industry representatives, trade associations, and corporate officers.

David is the only person to have served as the chief Washington, D.C. representative for two California governors spanning 8 years, working for Governor Pete Wilson and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Most recently, he was Schwarzenegger’s chief federal policy adviser and representative to the White House and served as the frontline resource and liaison to California’s 55 member Congressional Delegation, coordinating all aspects of California’s federal policy agenda and directing specific strategies that secured changes in federal law to achieve the State’s objectives and boost California’s share of federal funds for transportation and infrastructure, water resources, health care, and other areas.

In addition to his California experience, David has 6 years experience directing all government relations and federal regulatory activities for a national association of public officials, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. In this capacity, he represented all the states’ elected and appointed insurance commissioners at the state, federal and international level.

Tyler Kruzich, an established public policy professional, leverages his years of Congressional experience to advocate for our clients’ interests before Congress and federal agencies. With his knowledge of the appropriations process and Congressional budgetary rules, Tyler develops and implements custom solutions to advance our clients’ legislative and regulatory objectives. Tyler also specializes in natural resources policy with a focus on western water, hydropower, public works, and energy.

As Professional Staff on the House Committee on Appropriations, Tyler was responsible for making and managing funding recommendations to Congressional leadership on over $7 billion in program activities conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Power Marketing Administrations.

Prior to his service on the Committee on Appropriations, Tyler was Legislative Staff on the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the House Committee on Natural Resources. While there, he mastered the legislative process while focusing on major legislative initiatives and oversight programs dealing with water, electricity, and lands policy.

Previously, as a Budget Analyst at the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, Tyler became an expert in federal budget law and procedures, including PAYGO rules, bill scoring analysis, and the interactive process of legislating in a difficult fiscal environment.  Tyler holds a Master of Science in Applied Economics, as well as undergraduate degrees in Economics and Modern Languages, from Montana State University.

Eric Swedlund has been working for more than 15 years with Congress, the White House, federal and state agencies and interest groups from across the spectrum of public debate.

Most recently, Eric served as a deputy director of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Washington, DC office, managing the large issue portfolio that encompassed transportation, trade, and natural resource issues (water, oceans, forestry, energy, and environmental regulations). He has been directly involved in transportation funding and regulatory implementation issues associated with SAFETEA-LU and transportation infrastructure projects and needs.

Previously, Eric served with former Congressman Steve Horn of California where, as Legislative Director, he was responsible for all aspects of transportation, defense, intelligence, trade, and water resource issues. Among the major programs he worked on in the House were securing federal financing for the Alameda Corridor rail project, funding for the Pier 400 project at the Port of Los Angeles, extensive changes in federal flood insurance programs coupled with securing funding to complete flood control improvements along the Los Angeles River, and securing funding for the first 120 U.S. Air Force C-17 air transport planes. He also participated in numerous congressional foreign affairs and trade organizations.

Eric graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and a Master of Arts degree in political science.

E. Del Smith is considered the senior federal advocate in Washington, D.C. after over 40 years in the lobbying field. He has spoken before public and private groups on the “Right to Petition Government,” guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution. Del is a founding Member of the Capitol Hill Club and the Golden State Roundtable in Washington, D.C.

Del was born and raised in Southern California and graduated from Pomona College in 1955. Following graduation, and duty as an Army officer, he volunteered on the staff of a California Republican Congressman in Washington, D.C. and then became Executive Secretary of the Young Republican National Federation. He worked on the campaign team for the Eisenhower/Nixon ticket in 1956, after which he headed the Washington office of Technicolor Inc.

In 1968, after serving as Associate Director of the Republican Presidential Inaugural Committee, he founded E. Del Smith and Company. In 2007 E. Del Smith and Company merged with Carpi & Clay Government Relations. The Washington, D.C. office of the combined firm does business as Carpi Clay & Smith.