An advisory committee’s recommendation for Iola to make better use of its relationship with a D.C. lobbying firm led to a spirited, hour-long discussion about whether the city should continue its contract with Van Scoyoc and Associates.
In the end, the majority ruled with (almost) all but Aaron Franklin and Austin Sigg voting to continue the partnership. Councilman Bob Shaughnessy said he could not vote for or against the measure.
Those in favor were Donald Becker, Nancy Ford, Beverly Franklin, Jon Wells and Nancy Zornes.
Shaughnessy expressed a desire to see if other entities, including Allen County, would help foot the bill, because they, too, benefit from its services.
Iola pays Van Scoyoc $45,000 annually for its lobbying services.
Setting the discussion in motion was a report from citizens advisory committee members Jerry Dreher, Ryan Sparks and former Councilman Steve French. Since last summer, they met a handful of times to look at the city’s relationship with Van Scoyoc. They also were given a list of potential capital improvement projects to hand over to the lobbying firm to determine whether the agency could assist in getting federal grant dollars.
“The committee feels strongly Van Scoyoc is a valuable asset, and can be helpful,” Dreher said in reading from written comments he prepared for the Council. “In six months of working with them, the committee thinks they are capable of doing some great things.”
However, the city must remain engaged with Van Scoyoc on a regular basis in order to give the firm direction on what sort of projects to pursue. Otherwise, such a large investment is not worth it, he said.
“We think they’re capable, but only if it’s a priority,” Sparks added. “The reality is, if a small-budget community is going to spend $45,000 a year, it has to be a high priority. Somebody has to call them, if not daily, at least twice a week. If this was my business, and I was paying them $4,000 a month, I’d want to see regular progress.”
AARON Franklin asked on multiple occasions what benefit Van Scoyoc has provided the city in recent years.
The closest he got to a tangible answer was when David Toland, executive director of Thrive Allen County, noted Van Scoyoc continues to assist with Thrive’s efforts to develop enhanced fiber optic service between Iola and other communities.
Would ending Van Scoyoc’s assistance thwart those efforts, Beverly Franklin asked.
“It definitely puts it in jeopardy,” Toland responded. “More broadly, I’m concerned with the overall question (about ending the Van Scoyoc contract.) As a community, do we want to try to do more projects, and make stuff happen? Or do we want to do less and manage our decline? If we want to be creative, using Van Scoyoc could be a great thing.”
‘It’s our own fault we’ve under-utilized them,” Ford interjected. “I don’t think we gave clear direction to anybody,” including the committee members.
Part of Monday’s discussion centered on whether the committee had found any available grants with Van Scoyoc’s assistance.
Both Dreher and French said they were unaware they had been obligated to work with Van Scoyoc to seek out funding sources as well. “There were definitely missed opportunities,” French said.
“But we did” provide direction, Aaron Franklin responded. “We handed them a capital improvement list.”
After the vote to end the contract failed, Franklin called the city’s continued use of Van Scoyoc “a giant waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Sigg said he favored seeing that stipend be used to pay a local employee to provide similar services.
“What you’re saying is we need to pay Van Scoyoc, and we need to pay another employee to call them twice a week?” Sigg asked the committee members.
“It’s the responsibility of some of our city leaders to make contact,” Ford replied.
Shaughnessy, meanwhile, noted Thrive’s work to enhance fiber optic connectivity is benefiting more than just Iola. That’s why he favored seeing Allen County help pay for Van Scoyoc’s services.
“I just don’t like to be the guy who owns the mower that mows the grass for the whole county,” Shaughnessy said.
“In a perfect world, I agree with you,” Toland said. However, he also noted it would be difficult to amend the contract in short order.
For one, nobody has asked the county if it wants to be a part of the discussion, Toland said. Secondly, nobody has asked Van Scoyoc about expanding its services for all of Allen County and not just Iola.
Shaughnessy encouraged Slaugh, Toland, et al, to approach the county.
IOLAN JIM Gilpin, who described himself as a simple observer of the discussion, addressed one of the elephants in the room: City Administrator Carl Slaugh’s steadfast opposition to Iola’s use of a lobbying firm.
Much of the reason Iola hasn’t gotten much bang for its buck in recent years, Gilpin said, was because of Slaugh’s opposition.
“You have an administrator who doesn’t believe in it, so it hasn’t happened,” Gilpin said.
Slaugh agreed.
“I don’t support the use of a lobbyist,” Slaugh admitted, adding that in his opinion the firm has done little to benefit Iola other than its assistance after the 2007 flood.
Slaugh said Van Scoyoc can do little to search for such things as Community Development Block Grant funds because those are administrated by the state. Searching for Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for such things as improved flood control measures around town also are futile because the agency adheres to a set list of criteria largely impervious to outside lobbying.
“The money (for Van Scoyoc) would be much wiser spent on projects looking through our local agencies,” Slaugh said. “We have not needed the support or benefit of a lobbying company.”
Later on in the meeting, after talk turned to the city’s contract with Thrive for economic development, Aaron Franklin addressed another lingering issue — Toland and Thrive’s prickly relationship with Slaugh.
“My point is, we have a break in communication, and it’s causing problems,” he said.
IN A RELATED matter, the Council set plans to meet from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 4 for a strategic planning session, to discuss potential projects for the city to tackle in 2016.
