Lobbyist debate persists

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April 22, 2015 - 12:00 AM

As Iola City Council members continue to debate the usefulness of maintaining the city’s relationship with a federal lobbyist group, there is some consensus.
Both advocates and opponents of continuing to hire Van Scoyoc Associates agree the city has received quite a bang for its buck since Iola began hiring the firm after the 2007 flood.
“They’ve done an excellent job,” City Administrator Carl Slaugh said at the April 13 city council meeting.
In addition to the $3.8 million in state and federal funding Iola received following the 2007 flood — including $519,000 to rebuild the swimming pool and $128,000 for wastewater lagoon repairs and upgrades — Van Scoyoc was instrumental in the city’s successful application for a $750,000 federal grant to remodel the Iola Public Library.
But there’s more to those figures than simple dollars and cents, former city administrator Judy Brigham said.
For starters, the city was always going to receive federal funding after the flood, Brigham told the Register.
“But we as a city were struggling with how much we were going to receive from FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency),” Brigham said.
It was only after Van Scoyoc assisted the city in face-to-face meeting with FEMA officials, as well as Kansas senators and representatives in Congress “that we eventually ended up with better results,” Brigham said.
That leads to another point.
“The city really wasn’t involved with anything at the federal level,” she said. “As much as it was about receiving money, the Van Scoyoc meetings were about building relationships.”

BUT THOSE relationships are less likely to bear fruit these days, notes Slaugh, who replaced Brigham as city administrator in 2011 — coincidentally, about the same time federal lawmakers decided to do away with earmarks.
With earmarks officially a thing of the past — and federal dollars much harder to come by for “pet projects” — Slaugh thinks the city would be better served allocating its resources elsewhere.
Since 2010, Iola has paid Van Scoyoc a shade more than $400,000 for its lobbying service.
“There just aren’t pockets of money like there were before,” Slaugh said at the April 13 council meeting. “Our money would be much better spent paying for engineering fees or construction costs.”
Iola pays Van Scoyoc $40,000 annually, down from the $60,000 it originally paid the Washington, D.C.-based firm.
Slaugh on numerous occasions has recommended the city end its contract with Van Scoyoc.
“I don’t want to disparage the firm,” Slaugh said at the council meeting. “They’ve done an excellent job. But once service is over, the contract’s over.”
Outgoing Councilman Steve French disagrees.
“Carl is right in there’s no longer earmarked money, but there are still federal funds available,” French said, noting ongoing efforts by the city to attract funding to improve its fiber-optic infrastructure, to draw a Veterans Affairs clinic here and to attract new housing construction.
French noted Van Scoyoc also alerted the city to a highway grant Iola hopes might pay for a full rebuild of U.S. 54 connecting downtown to State Street.
French recounted a conversation he had recently with Van Scoyoc representatives.
“The nut of the whole conversation was, “We’re your employees, and we’re doing nothing. Let us work for you,” French said.
Brigham echoed French’s sentiments.
“There are still grant opportunities out there, but the window of opportunity opens and closes quickly,” she said. “That’s why it’s important to have somebody there who has their thumb on the pulse of D.C.”

IOLA’S affiliation with Van Scoyoc predated the 2007 flood, to the early 2000s, stemming from annual trips to Washington, D.C., organized by the Iola Community Involvement Task Force (CITF). Under a suggestion from former city administrator Joe Kirby, representatives from several local entities, including the hospital, Allen Community College and local industries joined Iola officials on the trip, with Van Scoyoc’s services funded by an anonymous donor.
“All the city was responsible for was travel costs,” Brigham said.
The city eventually took responsibility for paying Van Scoyoc after the 2007 flood.
The $3.8 million the city received after the flood included state and federal monies for the buyout of more than 100 homes in south Iola, repairs to city facilities at Riverside Park and the power plant.
Slaugh noted few, if any, Kansas communities Iola’s size have unilaterally hired a federal lobbyist to operate on their behalf.
Slaugh said if there remains local interest in retaining Van Scoyoc’s services, perhaps other entities would be willing to hire the firm.
“If Thrive (Allen County) or Iola Industries want to use the lobbyists,” he said, “then let them pay for it.”
Even though, technically, they are, as Iola taxpayers.

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