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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.17.2002• January 17, 2002 The Council of the City of Waterloo, Iowa, met in Special Session at City Hall Council Chambers, Waterloo, Iowa, at 9:30 a.m., on Thursday, January 17, 2002. Mayor John R. Rooff in the Chair. Roll Call: Berry, Welper, Greenwood, Jordan, Hurley, Getty. Absent: Clark. 116352 - Jordan/Hurley that the Agenda, as proposed, for the Special Session on Thursday, January 17, 2002, at 9:30 a.m., be accepted and approved. Ayes: Six. Absent: Clark. Motion carried. 116353 - Getty/Jordan that copies of the Call be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Clark. Motion carried. 116354 - Larry Murphy, of L&L Murphy, Associates, stated that most cities in the public sector are moving toward having lobbyists. Mr. Murphy stated he was a State Senator for 12 years and served on the Board of Supervisors prior to his election to the State Senate. Mr. Murphy stated that he is a democrat and Kim Majerus is a republican. Mr. Murphy stated that Ms. Majerus ran a physical therapist business serving Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. Mr. Murphy stated Ms. Majerus is active in the republican party and the Physical Therapist Association. Mr. Murphy stated that West Des Moines and Des Moines have had a lobbyist for a number of years. Polk County gets its share because of its size and proximity to Des Moines. Mr. Murphy stated he feels the 380 corridor, which includes Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, is growing faster, but legislation favors Central Iowa. Mr. Murphy stated there are 700 registered lobbyists and the vast majority operate out of Des Moines. Mr. Murphy stated if his firm is hired, the city will get information from Des Moines five days per week in addition to the administrative rules. The Bills packet comes out every day, and they look at bills that impact cities, such as taxes, public safety, etc. They flag them and will e-mail them to the city with the bill's title and number, with a link attached for additional information. His firm will register on behalf of Waterloo to support or not support the bill and track the bill. Mr. Murphy stated that during the off-season of April through December, they will work with the city to develop an agenda, identify legislature important to the city, put together a delegation and set up a meeting in the fall to discuss bills for the January Session. Mr. Murphy reviewed a chart of 50 years of history of revenue for the State of Iowa. The chart shows what happened with revenue and tells the story of what the State has to work with. Mr. Murphy also reviewed a chart of growth of spending in Iowa. Mr. Murphy stated the State structured taxes that do not benefit economic growth in Iowa, and when the State has problems they drop them on cities. Mr. Murphy stated the Iowa League of Cities represents Iowa cities with a staff of only seven people, which makes it hard to customize for each city. Mr. Murphy stated when bills are developed that help or hurt cities, cities give him specific information and they take it to this area's representatives. They slow down the bill and share its implication with the city's representatives. L&L would ask the city to contact businesses in the private sector and ask them to call the Legislators. The Legislators look at over 1,000 bills and 150 to 300 of the bills pass, but the Legislators don't always understand the implication of the bills on cities. Mayor Rooff stated the Legislature is looking at the Road Use Tax, which could affect our road use projects. Councilperson Jordan stated he has had citizens say to him that we have six or seven people representing our area at the state level, and they ask why aren't our paid elected officials helping us. Mr. Murphy responded the Legislators are buried with information, and they make their decisions based on the information given to them. Councilperson Getty stated that the letter from Michelle Weidner, Chief Financial Officer, contains a list of communities that have lobbyists. Councilperson Getty asked if L&L represents the Fire Unions. Mr. Murphy responded if there were a conflict he would represent the fire unions and Ms. Majerus would represent the city's side. Mr. Murphy stated they try to be careful who they represent so there is no conflict. Councilperson Getty stated he has a problem with L&L representing the firefighters and is concerned Mr. Murphy's firm will try to get the firefighters things that will cost the city money. Mr. Murphy responded they work with fire groups to go after items with minimum impact on cities. The interests of fire groups and cities are different, and most fights in the Legislature are going to be on economic development and population growth. January 17, 2002 Page 2 Councilperson Berry asked how many representatives from the Chamber of Commerce are in Des Moines and asked if Mr. Murphy was saying the Chambers of Commerce don't have power. Mr. Murphy responded the political clout is about how many groups and individuals in an area go to the Legislators to talk about their area. The chambers are just one voice, and cities need more voices to make an impact. Cities need to get information to the Legislators without diluting the information. Mayor Rooff stated the Chamber of Commerce has a person who has no political experience and is not a lobbyist. Mayor Rooff stated the city funds the Cedar Valley Coalition with $20,000 per year to help support the position at the Chamber of Commerce. The position is a joint effort with Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County and the Chamber of Commerce. Michelle Weidner, Chief Financial Officer, stated that she has found that the Cedar Valley Coalition lobbies more at the federal level, that they represent businesses. Ms. Weidner stated their positions on bills could be different from public entities. Mayor Rooff stated that when the Cedar Valley Coalition goes to Washington he does the presentation, and our staff does all the work. Mayor Rooff stated he believes the Coalition needs to be tweaked. Councilperson Getty stated that Ms. Weidner's letter identifies a funding source. Ms. Weidner responded that the Clerk's budget has a small contingency amount. We hope we won't have to pay the whole amount up front so that we are able to budget for it next year. Mr. Walsh stated that the agreement states that the city will pay in four increments of $4,000.00 quarterly. Councilperson Jordan asked if the council can act quickly enough to help. Mr. Murphy responded that his firm will notify Ms. Weidner to have the council call their Legislators so the council won't have to meet each time. We will try to slow down the bills. Mayor Rooff stated the council will also get weekly updates. Mr. Murphy stated their job is to prevent damage to the city. Councilperson Hurley asked about the fee basis. Mr. Murphy responded that the fees cover their staffing costs, and that is why they have multiple clients. Mr. Murphy stated Ms. Majerus could have alerts sent to homes or businesses. Councilperson Hurley asked what about the information on the Internet. Councilperson Welper stated he talked with the Iowa League of Cities, and they have two lobbyists who are under used. The League updates Legislative news on the Internet every day. Mr. Murphy stated a lot of information is passed out to the lobbyists in the Rotunda. The League does the best they can, but it is hard for them to get the information out quickly. Councilperson Welper asked what would happen if Cedar Rapids wanted a bill to go one way and Waterloo wanted it to go another way. Mr. Murphy stated that he and Ms. Majerus would each help a city, but Cedar Rapids and Waterloo should not be at odds with each too often. Councilperson Hurley stated he feels a sense of urgency, and yet Mr. Murphy has stated that the important time is when the Legislature is not in Session. Mr. Murphy responded that ideally we should have started in November and December. Mr. Murphy stated the council needs to move quickly because of all the information and items that are happening. Councilperson Hurley stated when the lobbyist issue first came up and Mayor Crews visited the council, it was like a collaboration, and he asked if there is linkage. Mr. Walsh responded there is no linkage except cooperating with Cedar Falls. If a year from now L&L disappoints the city, we could ask Cedar Falls to switch to another lobbyist. Mr. Walsh stated this is good that the two cities are cooperating on a joint effort. Councilperson Welper stated that he has heard nothing but good things about Mr. Murphy's firm. Councilperson Welper stated he is concerned about spending the funds to pay for the lobbyist. Councilperson Welper stated we are asking the Department Heads to lower their budgets and the council wants to lower taxes. Mayor Rooff stated funds have been identified in the Clerk's contingency fund, and the city will budget $8,000 in next year's budget. Councilperson Berry stated she has heard that this should have been done in November, but she did not even know the city wanted to do this back in November. Mayor Rooff stated he wanted to be fair to the new council members. Mayor Rooff stated he knew Cedar Falls was interested, but he wanted to wait until the new council was seated. Councilperson Berry stated she thinks this is a good idea, and everyone agrees we need a lobbyist. Councilperson Getty stated if the lobbyist agreement is approved he will be watching closely, and if good things don't come out of this agreement he will ask for a change. January 17, 2002 • • Page 3 Councilperson Hurley stated he went back and forth on this issue, but his concerns were more of redundancy and accountability to fund. Councilperson Hurley stated he was going to vote against the agreement and look at it next Fiscal Year, but this is what contingency funds are for. As for redundancy the city will have to work on that if we are not getting information from the Iowa League of Cities and the Chamber of Commerce. Councilperson Hurley stated that we need some kind of reporting system with firm feedback. Councilperson Hurley stated if the council had goals they could be proactive. Councilperson Hurley stated he is wavering again, but leaning toward supporting the agreement. Councilperson Jordan stated that he feels this is an investment for Waterloo, and it is a small price to invest in Waterloo. Councilperson Jordan stated he will support this agreement. Getty/Welpef that "the one-year agreement with L&L Murphy, Associates to provide Lobbyist services for the City of Waterloo", be adopted. Prior to a vote on the above motion, the following comments were heard. Councilperson Hurley stated he will be looking for some kind of yardstick, something to monitor. Mayor Rooff stated the council will look at this issue again during their goal setting. Councilperson Berry stated when we know we are in need of services, the city should look at other prices and let other firms bid. Councilperson Berry stated she believes the city should always be fair and give everyone a chance. Councilperson Getty stated that it has been brought up several times about Kim Majerus working on the Mayor's campaign and that Waterloo Fire Rescue endorsed the Mayor. Councilperson Getty stated he hopes and he, doesn't believe that had anything to do with choosing L&L. Mayor Rooff stated that is no problem. Mr. Murphy stated his firm helps with campaigns in the off season. Councilperson Hurley stated the city needs Mr. Murphy's help with the process of working with a lobbyist. Mr. Murphy stated he has a presentation he could show the council on how lobbyists work. Following comments a vote was taken on the above motion with the following result. Ayes: Six. Absent: Buck. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2002-27. 116355 - Getty/Berry that the council adjourn at 10:39 a.m. Ayes: Six. Absent: Buck. Motion carried. NAAA- Nancyckert City Clerk