Review Proposals for Legislative Consultant Services

The Council recently approved a consulting services agreement with the Tinklenberg Group for the following work elements:

- Federal funding coordination regarding FY11 Federal appropriations. 

- State bonding - Trunk Highway 10 and Armstrong interchange/ Ramsey commuter rail station.

 

The total cost of representation for these two issues was approved in the amount of $24,000.  The Tinklenberg proposal is attached for reference.

 

At the time of the approval of the Tinklenberg contract, it was suggested that it may be valuable to consider additional representation with the legislature with an individual and/firm that might broaden the City's reach of contacts.  Consequently, staff has solicited proposals from three known lobbyists/consultants with connections with the current legislative majority.

Proposal were received from the following:

- Chris DeLaForest Consulting, LLC:  Cost $20,000 flat fee

- Wm G. Haas Jr.:  Cost Minimum $2,000/month, maximum $6,000/month during session with billing rate of $100 per hour

                              4 month session = $8,000 to $24,000

- Tom Workman:  Cost $18,000 flat fee

 

Please see the attached proposals for further detail about the three individuals.  Each person has a variety of experience with the legislature and all are former legislators themselves.

 

Proposers were briefed on the City's legislative agenda and informed that the City Council and staff would be active participants in the lobbying process.  The City also benefits this year by having both legislators (Rep. Abeler and Senator Jungbauer) as members of the majority party.  These two considerations, and the existing contract with the Tinklenberg Group makes it less urgent to have additional representation.

In recent years, the EDA has participated in funding for work by The Tinklenberg group along with private sector partners.

Per Council discussion