Council hires second lobbying firm to secure funding for flood-protection

The City Council has hired a second Statehouse lobbying firm in hopes of securing special legislation to help fund the city's future flood-protection system.

The 8-1 council vote on Tuesday evening, though, didn't come without a colorful objection from council member Chuck Wieneke, who was the lone “no” vote.

At one point, Wieneke asked a city staff member who it was that had recommended that the city hire Avenson, Oakley and Cope Consulting, an Iowa firm, for $35,000 to help the city's existing Statehouse lobbying firm. And the staff member said the city's existing lobbyist, L & L Murphy Consulting and Associates, an Iowa firm, helped make the recommendation. The city pays the Murphy firm $60,000 a year, the staffer noted.

So the city is paying one lobbyist to recommend that the city go out and hire a “lobbying buddy” to help the city? Wieneke asked. He called that “unadulterated B. S.”

Mayor Ron Corbett noted that the city got a nice “return on investment” from its lobbying firm in last year's state legislative session, and the mayor pointed to a series of state I-JOBS awards the city received as proof.

Wieneke shot back that the city's existing lobbying firm, in fact, did a great job last year, “and I expect they can do that this year, too.”

Wieneke suggested that lobbyists weren't so different from “consultants,” and noted that some of the newest members of the council, including Corbett, have criticized the city's use of consultants.

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz noted that Avenson, Oakley and Cope had helped the city of West Des Moines, where Pomeranz had worked for 12 years before taking the Cedar Rapids job in September.

Don Avenson of Oelwein is a former speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, as is Corbett. Brice Oakley is a former Iowa lawmaker and Tom Cope if past chief of staff for the majority leader of the Iowa Senate. Avenson is a Democrat, Oakley and Cope, Republicans.

L & L Murphy Consulting is headed up by Larry Murphy, a Democrat, who is a former state lawmaker and current mayor of Oelwein. Gary Grant, of Gary Grant Consulting of Cedar Rapids, is a Republican who is working alongside Murphy on the city contract.