Blaine renews contract with lobbyists

The city of Blaine has renewed its contract with the lobbying firm Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs (GTHGA), citing a good return on investment.

At the May 28 city council meeting, councilmembers voted unanimously to approve another contract with GTHGA. The contract will fund ongoing services with GTHGA from June 2019 through December 2020 at a total cost of $49,000 for 19 months.

The city’s prior contract with GTHGA ended on May 1. The city has contracted with GTHGA for lobbying services since 2017.

According to its official website, GTHGA offers comprehensive professional consultancy services including governmental affairs, government research, strategy consulting and association management to a diverse client base. It has three offices, in Washington, D.C., Tacoma and Seattle, and its governmental affairs unit covers all levels of government including local, state, federal and foreign.

According to city manager Michael Jones, GTHGA helped the city secure appropriations from the state legislature in both 2018 and 2019. In 2018, the east Blaine infrastructure project received $1.2 million, and the Bell Road grade separation project received $550,000. In 2019, the budget included $500,000 for the east Blaine infrastructure project and $1 million for the Bell Road grade separation project.

“The city is on track to have a total of $3.25 million allocated towards local infrastructure,” noted the request for council action prepared by Jones for the May 28 council meeting. “This is a major achievement in moving these projects forward.”

At the May 28 council meeting, Jones told councilmembers that he was able to negotiate a lower rate with GTHGA. Whereas in the past the contractor charged $3,000 per month for their services, Jones was able to negotiate a rate of $2,000 per month for the summer months of June, July and August, and $2,500 per month for September through December, the months leading up to the next legislative session.

During the 2020 session itself, the rate would return to $3,000 per month before tapering back down in the summer of 2020. “They understood our effort to be frugal and also keep things moving along,” said Jones. “So I think it’s a good effort on the part of the contractors as well as us to keep things going while understanding our limited budget situation.”

One of the reasons Jones recommended the contract be renewed is that the Bell Road grade separation project still requires years of work, and millions of dollars in funding, to become a reality. He said GTHGA can hopefully help the city attract additional state funding for this project in the years ahead, such as through a 2020 supplemental budget or even a state transportation package.

“We want to have people on the ground in Olympia who are speaking with the legislators – not just our own, but also those who are in charge of things like the transportation budget and the capital budget – about some of the other big things that are moving forward,” said Jones. “At this point it’s really primarily grade separation. We want to have someone there who’s keeping tabs on that, keeping those projects in front of folks and making sure that we’re there when we need to be there to help keep those projects moving forward.”

It’s not just the Bell Road project and the east Blaine infrastructure project that GTHGA has been focused on. GTHGA has also kept the city of Blaine informed about other initiatives moving through Olympia, such as a fish landing tax and additional gas taxes. “At times, we’ve provided some comments on some bills as a result of [GTHGA], or we’ve just been aware of things which we’ve shared with you from time to time,” Jones told council.

Jones is hopeful that further state funding will come through in 2020. “The 2020 supplemental budget will likely be a good opportunity for us to move something forward,” he said. “Blaine is in a district that is sort of up for grabs, and it’s important for legislators to pay attention to districts in that kind of voting situation.”