Council gets its own Harrisburg lobbyist
In an unprecedented move, City Council President Darrell L. Clarke has hired a lobbying firm to help drive Council's agenda in Harrisburg.
In an unprecedented move, City Council President Darrell L. Clarke has hired a lobbying firm to help drive Council's agenda in Harrisburg.
Triad Strategies, a statewide firm with offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg, received a $15,000 contract this month. The contract expires June 30.
Clarke's choice to retain a lobbyist, when the city already employs two other firms that were hired through the mayor's office, underscores the divide between Council and the administration.
Perhaps more problematic, according to some political experts, is how a lack of unified voices in Harrisburg could simply lead legislators to ignore Philadelphia.
"How is a legislator going to vote? Is he going to pick the mayor or Council?" asked Robert Jubelirer, a former Republican state senator and senate president from Altoona, who works as a lobbyist in Harrisburg. "They won't act on it."
Over the years, Council has kept consultants on its payroll, some of whom have acted as lobbyists. Former Councilman Jack Kelly was hired in 1990s by then-Council President John F. Street to lobby Republicans in Harrisburg.
But by several accounts, this is the first time City Council has hired a professional lobbying firm. Clarke almost retained one in 2012 but dropped the idea.
After fights with Harrisburg over school funding this past year, Clarke said the city needs more influence there.
There's "significant amount of activity" in the General Assembly that relates to Philadelphia, Clarke said.
"We anticipate a similar environment, particularly given the uncertainty of the schools," Clarke said Thursday. He hopes Triad will successfully lobby for a new school funding formula.
Council's contract was not put through a formal bid process because it was "limited in scope," said Clarke's spokeswoman Jane Roh. The Triad contract, one of three submitted, was also not voted on by all of City Council because it lasts less than one year.
The mayor has two lobbying firms at work in Harrisburg on the city's behalf - the Kinser Group at $120,000 and Loeper & Associates at $66,000 annually. Additionally, the mayor has three other firms lobbying in Washington.
Clarke quickly pointed that none of those firms work with or for Council.
"We get no heads up, no information," Clarke said. "And at times their position is inconsistent with ours."
Jubelirer said that it's obvious Council and Nutter don't get along. Having different lobbyists, he said, will help no one.
"I don't see anything good coming from Council having its own lobbyist," Jubelirer said. "They need to work together someway, somehow."
Joseph P. McLaughlin, director of Temple University's Institute for Public Affairs and a former lobbyist, agreed.
"One of the perennial problems Philadelphia faces in the legislature is that we often don't speak with one voice," McLaughlin said.
In reflecting of his 19 years as a lobbyist for the city and various agencies, McLaughlin said: "We were only successful when we achieved consensus, and that often required compromises at home."
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