Record-Journal
10-04-2007, 01:44 AM
SOUTHINGTON — The town has been without the services of a professional federal lobbyist since June 30, when it allowed the contract with the Washington D.C.- based Ferguson Group to expire, and three months later officials remain at odds on whether it was the right decision.
The contract lapsed after the Board of Finance voted the $65,000 line item out of the Town Manager’s proposal earlier this year.
The council chose not to reallocate the money, despite voting 5-4 to renew the contract in 2006.
Democrats Chris Palmieri and Art Secondo had joined Republicans Victoria Triano, William Della Vecchia and Michael Riccio in the 2006 vote. The town declined opportunities to extend the contract under the same conditions, or for six months, at a cost of $20,000 for fiscal year 2007-08.
“I’m a firm believer in a representative-type government,” Council Chairman John Barry said Wednesday. “Our government is not functioning properly if municipalities need lobbyists to work for them. That’s the job of our representatives.”
The town has received many grants through the ofice of Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, as well as from other representatives on the state and federal level, Barry said.
Furthermore, he believes that if a representative is not acquiring funding and fighting for the town, they should be voted from office because they are not doing their job.
Barry and council member David Zoni each said the town’s representatives on both levels have been effective and most of the grants could have been acquired without the Ferguson Group, such as the recently awarded camera grant for the Police Department and $675,000 secured for Lincoln-Lewis Terrace.
Barry said the town is going to save substantially without the lobbyist contract.
According to information provided to the council by Town Manager John Weichsel, the group was paid a total of $170,395 in a 33-month period extending from September 2004 to June 2007, a total of approximately $65,000 per year.
“We gave it a try and we needed to, but 33 months has been a long enough trial period,” Barry said. “I can see the need with larger municipalities like New York City or Hartford, but there is no need in this town of 42,000 people.”
Not all members of the council agree, however. Palmieri and Riccio each said Wednesday the Ferguspm Group was close to acquiring grants for a wide variety of projects and but was not given enough time.
Palmieri, who visited Washington last year along with Riccio, Zoni and several other town officials, has been a strong proponent of the lobbyist from the beginning, saying that the Ferguson Group played an instrumental role in acquiring funds for the Police Department’s new mobile command unit.
“There is a lot of homeland security money out there and you could argue that our representatives could have obtained funding for us, but it was the Ferguson Group that brought that opportunity to our attention,” Palmieri said.
The town had not received much funding during the past year, a fact that played a role in the Board of Finance decision, but Palmieri and Riccio each noted that on a national level, most towns did not receive funding during the previous fiscal year.
The group was in the process of securing money for several projects, but the opportunities were lost when the contract was not renewed, Riccio said.
“You can say that it should be the responsibility of the senators or representatives, but anyone who has been to Washington knows that it’s the lobbyists who will be in your face,” Riccio said. “Our representatives work hard, but they have many towns to worry about, not a single municipality.”
The Water Works Department, which is autonomous from the Town Council, decided to renew its contract with the Ferguson Group through this year, a decision unanimously approved by all six members of the Board of Water Commissioners. Members said they have seen positive results and believe the town could have seen the same.
“The benefit is clear to anyone who drives up West Queen Street,” said board member John Dobbins. “They helped acquire funding for our beautiful facility and have secured millions in additional funding for the water department in recent years.”
Dobbins said it may seem like a lot to pay for a lobbyist, but the long-term returns have already saved the ratepayers hundreds of dollars.
If not for the financial support the Ferguson Group obtained and continues to obtain for sewer-based projects and the denitrification facility, he said Southington residents and business owners would already have seen substantial increases in their rates.
Zoni acknowledged that the Ferguson Group could have helped acquire extra funding, but believes the argument could be made that Larson could secure such funds regardless of the Ferguson Group’s efforts.
“We have done a great job of communicating on the local level and we can continue to secure funding without a lobbyist,” Zoni said.
Representatives of the Ferguson Group did not return phone calls Wednesday.
The contract lapsed after the Board of Finance voted the $65,000 line item out of the Town Manager’s proposal earlier this year.
The council chose not to reallocate the money, despite voting 5-4 to renew the contract in 2006.
Democrats Chris Palmieri and Art Secondo had joined Republicans Victoria Triano, William Della Vecchia and Michael Riccio in the 2006 vote. The town declined opportunities to extend the contract under the same conditions, or for six months, at a cost of $20,000 for fiscal year 2007-08.
“I’m a firm believer in a representative-type government,” Council Chairman John Barry said Wednesday. “Our government is not functioning properly if municipalities need lobbyists to work for them. That’s the job of our representatives.”
The town has received many grants through the ofice of Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, as well as from other representatives on the state and federal level, Barry said.
Furthermore, he believes that if a representative is not acquiring funding and fighting for the town, they should be voted from office because they are not doing their job.
Barry and council member David Zoni each said the town’s representatives on both levels have been effective and most of the grants could have been acquired without the Ferguson Group, such as the recently awarded camera grant for the Police Department and $675,000 secured for Lincoln-Lewis Terrace.
Barry said the town is going to save substantially without the lobbyist contract.
According to information provided to the council by Town Manager John Weichsel, the group was paid a total of $170,395 in a 33-month period extending from September 2004 to June 2007, a total of approximately $65,000 per year.
“We gave it a try and we needed to, but 33 months has been a long enough trial period,” Barry said. “I can see the need with larger municipalities like New York City or Hartford, but there is no need in this town of 42,000 people.”
Not all members of the council agree, however. Palmieri and Riccio each said Wednesday the Ferguspm Group was close to acquiring grants for a wide variety of projects and but was not given enough time.
Palmieri, who visited Washington last year along with Riccio, Zoni and several other town officials, has been a strong proponent of the lobbyist from the beginning, saying that the Ferguson Group played an instrumental role in acquiring funds for the Police Department’s new mobile command unit.
“There is a lot of homeland security money out there and you could argue that our representatives could have obtained funding for us, but it was the Ferguson Group that brought that opportunity to our attention,” Palmieri said.
The town had not received much funding during the past year, a fact that played a role in the Board of Finance decision, but Palmieri and Riccio each noted that on a national level, most towns did not receive funding during the previous fiscal year.
The group was in the process of securing money for several projects, but the opportunities were lost when the contract was not renewed, Riccio said.
“You can say that it should be the responsibility of the senators or representatives, but anyone who has been to Washington knows that it’s the lobbyists who will be in your face,” Riccio said. “Our representatives work hard, but they have many towns to worry about, not a single municipality.”
The Water Works Department, which is autonomous from the Town Council, decided to renew its contract with the Ferguson Group through this year, a decision unanimously approved by all six members of the Board of Water Commissioners. Members said they have seen positive results and believe the town could have seen the same.
“The benefit is clear to anyone who drives up West Queen Street,” said board member John Dobbins. “They helped acquire funding for our beautiful facility and have secured millions in additional funding for the water department in recent years.”
Dobbins said it may seem like a lot to pay for a lobbyist, but the long-term returns have already saved the ratepayers hundreds of dollars.
If not for the financial support the Ferguson Group obtained and continues to obtain for sewer-based projects and the denitrification facility, he said Southington residents and business owners would already have seen substantial increases in their rates.
Zoni acknowledged that the Ferguson Group could have helped acquire extra funding, but believes the argument could be made that Larson could secure such funds regardless of the Ferguson Group’s efforts.
“We have done a great job of communicating on the local level and we can continue to secure funding without a lobbyist,” Zoni said.
Representatives of the Ferguson Group did not return phone calls Wednesday.