Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Luzerne County Manager C. David Pedri has asked council to consider passing a resolution authorizing him to hire a lobbyist firm for $5,000 per month, according to Tuesday’s work session agenda.
The professional services provided by Harrisburg-based Maverick Strategies would include “general consulting, relationship building, message creation, news monitoring, legislative bill monitoring, client communications and the general task promoting the goal of Luzerne County,” the proposal says.
The firm also would stay on top of issues that may impact the county and help identify resources and grants that could benefit the county, it says.
A primary assignment would be helping the county obtain state and federal grants to fund a 911 emergency radio system upgrade, it says.
The 911 project had been estimated at $20 million and may require new borrowing, but the cost won’t be known until interested vendors submit their proposals by July 15, officials have said.
Switching from the 20-year-old analog system to a digital one is necessary, officials have said, because equipment support for the radio transmitters and receivers that allow emergency responders to exchange messages will expire the end of 2020. While the system won’t automatically shut down on that date, replacement parts have become increasingly difficult to find because they are no longer manufactured.
At the administration’s request, council had voted in November to hire Pennsylvania-based MCM Consulting Group for $380,357 to handle the first stage of the radio upgrade, which included help seeking grants and other possible outside funding. MCM also prepared the request for proposals and identified equipment needs.
Tuesday’s agenda says Maverick Strategies would “play a pivotal role in guiding the county through the potential funding sources” due to the company’s “political acumen.”
“Truly effective state lobbying requires day-to-day, on-the-ground, face-to-face contact and requires lobbyists who have earned the trust and respect of local officials,” the agenda says.
County council agenda submissions require the administration to present alternatives.
In this case, the administration said it would have to continue seeking grants “in the current manner” if council does not pass the resolution. It argued the county does not have a “consistently active presence” at the state Capital to help the county develop support from “key public officials and policy makers on decisions that directly impact the county.”
Because such requests must appear on a work session agenda first, April 23 is the earliest council would vote on the matter. Tuesday’s work session follows a 6 p.m. voting meeting at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.
The proposed agreement would take effect May 1 and expire June 31, 2020.
The Maverick Strategies representative signing the contract is Kyle Fitzsimmons, a King’s College graduate and Northeastern Pennsylvania native with almost two decades of experience in state government, most recently as chief of staff for state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, the firm’s bio says.
“Kyle enjoys an outstanding reputation amongst his peers. He is widely regarded as one who could always work in a bipartisan manner within the halls of the Capitol in order to get the issue or task at hand completed,” the bio says.
The proposed contract and other meeting agenda items are posted on the council section at www.luzernecounty.org.