Tiny Towns Spend Big Bucks on Lobbyists to Reap Federal Government Riches
Eighteen months ago, the tiny Alaskan city ofGalena faced its demise. The municipal government couldn't make payroll. And rising energy prices and deteriorating facilities -- not to mention winter temperatures dipping below -50 degrees -- threatened its 470 residents.
Then, an unlikely hero emerged: a lobbyist.
Galena, situated in the state's all-but-unpopulated west central region, secured millions of dollars in federal and state funds to save the city from financial ruin and imminent state government stewardship. Kent Dawson, a lobbyist in Alaska, and John Roots, a lobbyist based in Washington, D.C., who previously worked for the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), were integral in securing this money.
"Without the lobbying, the city would have been unincorporated," City Manager Tom Corrigan told OpenSecrets Blog. "Without [Dawson] coming up with solutions, we would have been belly up quite honestly."
But at what cost?
The Galena government spent $60,000 on federal lobbying efforts in 2010, representing $127.66 per capita -- the highest rate of any state, county or municipal government in the United States, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal lobbying and U.S. Census data. In 2009, Galena spent $40,000. The city's annual budget is about $5 million, according to a municipal document from 2007.
For doling out about one percent of its budget on lobbying, Galena reaped around $1.5 million in capital projects grants "which are being used to repair antiquated utilities when the Air Force abandoned Galena and left us high and dry," Corrigan said.
This means that for every dollar spent on federal lobbying efforts in 2010, Galena scored $25 in return.
In contrast, the Los Angeles city governmentlikewise spent $60,000 on federal lobbying in 2010, which represents 1.5 cents for each of its nearly 3.8 million residents. The city's annual budget, meanwhile, is about $6.7 billion according to its most recent budget report.
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Then, an unlikely hero emerged: a lobbyist.
Galena, situated in the state's all-but-unpopulated west central region, secured millions of dollars in federal and state funds to save the city from financial ruin and imminent state government stewardship. Kent Dawson, a lobbyist in Alaska, and John Roots, a lobbyist based in Washington, D.C., who previously worked for the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), were integral in securing this money.
"Without the lobbying, the city would have been unincorporated," City Manager Tom Corrigan told OpenSecrets Blog. "Without [Dawson] coming up with solutions, we would have been belly up quite honestly."
But at what cost?
The Galena government spent $60,000 on federal lobbying efforts in 2010, representing $127.66 per capita -- the highest rate of any state, county or municipal government in the United States, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal lobbying and U.S. Census data. In 2009, Galena spent $40,000. The city's annual budget is about $5 million, according to a municipal document from 2007.
For doling out about one percent of its budget on lobbying, Galena reaped around $1.5 million in capital projects grants "which are being used to repair antiquated utilities when the Air Force abandoned Galena and left us high and dry," Corrigan said.
This means that for every dollar spent on federal lobbying efforts in 2010, Galena scored $25 in return.
[much more...]

