Leaders in Everett and Marysville believe the stakes are so high — that their cities would change forever — that each is spending thousands of dollars on lobbyists and consultants to be the ones to land the new University of Washington campus.
“For what we are investing, having a university in Snohomish County is priceless,” said Pat McClain, Everett’s governmental affairs director.
Everett since January has spent about $100,000 for lobbyists and outside consultants with expertise in higher education, politics and land-use issues.
Marysville recently said it also could spend up to $100,000 on lobbyists. A group of business leaders pushing for the same north county site has hired the same Seattle firm working for Marysville.
The consultant, Strategies 360 of Seattle, headed by Ron Dotzauer, on Wednesday launched a pep-rally-style push for the Marysville site, including T-shirts with the slogan “Real Huskies Go North (of Everett).”
Everett’s pitch has not been as colorful, but it has tapped formidable talent. One of its consultants, Dick Thompson, is an Everett native whose resume includes being chief of staff for former Gov. Booth Gardner, former director of the state Office of Financial Management, former secretary of the state Department of Social and Health Services and a former director of government relations for UW.
Marysville’s decision to hire a consultant boiled down to trying to compete with a bigger city that has more resources, said Mary Swenson, Marysville’s chief administrative officer.
“We knew if we were going to be serious, we had a very short period of time” to start campaigning, she said.
Four sites remain in contention from a list that once numbered more than 80 locations in Snohomish, Skagit and Island counties. Everett has two sites, and Marysville and Lake Stevens have one each.
By Nov. 15, state-hired consultant NBBJ will give the Legislature and the governor a report on the pros and cons of each site. The consultant may recommend a preferred site.
Both cities’ lobbyists are “high caliber,” but they won’t play a role in the independent site evaluations now under way, said Deb Merle, higher education adviser to Gov. Chris Gregoire.
“They don’t get to shape the proposal; they get to respond to it,” she said.
She has told the lobbyists that the state is still early in the process.
“We’re digging in dirt and figuring out how would we build on sites and how would we would get to them,” she said. “We have a set of criteria, and the site evaluation is how did each site rate on these criteria.”
The site selection criteria give no weight to how many phone calls are made by lobbyists or how many letters are sent from supporters’ Web sites, Merle said.
Leaders from both cities say they don’t have the expertise in higher education to make their best case to win the UW branch campus.
So Everett has tried to cover its bases with those that have strong experience with the inner workings of state government in Olympia.
The site selection committee includes staff from the state Office of Financial Management, the University of Washington and contractor NBBJ.
Consultant Thompson’s understanding of those institutions could be invaluable for Everett, McClain said.
“We rely heavily on his expertise,” McClain said.
Thompson was brought on last October for $2,500 a month through June. His fee increased to $3,000 a month beginning in July.
Also under contract with Everett is the Two Medicine Communications lobbying firm, which has expertise in state funding issues, McClain said. It was paid $6,000 a month from December through April. A contract was renewed for $5,000 a month from May to September and will go back to $6,000 a month from October through next March.
Everett also paid Heartland Consultants of Seattle, a real estate consultant, $64,000 to prepare its site proposals.
Marysville will use up to $100,000 to pay Strategies 360 and any other consultant it hires to bring the UW branch north. The money comes from the city’s economic development fund and follows a 7-0 vote Sept. 10 by the Marysville City Council.
Marysville Mayor Dennis Kendall said the city hired the lobbying firm because of its experience and expertise. City staff members also were too busy to lobby because of daily operations, such as passing a budget for next year.
“We wouldn’t be doing justice to our citizens if we didn’t bring someone else in to help who really knows what they are doing,” Kendall said.
Strategies 360 has worked extensively in Snohomish County and hit the ground running, Swenson said.
Lake Stevens has joined forces with the cities of Snohomish, Granite Falls and Monroe and the area’s chambers on its proposal, but it isn’t spending on outside help like its better-financed neighbors.
Marysville and Everett say the bulk of the work the consultants and lobbyists will perform will occur after a site is recommended. They want to make sure their message is heard by lawmakers in Olympia who might not be invested in bringing a university to Snohomish County.
Each city also retains lobbyists for other work who also work on the university issue.
In Everett, Doug Levy is on an annual retainer for $5,500 a month for all city issues, said Kate Reardon, a city spokeswoman.
Marysville has a two-member team of lobbyists, Ron Main and Jim Halstrom, who receive $4,000 a month between them.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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