Grand Strand mayors endorse hiring lobbyist for area alliance

By Lisa Fleisher

The Sun News

Three Grand Strand mayors said Wednesday they would like to collectively hire a lobbyist to try to get federal funding for common issues in their municipalities, such as beach renourishment and stormwater drainage.

The agreement came at the first meeting of the newly formed Grand Strand Coastal Alliance, a strategic and potentially financial partnership between Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Atlantic Beach, Briarcliffe Acres and Surfside Beach. Their respective councils must still decide whether to spend the money to hire the lobbyist.

In recent years, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach joined a growing number of smaller cities across the nation that have hired lobbyists to push for their interests in Washington.

Critics of lobbyists say it is difficult to judge their usefulness and object to the philosophy of hiring a lobbyist as a middleman between government agencies. Supporters insist that cities must do everything possible to fight for a piece of the federal pie.

Briarcliffe Acres Councilman Houston Bell said the town would not be interested in federal funding for its tiny beach area because it would have to switch from a private to a public beach. Atlantic Beach representatives did not attend Wednesday's meeting, which had been rescheduled several times.

The next step will be to decide how to split the cost - possibly by population size or length of beachfront - which would likely hover around $5,350 a month.

Last year, North Myrtle Beach hired Marlowe & Co., a lobbying firm specializing in beach issues with clients across the U.S. Company president Harold Marlowe recently pledged to keep his rate steady to represent the whole alliance area, allowing North Myrtle Beach to alleviate its costs.

Pros and cons

Those who support hiring lobbyists say they are essential to keeping federal representatives in Washington informed about what is important at a local level and why.

"We're not there on a daily basis," said David Sebok, executive director of the Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corporation. "You really need that day-to-day, week-in, week-out watchdog trying actively so that you can respond quickly to opportunities or issues that may come up. It's how our system works. If you're not present - invisible - and not specific about your needs, whatever dollars are available are going to go someplace else."

But critics, such as Myrtle Beach City Councilman Phil Render, say the process is a corruption of the governing process.

"I'm concerned that K Street actually shakes the foundation of our country," Render said. "I believe the undue influence of lobbying special interests are undermining the financial stability of our nation. ... I understand how the game is played, but it doesn't make it right."

From 1998 through 2004, 1,400 local governments spent $381 million lobbying the federal government, with the numbers going up every year, according to figures from the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based watchdog group.

Cities often are looking for money for specific projects, and other times they want to influence policy decisions such as tax rates, said Alex Knott, the center's political editor.

For city officials hoping to do the best for their citizens, the issue is complicated. If everyone else is hiring a lobbyist, how can their city afford not to?

"This activity has been increasing every year, and it's turned into almost a national auction, where you have cities trying to outbid each other, all fighting for the same federal dollar," Knott said. "There are clear upsides in addition to controversies. Lobbying works. The reason you have some companies spending tens of millions of dollars on K Street lobbyists is because it can get them hundreds of millions - if not billions - in return."

Current local projects

Myrtle Beach is looking for $16 million to pay for a system to manage stormwater drainage between Ninth Avenue North and Second Avenue South. Since 2002, the city has received small chunks of money totaling about $2.4 million for stormwater projects in the downtown area from sources such as the Environmental Protection Agency.

The city has paid lobbyists from the law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough just more than $240,500 since 2004. Despite the firm's assertion that it helped secure the EPA money, the city said it cannot directly link the money to lobbyists' work. It says the true test of whether the money was well spent will be whether the city is included in a bill called the Water Resource Development Act, which is up for reauthorization.

"We're optimistic that their efforts will pay off down the road," city spokesman Mark Kruea said. "We're hopeful. Maybe hopeful's a better word than optimistic."

The bill makes specific projects across the country eligible for large appropriations through the Army Corps of Engineers, though the money is not guaranteed.

Leo Coco, a lobbyist with the firm, said the main goal has been to see the city included in the water act. During the previous Congressional session, the Senate never passed its version of the bill, forcing the process to start over.

Now the long-awaited bill seems close to getting passed. The Senate and House both approved their versions, and the two bodies must meet to resolve differences.

In the House's version of the bill, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach are each eligible for $6 million for ocean outfalls, but the project does not appear in the Senate version. "This is as close as we've come in a long time to actually seeing a Water Resource Development Act reauthorized," Coco said.

That could happen this month or after Election Day.

Working together

Grand Strand cities have collectively hired a lobbyist before.

In 2003, Myrtle Beach spent $8,700, and Surfside Beach and North Myrtle Beach each threw in $2,000 to persuade the state to push back the start of school.

The change did not happen until the next year, when parents got involved.

Lobbyists are only one part of the equation, officials say.

U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, R-Hanahan, called lobbyists an "extension" of personal visits from local delegations who can navigate the system and add to the chorus asking for money.

"There's no lobbyist as good as the mayor, or there's no lobbyist as good as the chairman of county council, but sometimes the lobbyist helps them get to the right place," Brown said. "I guess what I'm saying is we need all the help we can get."

Brown, who is up for re-election in November, is on the House's conference committee for the Water Resource Development Act. He said he feels "pretty good" that the Senate will include the Grand Strand projects.

What lobbyists do

-- Meet with congressional staff members, senators and representatives to convince them of the importance of their clients' needs

-- Keep clients apprised of relevant grant opportunities

-- Help write legislation

-- Track legislation for their clients as it moves through the system

At a glance

How much Myrtle Beach has spent on federal lobbyists

2006-07 | $7,500

2005-06 | $115,000

2004-05 | $86,021

2003-04 | $32,007

Total | $240,528

How much North Myrtle Beach has spent

2005-06 | $30,369