Anchorage Daily News

Editor's note: This story was originally published February 1, 2006

WASILLA -- Wasilla Mayor Dianne Keller, two City Council members and public works director Archie Giddings plan an $11,000 March trip to Washington, D.C., that they estimate will net hundreds of thousands in federal dollars for city projects.

Wasilla congressional lobbyist Steve Silver will guide them over seven days from one Capitol Hill meeting to another. They plan to meet with staff in the offices of Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski and U.S. Rep. Don Young.

City Council for the sixth year has picked two members for the annual lobbying trip to the nation's capital.

Council members Mark Ewing and Steve Menard were selected Jan. 23 to make the trip this year. Councilman Ron Cox was designated the alternate.

Cox, who made the trip last year, told the Council he wanted to go again this year. He said he made some mistakes his first time out but learned enough from them that he'd be an asset this year. He wasn't alone in saying so.

"I always relish the opportunity to let new blood experience politics at its finest," Ewing told the Council. "I suggest Mr. (Steven) Menard and myself accompany the mayor."

Ewing pointed out that Menard, a new Council member, had been an intern for Stevens and knew the ropes in the capital.

Deputy Mayor Howard O'Neil opposed sending Menard and Ewing. There was a better choice, he said, and he was it.

"I believe I would be a good choice to go," O'Neil said. "I've been there three times before and I do have somewhat of a knowledge of the process."

The Council plans to discuss in February what projects they will lobby for. Giddings said some projects would carry over from last year's wish list, including $1 million to build a road from East Susitna Avenue to the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

That project would create a second access route from south and east of the Knik-Goose Bay Road intersection and the Alaska Railroad.

Giddings said $3 million would pay for a design to expand the city sewer system to meet growth over the next decade. Another $4 million would provide half the funding to build a road from South Mack Drive to Mack Road and upgrade Mack Road to Knik-Goose Bay Road. Giddings said that road would provide an alternate route to the city's sports complex and, eventually, to the city airport.

City clerk Kristie Smithers on Wednesday estimated the lobbying trip would cost nearly $2,700 per person this year. She's planning to spend a little more than the average $2,500, she said, due to higher airfares and hotel rates.

When Smithers checked Jan. 11, flights to Washington, D.C., were $766 per person, flying coach. City law requires travel to be completed at the best rate for taxpayers, so city leaders can't fly first-class, deputy clerk Jamie Newman said.

Once in the capital, Smithers said, the city pays for hotel rooms (travelers must pay their own tab for room service, movies and other charges), provides a phone card for each traveler and pays a stipend based on the federal government rates for domestic travel. How the travelers use their $64-a-day stipend, Smithers said, is up to them.

The U.S. General Services Administration sets rates for hotel, meals and incidental expenses in major cities across the nation. In Washington, D.C., the rate is $64 per day for meals and incidentals, according to the Government Agency Web site.

Smithers and Newman said meals and cab fare come out of that money. The only expenses city leaders may claim reimbursements for are mileage to and from the Anchorage airport and parking for their vehicles while they're away, Newman said.

Yearly lobbying trips began in 2000 under Mayor Sarah Palin.

Trips to the national capital were not about hobnobbing, although a quick greeting with the Alaska delegation was scheduled if possible, Palin said Thursday.

"It was about being face to face with those who were actually writing the budget," Palin said, referring to Stevens', Murkowski's and Young's staffs.

Palin recalled that costly upgrades to the city sewer system were the primary focus of early lobbying trips. Years before she took office, the federal government paid for an experimental sewer system for Wasilla, Palin said. As the city expanded, the system needed regular, and often costly, upgrades.

Giddings, who joined the city midway through the sewer upgrades, said the system received the needed upgrades and works well for the city's current population. The sewer funding that might be part of this year's lobbying effort, Giddings said, will be strictly to prepare for future expansion.

City leaders made a point of lobbying for funding for roads in and around the city, Palin said. She said former public works director Don Shiesl came along to explain the technicalities of the sewer and transportation needs. Shiesl retired last year as the Matanuska-Susitna Borough director of public works.

Giddings said he has provided that technical data in recent trips. He believes the trips have proved worthwhile.

"We've been really successful getting earmarks," Giddings said. "By simply being there in person, you make that personal connection and your message carries more weight."

Off the top of his head, he recounted a $600,000 earmark for a new bus building for Mat-Su Community Transit, a nonprofit bus service based in Wasilla. The city got another $900,000 earmark to build a new railroad depot on land between the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex and the municipal airport.

Half a million dollars was provided for a multipurpose trail between Wasilla and Big Lake. A $1 million earmark was obtained to pave neighborhood roads within the city. Another half-million paid for the South Mack Road and Lucille Street design.

"If we get a federal earmark, it's a direct result of lobbying," Giddings said. "You don't get an earmark unless you lobby for it."

Congressional lobbyist Steve Silver was hired under Palin's administration and is in his sixth year as a Wasilla lobbyist. He also lobbies on behalf of several other Alaska governmental bodies. Wasilla pays $40,500 for Silver's 12-month contract, plus $2,000 each year for travel, meals and expenses.

Giddings and Palin characterized Silver's job as promoting the projects and keeping track of them while city leaders do business back home.

"You need a lobbyist to follow up," Giddings said.

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