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Thursday, June 1, 2000

Austin lobbyists may be included in cuts

By Jonathan Osborne
Caller-Times

Berlanga

Not even the cows the city pays to milk Austin for dollars are sacred in the preliminary 2000-2001 budget, which suggests axing two city lobbyists from the state's Capitol.
   In addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars in cuts to the fire, police, park and recreation and other departments, staff also is recommending the council fire lobbyists Todd Hunter and Hugo Berlanga.
   "We can't afford them," said City Manager David Garcia.
   The Austin lobbyists are paid $2,300 a month when the Legislature is not in session and $4,700 a month when the Legislature is meeting, said Assistant City Manager Tom Utter. Cutting the two positions would save the city about $166,400 over the next two years.
   The staff is suggesting the city retain Austin lobbyist Cliff Johnson, who specializes in water rights issues and earns the same salary as Hunter and Berlanga, and Washington, D.C., lobbyist Larry Meyers, who is paid about $75,000 a year.

Hunter

   "We are going back to the minimal that we could get away with and effectively run a lobbying program," Garcia said.
   The main function of lobbyists, whether in Washington or Austin, is to protect the city from legislation and to steer the city's issues through the legislative process.
   "By lobbying, I mean basically protecting us from bad things that happen in Austin and Washington as well as helping us with funding issues," he said.
   Hunter said he was unaware the city was looking to cut him out in the next budget. He and Berlanga were hired by the city two years ago.
   "I don't know anything about it," Hunter said. "The City Council and the city need to make the best decisions possible. Of course, we would be disappointed. Nobody's called us so I don't know what their decision-making process is."
   Berlanga, who was out of town, could not be reached for comment.
   Mayor Loyd Neal said that he could live with reducing the number of lobbyists, but that having representation in Washington, D.C., and in Austin was essential for the city.
   "The city cannot keep abreast of what's going on without representation in Washington," Neal said. "I'm in favor of having at least one representative in Washington and one in Austin, at least during the session."
   Utter, who has lobbied for the city for the past 12 to 14 years, will continue to do so. State Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Corpus Christi, and state Reps. Gene Seaman, R-Corpus Christi, Vilma Luna, D-Corpus Christi, and Jaime Capelo, D-Corpus Christi, also are in Austin representing the city.
   Councilman John Longoria said that cutting the lobbyists, though it will make the council's job more difficult, is necessary.
   "It's going to hurt us," Longoria said. "You have to have the right people doing the right thing at the right time. Lobbyists can cover a lot of ground."
   Longoria said that staff and the council members would have to essentially take over much of the lobbying effort.
   "The council will have to spend more time making some of those calls," Longoria said. "It's just something we're going to have to do."
   Councilman Rex Kinnison said city wouldn't suffer from the cuts.
   "It's just a little more responsibility for us to take on," he said.
  
  

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Staff writer Jonathan Osborne can be reached at 886-3716 or by e-mail at osbornej@caller.com

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