Mayor Frank Melton has refused to renew a contract with Washington lobbyists Winston & Strawn, LLP, ending 10 productive years of lobbying efforts for the city. The firm is the first hired by the city to represent its interests in Washington and has aided in the collection of more than $111 million in federal money for the city. The firm helped net funding for the remodeled downtown train station, the Metro Parkway and the County Line Road extensions, among other projects.
Replacing the firm will be one man: 28-year-old Marcus Ward—who served briefly as the city's acting personnel director after Mayor Frank Melton fired Jackie Mack in mid-December. Last week, Ward made news by escorting former Equal Business Opportunity Director Tanya Ross out of her office while he was armed.
"My administration has decided to take a different approach with regards to our federal affairs representation in Washington," Melton wrote in a Dec. 30, 2005, letter to lobbyist John Waits. The contract … will not be renewed beyond December 31, 2005."
The 150-year-old firm had an intimate connection to Jackson through Waits, a Winston & Strawn partner. The native of Leland, Miss., first took on a contract with then-Mayor Kane Ditto in 1995 to lobby for the city.
"I've always been partial to Jackson, and we've always worked hard for the city," Waits said. "I've enjoyed working with past administrations, but the new mayor has a new plan, and if he wants to pursue other avenues then that's his prerogative."
Waits' firm also aided in grabbing almost $10 million annually for the eight years of the COPS Law Enforcement program. The city has used COPS money for the laptop computers, portable or mobile fingerprinting devices and the famous Mobile Command Bus that the new mayor has lately enjoyed while scooting around Jackson.
The firm has also worked with state representatives, like Bennie Thompson, in convincing the House to insert a $25 million provision in the Water Resources Development Act, which will be before the U.S. Senate in the upcoming weeks. The provision, if successful, will dedicate the $25 million (which is apart from the $111 million already collected by the company) to water and wastewater infrastructure in Jackson—an issue Melton campaigned hard on in 2005.
Council President Marshand Crisler looked upon the new assignment with incredulity. "What are your years of experience?" Crisler asked Ward at the Jan. 9 City Council work session.
"I've been working about five years," Ward answered, adding that this was the average of most lobbyists.
"This is going to be our sole representative of lobbying for the city of Jackson?" Crisler demanded.
"We realize that Mr. Ward is a young man," Chief Administrative Officer Robert Walker said, "but we have the confidence that he's going to do an extraordinary job for the city."
Horror seemed to settle over the Council as members realized that Melton had dismissed the most successful money-maker in the city's history and replaced him with a 28-year-old "assistant."
Crisler feared this would cost the city millions. "What is this? What is the direction we're going in? Last time I checked Ward was director of public affairs? Now he's our high-powered lobbyist? When did that happen? I just learned about this today, and I've just learned today that we've allowed a contract to expire after 10 years, the same lobbyist who's brought $14 million this last year. I'm really concerned if this is how we're going to continue to do business," Crisler said.
Ward 1 Councilman Ben Allen said there was no way Ward could compare to the political connections of a fully staffed firm seated firmly in Washington.
"I can't see how anybody in Jackson, Mississippi, can do what has to be done," Allen said. "We go up there to Washington and visit every year. As we go into a congressman's office, (Winston & Strawn) are already sitting there with their staff. They are paid Washington lobbyists who know the president of DuPont, and the president of this and the president of that. They're in that game 24/7. They've got 800 lobbyists working full time. It's impossible for (Ward) to do what they do. No disrespect to you (Ward), but I'm floored by this."
Ward, who has worked as a staff assistant for Mississippi Sens. Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, said he felt he was fit for the job. "I think I'm qualified to do the job. I think Senators Lott and Cochran would be more than willing to endorse my position. I have experience in walking the bill through the process to get it to vote," said Ward, who would not disclose his new salary.
Ward considers himself a higher level of lobbyist. "It's like a baby on a pacifier. Once you take that baby off the pacifier you've got to start eating eventually. You have to wean yourself off of it. …[A]ll we were getting (from the feds) was what we were going to get anyway," he said Monday.
Ward added that he was going to "give a stand-up presentation of the city" to congressmen "regardless of whether I sit in Jackson or Washington."
Lanier Avant, chief of staff for Rep. Bennie Thompson, said Winston & Strawn's work had been instrumental in assembling the WRDA provision package.
"They do everything from arrange meetings all the way to assisting in drafting report language that ends up being beneficial to the people of Jackson," Avant said.
Though federal legislators like Sen. Trent Lott and Sen. Thad Cochran wield great influence in Washington (Cochran is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee), politicians frequently rely on lobbyists to bring together the talking points that put the meat in their arguments. Lobbying for cities was in its embryonic stage during much of the 1990s, but since that time, there has been a proliferation of lobbying on behalf of cities across the country.
Waits warns that Melton will need some sort of voice on Capitol Hill if he intends to snag the kind of federal money that brought to fruition so many city projects under former Mayor Harvey Johnson—and the types of federal grants he promised repeatedly during his campaign to pay for his plans.
"These days you can't just ask for the money. You've got to make a case for it, show the legitimate need and why your particular request should be funded over anybody else's. It's an increasingly competitive situation in Washington and cities with good lobbying helps arm their congressional delegation with information and back-up and detail they need to get their legislation passed," Waits said.
The firm's contract cost the city of Jackson $6,000 a month. "If you compare what we have charged other similar-sized cities, it's not above the average, and not all the time I put into Jackson is necessarily reflected in the hours recorded," Waits said. "I've enjoyed working for you."
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