McLean County Times

At their Jan. 23 meeting, the Bloomington City Council considered a lobbying agreement with Thorn Run Partners.

The agreement would have the lobbyists advocate for the City of Bloomington in Washington, D.C., to earn them funding for their project through various grants and other avenues. Bloomington submitted requests for a lobbying agency that would work with them in October of 2022, receiving five answers and choosing to look more closely at Thorn Run.

Alderman Sheila Montney pulled the item from their consent agenda to discuss it further because she was concerned about the amount of money spent in the agreement without specific results that could be predetermined. She felt unsure about it when the citizens’ main concerns were street infrastructure and lowering taxes, which did not feel in line with the proposed agreement. Other council members agreed with the hesitations, fearing that the contract was a lot of money for an organization that represents a large number of communities around the country and not just Bloomington.

The agreement would be for a total of $270,000, representing a $90,000 fee annually over the next three years. The City proposed the agreement because they wanted to increase their focus on securing funding from Washington, and Thorn Run has shown their ability to do that for the communities they represent.

"I agreed with the questions wholeheartedly," Alderman Nick Becker said in the meeting. "And I also look at it: we should not have to spend this money. I find it ludicrous that we have to spend this money to get a result because of what Grant said and because of what Sheila said. The reality is, maybe I'm naïve in saying we shouldn't have to. Maybe we do have to spend it to get results. So I'm going to ask the question differently to someone who knows more than I do. Are you confident that if we spend this money that each year we will bring back more than $90,000 in additional grant money so that in fact we are ahead so that we make a profit on our investment?"

Other officials wanted to put more emphasis on potential positives of the deal.

"And as you talk about that, one of the things I would say is that I would look at some of the missed opportunities that perhaps other communities and other entities have where they've received funding or we in fact, have not," Bloomington deputy City manager Billy Tyus said in the meeting. "Those are entities that have utilized lobbying firms to do the type of work that we're asking Thorn Run to do. And it's not just about money, it's not just about receiving funding. It's also about advocating for us in the halls of Congress, having someone who has their ear in the halls of Congress, listening to legislation and hearing what's being proposed so that they can advocate for us as well as part of that process. That's not something that you can do from here."

The council rejected the agreement by a vote of 4-5.