Five finalists have been selected for the city and borough of Juneau lobbyist.
They are the Anderson Group, Bob Evans of Anchorage, the team of Mark Hickey and David Rogers, Kevin Jardell of Juneau, and Sam Kito, the third, also of Juneau.
Assembly member Randy Wanamaker sits on the lobbyist search committee. He says the finalists were chosen from a pool of 11 proposals based on certain criteria, “Their knowledge of how the state budgeting process works and how the different departments works, their familiarity with the community, and their experience in the state.”
Lobbyists Linda Anderson and Yuri Morgan are with Juneau-based Anderson Group LLC. Clients include the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the City of Homer.
Bob Evans is a lobbyist for many entities including Kodiak Electric Association and Neeser Construction.
Mark Hickey and David Rogers, both of Juneau, teamed up on one proposal. The two lobby for Apple Inc. Hickey has multiple municipal clients including Kodiak Island Borough, City of King Cove, and the city of Akutan.
Kevin Jardell lobbies for Exxon Mobil Corporation, Fairbanks Natural Gas, and Catholic Community Services among several others.
Sam Kito, the third’s lobbying group is Kito, Inc. Clients include the North Slope Borough, GCI, the Alaska Travel Industry Association, and Icy Straight Point.
The assembly will hold a special meeting and conduct interviews during executive session on September 21.
Wanamaker says the assembly will negotiate the length of contract, fee, and start date.
“To me they need to be on board either in November or December at the latest so that they are familiar with what we are doing in terms of setting strategic goals and legislative initiatives to help the community before the legislative session starts in January,” he says.
City manager Kim Kiefer says the lobbyist finalists proposed annual fees ranging from $52,000 to $85,000.
