It appears Worth Thomas Consultants will remain on contract as the city’s lobbyist at least through the end of the year.
Ward 6 Councilman Jason Spears broached the subject of the firm’s future with the city during Tuesday’s council meeting at the Municipal Complex, aiming to “bring to a conclusion the discussion” that began two weeks prior.
Spears, during the council’s Oct. 7 meeting, moved to terminate the contract with the Jackson-based lobbying firm. Though the matter was tabled, Spears and other other council members questioned the actual value the firm brought to the city for the $72,000 annual price tag, which the city pays at a monthly rate of $6,000. Some complained they had received no correspondence from the lobbyist since the new term started in July.
Saleem Baird, with the government affairs team at Worth Thomas, appeared Oct. 15 at a council work session, defending the firm’s work and providing documents outlining its role in helping the city land state and federal dollars for projects ranging from watershed improvements, blight elimination and finishing the Sen. Terry Brown Amphitheater on the Island. Firm representatives also agreed to start blind-carbon-copying council members on emails it sends to Mayor Stephen Jones.
As part of Tuesday’s discussion, neither Spears nor any council member moved to terminate the contract, but Ward 2 Councilman Roderick Smith moved to continue it.
Before that motion could get a second, Jones chimed in.
“Well, I think their contract ends in December,” Jones said. “So I don’t think we have to make a motion or anything. … We’ll look at it then.”
City Attorney Jeff Turnage agreed there was no reason for the council to vote to take action on the contract before December.
“My hope is that all providers that are here to deliver service to be paid for it, it won’t take having to ask them to show up and provide the documents we paid them for,” Spears said.
Jones rejected the claim that Spears had anything to do with Baird’s appearance at last week’s work session.
“It actually didn’t take that because we already had them plan on coming,” he said. “But you just brought it up that night (Oct. 7) out of the blue. They were already coming to the work session. But thank you.”
No vote was taken, and the council promptly moved on with the agenda.
Worth Thomas Consultants’ contract with the city ends Dec. 31, Columbus Chief Operations Officer Jammie Garrett confirmed to The Dispatch. Per the terms, either party can terminate the contract early, with or without cause, by giving 15 days written notice.
Though keeping it through the end of the year will cost the city an additional $18,000, Spears told The Dispatch he now wants to ensure the firm provides the city all the information he feels it is owed. Terminating the contract early, he said, could put that in jeopardy.
“There’s a lot of information that I would like to gather from the firm, in what they stated they have been working on currently for the city on the state and federal level, as well as other supporting information on how they have been communicating with us,” Spears said.
In other business, the council:
■ reappointed Chuck Bigelow to a three-year term on the planning commission;
■ hired the Mitchell McNutt law firm to provide legal services and EAC Environmental to provide environmental inspection services for the blight elimination program; and
■ appointed Rhonda Hayes-Ellis to serve as temporary municipal judge, replacing Shane Thompkins in the temporary role. Dorothy Colom is also serving as an interim municipal judge until the bench is more permanently filled.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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