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Medford hires firm to lobby By DAVID PRESZLER The city of Medford is getting into the federal lobbying game. Medford will pay a consulting firm $40,000 over the next six months to help bring more federal money into the city's coffers. The Medford City Council voted last week to hire Sagamore Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based firm, to act as a de facto lobbyist for the city in the current U.S. Congressional session, which started Monday. Sagamore's Ted Bristol will work with city officials to identify and pursue federal grants that would help pay for a variety of projects, according to City Manager Michael Dyal. The city has identified a number of general areas for major projects over the next few years, including the continued renovation of downtown, transportation issues, wastewater system upgrades and the creekside development and water-quality enhancement of Bear Creek. "All those things take money," Dyal said. So the city wants to try and "remove or reduce" the cost to local taxpayers by tapping into federal grants. Medford -- like other cities -- already receives about $600,000 a year of mandated federal funding, mainly through what's called a community block grant. But Dyal said the city receives very little federal money from grants for which cities must apply and compete. He said there are earmarked grants in 13 separate federal budgets that cities and counties can tap into. That's where Sagamore comes in. In his proposal to the council, Dyal said the firm is one in only a handful that specialize in this type of assistance to cities. Dyal worked with Sagamore while he was city manager in North Las Vegas. He said dozens of cities and counties in every state have hired similar consultants. While the city will still set the specific projects, Dyal said, Bristol will play a key role in finding the funding. "He'll work the process that's already in place in Washington," he said, adding that it was important to have someone who "knows how to present a project and work it through the system." Dyal said the $40,000 will prove money well spent. "We expect to get a several-fold return on the investment," he said. The contract with Sagamore runs through June 30. Dyal successfully petitioned the council to exempt it from the competitive bidding process so the city could start the effort as soon as possible. He said the city will go through that process this summer when the contract expires. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA