Members of the Cache County Council voted Tuesday to shift a lobbying contract with Lincoln-Hill Partners from County Executive David N. Zook to members of the council effective May 1.
CACHE COUNTY – The Cache County Council got the last laugh.
Taking advantage of an unexpected absence by County Executive David N. Zook, the council members planned to end his contract with a lobbying firm and replace it with a contract with themselves.
During an open budget session, council vice chair Paul R. Borup made a motion to end the contract with lobbying firm Lincoln-Hill Partners on April 30 and begin a new one with council members on May 1.
When county attorney John Luthy argued that lobbying the state Legislature was the executive’s business, council member Gina H. Worthen countered that the move was appropriate since Zook had failed to adequately advise the council of what was going on down in Salt Lake City at the Legislature.
Council member Karl B. Ward agreed, saying that the council had approved the hiring of chief deputy executive Dirk Anderson to free Zook to lobby the Legislature.
Worthen added that “… we need a written policy that says that legislative positions are made by the council council. Other elected officials can speak on those kind of issues, but we need to make clear that official positions come from the county council.”
The $4,500 a month lobbying contract had been a bone of contention between the county executive and the council from its beginning.
Identified as one of the most influential lobbyists in Utah by the Salt Lake Tribune, Lincoln-Hill Partners represents a wide-array of clients before federal, Utah state and local policy makers.
Actively involved in Utah’s politics by representing national clients such as Northrop Grumman, General Motors and Oracle, Lincoln-Hill also works with several local entities ranging from business and commercial developers, counties, cities, the insurance industry and healthcare providers.
They have a specific emphasis on state/local regulatory issues, economic development, technology, infrastructure and health care.
In late February, however, Worthen accused Zook of violating sections of the county code by entering into the contract without prior approval of the council.
Luthy clarified, however, that Zook did not violate the county code because one of the duties of the executive is advocating for the county and because the contract was made with funds already approved by the council.
Luthy suggested that Zook and the council need to talk more and that people stop trying to make legal issues out of political issues.
But Worthen and Borup argued that moving the contract with Lincoln-Hill to the county council would ensure that lobbying efforts would be undertaken with the full approval of the council members.
The motion by Borup was approved by the council unanimously.