Raytown Board of Aldermen Page 3 and 4 of 16 February 3, 2006

Mark Siettman – 9313 E. 83rd Street – Mr. Siettman stated that he was in attendance this

evening as a concerned citizen to speak against Item 11 on the published agenda, which is the

amendment of a contract with Gaines Brown Consulting as a lobbyist for the City of Raytown.

Mr. Siettman said that while he understands that the contract is up and that Raytown certainly

needs to have a lobbying influence in the State, he was not sure that this company was the right

company. He stated that he had 3 reasons for that disagreement. Mr. Siettman stated that

Gaines Brown was hired a little over a year ago and from at least from what he has heard partly

on the recommendation of the City Administrator at that time and the City is now looking for a

new City Administrator and since that person has to work so closely with the lobbying group, he

thinks that at the least a short-term contract until the new City Administrator comes on board

would be more appropriate than a long-term contract. Mr. Siettman stated that secondly,

Gaines Brown has not effectively served Raytown in the State Legislature. He said that he does

understand that the firm has done a good job in acquiring some monies, but there is no

guarantee that some other firms could not have done that as well. He stated that a recent list

from the Municipal League does not even list anyone, not even Gaines Brown as representing

the City of Raytown. He stated that if the Municipal League does not know that the City of

Raytown has a lobbyist, who else does not know that we have a lobbyist. He stated that lastly,

Gaines Brown tunnel vision for one of their clients, The Kansas City Chiefs, really did alienate

some of the legislatures in Jefferson City. He stated that the third reason, in addition to

representing the City of Raytown, at least last year, Gaines Brown had also represented the

porn industry. He stated that he understands that they may have dropped those contacts, but

still he said that he has article from late-May of 2005, in which Travis Brown, which is the City’s

main contact, is quoted as supporting the porn industry against bills that were filed and passed

in last year’s legislature. He stated that as a citizen and a Christian, he said that he found this

particularly offensive. He stated that for these reasons, he was submitting that this amendment

is at best, ill timed. He said that again, he understanding that the City may be without a lobbyist

for right now, but that he thinks that bids to find another better lobbyist may be in order. Mr.

Siettman asked the Board to either table this item until a new City Administrator is hired or until

new bids can be placed to see if there is a better option. He stated that he thinks that either a

simple motion to either postpone indefinitely or to lay on the table regarding this item would be

in order and should that fail, he would certainly ask his representatives to vote no against this

when it comes up for a vote at the next Board meeting.