Scottsdale council approves new retained state lobbying contract and boosts reporting requirements

Scottsdale City Council approved a new retained state government relations contract for the coming legislative session that replaces the former consultant with Kutak Rock, staff said Dec. 2.

Sarah Sparman, the city’s government relations manager, told the council the RFP sought a retained firm to provide daily legislative monitoring and an ability to activate two other firms on an as‑needed basis. She said the new retained firm’s scope includes weekly reporting, a tracking system and more robust boots‑on‑the‑ground resources. The city manager and staff described the Kutak Rock agreement as a step up in capacity and said the retainer is roughly $24,000 more than the previous retained consultant; the total retained cost noted in the discussion was cited around $78,000 for the baseline retained element.

Council members voiced concern about past performance and urged clearer performance metrics and annual review. Several members said they want the new contract to come back for annual review rather than auto‑renew, and asked staff to provide better dashboards so the council can measure return on investment. The city manager said unused director‑level funds were redirected to help pay for the expanded outside resources.

Council moved to approve the resolution authorizing the contract and the motion passed; councilmembers thanked staff for rethinking government relations and emphasized the need for tighter reporting requirements during the next legislative session.