Des Moines Register
11-03-06
Lobbying intensified for D.M.'s ethanol plant vote
Dozens tried to influence the City Council's choice on an ethanol facility.
By JASON CLAYWORTH
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Former Gov. Terry Branstad, former Lt. Gov. Jo Ann Zimmerman, and the
president of a trade union were among the dozens of people who have sent emails or made telephone calls to Des Moines City Council members in the past
two months to try to influence their decisions on a pair of competing ethanol
plants.
Now the council is in a gridlock that some fear could jeopardize millions of dollars
in business development and hundreds of new jobs.
Correspondence obtained Thursday by The Des Moines Register through the
state's open records law shows that some of the people who pushed for one of
two ethanol proposals also have made past campaign contributions to council
members. Observers say the calls and messages illustrate what's at stake: a
$200 million plant and an estimated $1.6 million in new property tax revenue.
- "You may remember me from various political campaigns with your mother,"
Zimmerman's Oct. 30 e-mail to Councilman Michael Kiernan began. Zimmerman
and her husband are investors in Lincolnway Energy of Nevada, one of the two
companies that want to build an ethanol plant on the city's southeast side.
Zimmerman signed the e-mail using her former elected title.
- Businessman David Hurd gave at least $500 to Christine Hensley for her run for
mayor in 2003. He urged her support for Vision Fuels of Urbandale, the company
she supported in a 3-3 council vote Wednesday. Hensley pointed out, however,
that she also has accepted campaign money from proponents of the Lincolnway
plan, including attorney Jim Wine, who represents the project.
- Scott Saylor, president of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local
234, wrote an e-mail to Councilman Chris Coleman on Oct. 19 that urged him to
support Vision Fuels and the "undeniable economic benefits" of a project
financed by local investors.
Coleman said Wednesday that he knows people involved in both proposals and
that it would be nice if he could select the one "with the most friends" behind it.
On Thursday, he clarified that, saying he voted against his friends and that the
comment "was a challenge to my colleagues" to vote for the best deal.
None of the e-mails obtained by the Register included ultimatums or anything
that could be interpreted as political arm-twisting. But the stepped-up lobbying
effort might offer insight into the council's collective indecision on what is possibly
the largest economic development opportunity in Des Moines' history, said
Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University.
"It underscores the lack of confidence people have in government," Schmidt said.
"Their decisions shouldn't be made by greased skids. It should be done on more
objective criteria."
Kiernan acknowledged that he has been lobbied by both sides, but he said the
input from influential community leaders has not altered his decision. He voted
Wednesday to support Vision Fuels of Urbandale over Zimmerman's request.
"Who is going to come back with the best deal for taxpayers, to me, is the bottom
line," Kiernan said.
City leaders want the project to anchor an industrial park that could eventually
employ 6,500 people.
Des Moines has spent more than $10 million since 2001 for about 230 acres
known as the Des Moines Agrimergent Technology Park. The goal is to increase
the city's tax base by more than $420 million. The ethanol plant would be the first
major development, on a 166-acre area near Vandalia Road and Southeast 43rd
Street.
Neither company has asked for subsidies. Officials from both firms said Thursday
that they will stay in the running.
"I don't think we're planning to pull out, but certainly we need to attend to getting
a better understanding of what we need to do to stay in the competition," said
Rick Brehm, Lincolnway's president.
Brian Green, a project coordinator for Vision Fuels, said his group is content with
the way the council has handled the process.
"We're actually not frustrated by the decision" Wednesday to delay a final vote,
Green said. "It makes it a two-horse race."