By Rich Pollack
For the last few years, Highland Beach Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman has been traveling to Tallahassee on a regular basis, speaking with legislators about the town’s needs.
“The first year I visited with about 60 lawmakers,” she said.
Her efforts have paid off in raising visibility for the community in the capital. But the town has struggled to receive state funding for key projects even with the support of legislators whose districts include Highland Beach.
Now the town is stepping up its efforts to get financial help from the state and has hired a lobbying firm to help identify potential funds and obtain them.
Gossett-Seidman and others on the commission are hopeful that having a presence in Tallahassee will pay off.
“We need a person there who can meet on an hour’s notice with an appropriations committee chair to discuss why Highland Beach should get state government funding for a specific project,” she said.
That person could be Matthew Sacco or another representative of the Rubin, Turnbull and Associates firm, which the town hired to serve as lobbyists in October.
The contract runs to July 30, 2022, at a fee of $4,000 a month.
The Town Commission will evaluate the services at the end of July to determine effectiveness and if it wishes to continue having a lobbyist represent the town’s interest, Town Manager Marshall Labadie said.
“I talked to several firms over the years and this firm is a good fit for Highland Beach,” Gossett-Seidman said. “They are highly regarded.”
One of the priorities will be to help Highland Beach receive state funds that could be used to renovate the town’s fire station so it can accommodate additional equipment brought on when the town’s new fire department is operational.
Labadie said the town is hoping for an allocation in the neighborhood of $1 million for the project.
The town is also hoping to receive $750,0000 in state funding to make swale repairs and improve drainage along State Road A1A to alleviate flooding after heavy rains.
Gossett-Seidman helped the town come close to receiving money for drainage but that proposed allocation — supported by Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach — got pulled from the budget due to COVID-19 funding demands.
Having a representative in Tallahassee who knows the ins and outs of the system can keep the needs of Highland Beach in the forefront, she said.
Labadie says that expertise is extremely valuable, and he plans to get a better understanding of the legislative process when he travels to Tallahassee early next year and meets with lawmakers and the lobbying firm.
Gossett-Seidman said she believes the town will benefit from relationships Sacco and the firm have developed and from the continuity that comes with their presence.
“Because of term limits, elected officials come and go. Lobbyists don’t,” she said. “If you have a good one, they have the capability of keeping Highland Beach in the forefront of the changing Legislature.”
Gossett-Seidman said Highland Beach has never received an allocation of funds for a special project from the Legislature and she believes having a lobbyist will change that.
“Our residents deserve to have some state tax dollars back,” she said. “They deserve some attention from the state.” Ú
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