001calling the meeting to order at 6 11. uh Miss Hicks could you please call the roll ER Coleman here 's Graves absent Miss Kendrick here Mr Townsend um Mr McGee here I'm looking for an adoption of today's agenda is there a second it's been properly moved in seconds without today's agenda for Tuesday November 15th for the special board meeting uh Ms Hicks please call the roll Miss Burger I Miss Baltimore hi Miss Coleman aye Ms Kendrick Mr Townsend absent Miss Graves absent Mr McGee yes passes 6-0 uh we'll now go move on to the lobbyist position postings Casey clackmeyer oh sorry five zero let's go ahead um just have a short orientation piece for you um quick review of policy djf which is the purchasing policy which sets the board policy that sets forth the
002protocol in terms of the district making purchases next slide talks about upon your request uh the board of education is going to be participating in the selection of the lobbyists by evaluating presentations that will take place this evening lobbyist um followers so in your folder on your left side I believe is the actual RFP that was issued the request for the proposal but behind that is the list of questions for um so um for this evening yes um that way um today um so I had a meeting with the superintendent probably two months ago about the importance of having a lobbyist for the district um association with regard to [Music] we have representation foreign [Music] in our district thank you foreign thank you and our foundation I know go ahead good evening Mr chairman and
003members of the Hickman Mills board my name is John Barger and with me tonight is Chris ropey my co-worker and we're part of the John bargain Associates group uh that we appreciate very much the opportunity to respond to your RFP for legislative consulting services in Jefferson City I'll just tell you a little bit about our firm and what we've done I think you all have our proposals in front of you as we've been told so that you can see clearly who we represent and our answers to your questions um we have five lobbyists in our firm we've been around Jefferson City a long time I've been there a very long time uh 40 years so we have uh we're quite proud of the clientele that we have if you were to look down the list
004of our clients some of them such as Anheuser-Busch Walgreens Motorola Etc other state institutions excuse me State associations I think one of the greatest things that I'm most proud of is about 33 of those firms have been with our firm for 35 years so that consistency obviously we must be doing something right that they like I believe that the relationships pardon me that we have built with the Missouri general assembly on behalf of our clients um put us in a unique position to try to help Hickman Mills school district we are one of the few firms in Jefferson City and I do mean few I apologize I've been getting a little cough today um would have chosen to stand on the side of public K-12 education um and it is a major education a major
005legislative talking point each year in the general assembly with a lot of different ideas from a lot of folks we have representatives are I've got a cough drop I'm hoping that um it's our bios and client lists indicate to you oh thank you so much sir um I apologize thank you um we've represented the Kansas City Public School District for a number of years we have been right in the middle of all the discussions about everything dealing with K-12 Chris ropey spearheads our firm's effort on the education front excuse me I'll let Chris talk a little bit more about policy and so the education things I believe what we bring to any client that we would represent is the ability to give some instant credibility in areas where people don't know who you are try
006to correctly inform those who do know who you are and may have differing ideas than you want them to know and correct their misunderstandings talk about the good things that are going on here excuse me I'm sorry we haven't oh gosh he was just kind enough to get it for me thank you um I believe I can say with a great deal of Pride we've gotten to where we are with this firm and our group my co-workers uh because we do have a degree of credibility with members of the general assembly various bureaucrats and departments governor's office Etc and I think that we're able to pass that on when we speak on behalf of some clients to those various individuals and organizations as to The credibility of the class we represent we're quite proud of
007all the clients we represent uh I think that we we are day in day out 365 days a year there for our clients um I'm not sure if in the RFP it was requested or not that uh we take the reporting of information to our clients at a whole new level that I think lobbying farmers do in Jefferson City I came out of being a regional manager for governmental Affairs 37 years ago for a large bank and I understood how important it was for me to have the information before my boss writed the paper I turned that around in our firm to make sure that our clients are given information immediately what is happening and so we uh we have an extensive report each week it is emailed to you immediately upon the legislature's conclusion
008with a forecast of what's going to be happening the next week but in your case for example it'll be what happened at every education hearing what's going to happen next week of course we are texting whatever method you want to the appropriate individual or individuals immediately when action pertaining to you so those are the kind of things that we've done um we'd be honored to represent Hickman Mills um several of you I've had the privilege of knowing and working with in the past we'd love to continue that um it's a space that we have become a little bit passionate about and as I said before if you've been to Jefferson City or if you follow us I think the chairman does and I bet Miss Moore does the most Scout the daily political blog you'll
009notice today three more three more major national groups hiring major lobbying firms to push agendas that probably are not the best for K-12 Schools public schools so with that um May I turn it over to Mr Chris ropey who's with our firm thanks John and thanks for the opportunity I think just a couple things to to mention and then answer any questions you know we we're in the trenches on these education issues um we're we are very familiar with them there will be absolutely no learning curve we'll be able to provide you with the information so you can make the right decision for for your students and how to take your school board or excuse me your school district forward and make the advancements that I know I know you want to make um whether
010it's our work for hair stow and what we do for them or with the Community College Association or our work for the Kansas City Public School District we these issues are are personally um passionate for us because we we see the progress that that District made and we're very proud of the work that we were able to do in the the issues that we are involved with for them and I I just do think we're extremely well equipped working with the school boards Association or the the school administrators Association the different teachers groups that that are out there who we interact with and are in the in the capital 24 7 when the legislature is there making sure that every Amendment every comma that gets changed that nothing is going to be done that that
011harms you and that doesn't get you a seat at the table as a part of those discussions and and I think we can really provide that and do that for you and the information is absolutely critical so you can make timely decisions and we do take great pride in making sure you have that I'm happy to answer any questions or talk about some of the issues that will be up next year that everybody's going to be dealing with whether it's open enrollment which could be very problematic for a district like yours that the soon to be House Education chair will be continue to be pushing or the prohibition on critical race Theory and how do you define that and what does that actually meeting for being able to teach history is some some terrible things
012that could happen if that that was addressed or parents Bill of Rights and some districts that may have been abusing things that we want because of a few bad actors so to speak or out there or some unhappy parents but those are some of the big issues on education that that'll be up up next year so happy to take questions Miss Berger yes how long have you been in business and how many clients do you have John Barger and Associates has been in business as a Missouri Corporation for over 35 years I think today and it does change it's going to change tomorrow I'm going to be hired tomorrow morning our firm is I think there are 47 clients that we are registered with the Missouri ethics commission for thank you Miss Kendrick could you
013tell me about your experience working in the Missouri capital and who you have a positive relationship with sure I'll take you for just a minute and Chris might feel a while Chris I think he can talk more which might be more interest to you in the K-12 world too um so we have got tremendous relationships on both sides of the aisle I think that you could ask anybody from Governor Parson uh to his chief of staff to the minority leader of the democratic party to the chairperson of the Senate Appropriations Committee up and down the aisle both sides of the aisle we know everybody you just remember it's not like your world I'm sorry I don't know what you do for a living but five six of us in that building 24 7. uh we
014know people and we treasure the relationships we have I would add an electric stock specifically about some of the education folks I know at least your chairperson might be somebody that will that would be able to tell you that the relationships I build with legislators go beyond their term in the legislature I still see people I make friendships there this is not just a come and go client thing my clients wouldn't be with me that long and I enjoy the relationships I make with those legislators on both sides of the island I continue to have them Christian you were talking about the yeah the only other thing I would mention I think is that obviously you want to start off by having the support and and constant communication with your local delegation whether you know
015I think your District encompasses a little bit of Senator cyrpoy's um District over on the the east side and then Senator Razer senator Washington um representative sharp and and representative Engel has a little piece of it you have a new a new State Rep who will be representing your District um and I think you know feel free to talk to them about any of the firms that you're interested in looking at but we work very well with them on a whole host of issues beyond the public education space um and I think they they would they would enjoy working with us on on your behalf and like John said you know just doing this and doing this business the right way I do think we have some of the compared to non best relationships with
016legislators that help get you that seat at the table that that you need to have your voices heard um Miss Coleman it is important that a lobbyists understand what motivates the legislator and their staff can you give an example of how your experience with legislators would be benefit to the district might will be quick and easy and then we'll let the gentleman who was the chief of staff for the president of the Senate majority of their speak we both come from there I work for the speaker of the house I'm a bears to tell you 40 years ago so I've been on that side Chris spent I'll let him talk about what he's done his relationships with the Missouri uh those are some of the relationships that we know how to work with them having
017been there yeah I mean I I spent six years working as chief of staff for the floor leader in the Senate and in two years as Chief Stafford the president of pro tem so we we both sat in the meetings where the decisions are made and know what what you know what those legislators think about um so you have the ability to communicate to them the right message that's going to translate to getting hopefully a decision or put yourself in the best position to get that decision that they're going to make on on how a piece of policy is going to affect your District public education in general to to get that desired outcome it's just the experience of having having done it and doing on the lobbying side in this space to great success
018one of the things if I might Mr chairman miss calling you know one of the things forgive me if I'm out of school here out of school um you know one of the things I've always said to clients and what this is a bad thing is a bad thing but I believe in you all can sell your legislative district pretty well on what you're all doing here what you need is 18 in the Senate and 82 in the house the B4 against something you want so while the three individuals from the house area that represent Hickman Mills and a couple three of the Senate that's great but as I said when you're 1882 was firms like our ours brain that represent a rural urban nonpartisan view of this thing because we bring the ability to
019tell the story about Hickman Mills the first one our good friend from Southeast Missouri the West St Louis County of the city of St Louis legislator to get them to buy in and try and make what's going on with dick windmills important to them too I think that's something that we've done very very well in thank you Miss barmore sure um what have your three most prominent achievements as a lobbyist thing oh I think they'd probably be different for both of us but because we've been involved in so many things um I will tell you one that is very near and dear to me and it doesn't rank up there I mean I can tell you about things like getting 180 million dollars for the Cardinal Bush Stadium that got my picture on the front
020page of the paper well that was good or bad I don't know but it was that was something I achieved for my client personal satisfaction I don't know what it did to me or continuing to get the three million dollars for the Jackson County Sports Authority uh that we did that about four years ago for the Jackson County Sports store those are things that were involved in very difficult as you all know as they should be it should be difficult to get Stadium Monday it should be very difficult and in some cases it shouldn't be done but at any rate we did our job I think the thing this morning was probably most impactful to me is I've had the privilege and pleasure of representing with Chris with those people in front of the Missouri
021Association of Rehabilitation facility Mark as some of you may know though this is the 108 or so providers not-for-profit agencies that are providers or services that developmentally disabled these individuals do God's work on a daily basis and are never compensated correctly the reimbursements were getting upside down and we spent about three and a half years trying to rank the ship got the right governor in there and in the last three years we were able to put 160 million dollars in two and a half years back into the salaries for those folks that kept those folks working with the people they were educated to work with instead of going over to McDonald's simply for a 15 an hour job that's helping me a lot extremely proud Chris I there there's legislative successes every year that that
022we're proud of to deliver for our clients I I think I'll just let the the types of clients we have and and how well known those organizations are and that the numbers of clients that we have speak for our successes overall and and just let let that be what it is for our abilities to be effective for our clients and have successes I know you know this because of your experiences in politics many of the successes that we have on behalf of clients like yours are making sure something doesn't happen how does that happen that happens with Chris ropey talking to the majority floor leader and saying that bill is going to decimate the Kansas City Public School District and I need you to not take that up until that individual will come and talk
023to us that's exactly what Chris did two years ago to stop it very long ago so you don't put it up there's not on the front page of a newspaper Dr badelini I'll tell you that yeah and I I do want to add or it's knowing the chiefess after the president of the Senate and going to get two local legislators on the conference committee two days ahead of when it's going to happen to make sure you have the votes to keep in that conference committee the two Provisions that you need to pass for your client um there there's things like that that with the with that experience and really knowing to play the 3D chess chess game that takes place that that we've benefited clients tremendously uh time and time again definitely that's a really
024great question because I know I have we do a lot of interviews that's a great question and I have to say Chris I think is really right well I'm extremely proud of the ability I was very emotional for me for all the times I've worked with those people for over 30 years to get that money to the developmental disabilities folks who Christians said I think is really right when we do on a daily basis and we're almost known to it is stopping something that's bad for you and it is a real success to turn to somebody and say we just need that to go away and you know what it goes away our client won we're not running around beating our chest about it we're just going back to the client saying that one's over
025let's try to make it through another day thank you how would you keep the superintendent and the board updated on relevant legislation sure thanks Mr chairman again I'll I won't be late with folks I think I went into it a little bit uh once again I wonder if I can leave you with anything communication is the most important thing that John barge and Associates brings to a client communication we will respond in any way that you want us to however our means for those that don't require something different is weekly email as we talked about already with a full report of what's going on uh notification as soon as committee hearings come out via email via text phone call if somebody wants that we will we will model it to how our client wants it
026but I am proud to tell you that we have not had a client come back and say wow I didn't know that was going on wait a minute this is look here we've never had that happen people know about it in fact the cat said okay we don't need to know so much about every hearing just these and I think the other thing to to mention is the process by which we take that I don't think you get the level of detail from anybody else that you might be visiting with tonight we look at every bill that's filed we send we send to whoever are the decision makers and whatever your process is you tell us to to say yes this bill could harm us we want you to keep an eye on this or
027this you know however that you know there's 3 500 bills filed every session between the house and the Senate so we share that with you so we are on top of that throughout the entire process you get the weekly and it's not some government service that just says where bills are through the process that's what you're going to get from a lot of people you're getting a personalized detailed report on what is actually happening in in the building and and the issues that we are watching for you or ones we think you should watch for that you would care about that you're getting details and specific information about those pieces of legislation or whatever conversations are happening they're going to impact that legislation you're watching because it's not always directly related because you as you
028know somebody is mad at somebody else that's going to affect their legislation when public education has nothing to do with the reason two legislators are mad at each other but their bills um harm because of that and that that's just that's how it works but we we're giving you all that information um whether it's sending sending a text or calling with a person whenever it's you know two in the morning in the Senate and they're working on an Omnibus education Bill making sure are you okay with this amendment that has just been distributed and having that person to communicate with I mean that that happens all the time you're not finding out the next morning you're not it's not it's too late at that point so we really we are in the building while they're
029there what they're working on making sure that if it's it's something you you care about or we know you care about or think you might care about that you're getting that information and helping us make sure we can go take care of what we need to take care of based on what you want to have happen Mr chairman to that point that Chris a really great example K-12 education an amendment was distributed at 11 o'clock at night for the House Representatives so would have devastated police Kansas City Public Schools perhaps don't break damage to yours as well but a number of others we won't point fingers but with five of us or six sometimes in our firm but there's five always when superintendent's attorney called back and said you killed that right now don't ask
030anybody there wasn't a Kansas City legislator that didn't hear from us but then from him within 30 seconds and within about 10 minutes everybody we needed to touch on the floor of the house knew they were to vote no on this that kind of that's the communication going both ways as you remember representative Mr chairman when you were there that somebody has to get somebody out and say no can't somebody stand up say oh no kcps is fine with this or were they well they were all at home off to dinner no other ways around we're there and we're talking to people so they know is there any questions okay thank you so much for presenting thank you for coming in the drive and uh yeah very nice and whatever you choose good luck to
031you and thanks for the great work you do for the scholars of your District thank you foreign some others oh you want these now but what if I want to want to give it to you no I just said what if I what if hypothetical Focus um foreign I'm sorry uh we'll get started um so go ahead and do your start your presentation well you got it well it's a pleasure to be here today some of you may recall who I am because back in the olden days I used to represent Hickman Mills through Senator Harry Wiggins I was his chief of staff from 1993 to 2003 and back in those days that was the 10th senatorial district and Hickman Mills was a part of that and back then the biggest thing that was going
032on was Bass Pro Shop and whether it should go into Bannister Mall I don't know if many of you remember that but that was the big thing going on back then and as it turned out it didn't go in advance from all but turned out to be a blessing because that thing never ever paid for itself or really developed like they thought it would it went into Independence and that's where it was but again I'm Fred Dryland I grew up in St Thomas More I went to Rockers high school University of Missouri as I said I was Senator Harry Wiggins chief of staff for 10 years in 2003 he was term limited and so I started lobbying I've worked for Jackson County I've worked for Burns and McDonald engineering I've worked for the Kansas City
033area Transportation Authority I've worked for Aflac as my national client I work for all the Municipal Utilities throughout the state and my little firm although we're small what we do is we deliver when you have a lobbyist it's like having a membership at a gym or at a country club if you don't make it work if you don't work with it if you don't do anything there it's a big waste of money and what I like to think that I do is bring value to the clients that I represent and I hope to have that opportunity to bring value to you I do not have any other School clients right now so what I work when I work with you whatever you decide for me to do that's the approach that I will take and
034that's the Avenues that I will seek rather than me tell you how great I am I will just tell you you know talk to Senator Barbara Washington or talk to Bonnie Mims who I know you many of you are familiar with here or talked to Greg razor or to any number of currently elected officials and and they can tell you what it's like to work with me and hopefully at the end of the day not only do I provide results I do in a way that's very ethical and moral and that's part of the service that I deliver I am amenable to working with WB or MBE on this contract because I think that your lobbyists should be reflective of the community that they represent so I've talked to some other people and should I
035be awarded a contract I'd be willing to you know share it with others so really that's a little bit about myself I have two kids I live in Brookside I'm a member of Saint Elizabeth parish again I'm a member of the Rockers high school alumni Association University of Missouri Alumni Association I'm local I know about you having worked for this community previously under Senator Wiggins and I look forward to an opportunity to possibly work with you again be happy to take any questions or answer anything about my firm or who I represent or what I have done and what I've passed here lately miss Berger yes how many oh sorry stop start over how long have you been in business and how many clients do you have I have 11 paying clients I'm a volunteer
036for a couple of organizations I've been in business as a lobbyist since 2003 I've been down in the legislature since 1993 when again when I was hired as chief of staff for Senator Wiggins uh Miss Kendrick well I think I have a positive relationship with everybody I think the only criticism that you might hear about me is that I work for a Democrat but I am employed by people who are Republicans I work for the Builders Association which is Je Dunn and some of the biggest builders in Kansas City I work for City Utilities Kyle McClure used to be a big wig with Senator kit Bond's office so um you know I think that I'm capable of doing whatever you ask of me at least getting you in front of the people that you need
037to see again I said if you talk to Santa Barbara Washington or Bill Boucher or Jaron McGee or several other people that have worked in the legislature they'll tell you that I'm an effective lobbyist Miss Coleman it is important that a lobbyists understand what motivates a legislator and their staff can you give an example of how your experience with legislators would benefit the district well as a someone who was a staff person a chief of staff I have been lobbied so I know it to be on the other end of that and I guess the the greatest thing that absurd to me is being nice to everybody on the way up because you're going to pass them on the way down when I started working for the legislature it was a majority of Democrats down
038in Jefferson City and then it changed while I was down there to Republicans but we're just as as effective under both circumstances I think that served me well Miss barmore well as a lobbyist um I I would say that I helped change the transportation development District tax that brought the streetcar to Kansas City I would say that I helped pave the way for funding for the Truman Sports Complex to continue for the state which was uh you know very imperative to keep those teams in Kansas City and Missouri back when that lease was up a few years ago and then I would say that the Municipal Utilities when the big gas prices fluctuated uh that was last February two februaries ago many of the municipally owned utilities had a hard time paying that gas bill
039we were able to get the state to give 50 million dollars and no interest loans for up to three years that helps smooth that out for those communities so those are the three in the last you know three years that I've worked on Fred um how would you keep the superintendent and board updated on relevant legislation well I send out a weekly report and I do that all year long Apple you know when we're in the interim legislative related but it's what's going on with the legislature and then in on top of that I'm local so as you know we're in Jefferson City Monday through Thursday um and then I come home so I'll be available to meet with him here or meet with our delegation or to meet with whomever he needed again being
040local I think is one of the key things that I bring to this discussion are there any other additional questions thank you okay thank you all very much foreign discussion so I'm going to go ahead and entertain this um so I guess I would open it up for any discussion I mean they're adding up the calculations as we normally have been going with the highest bidder but what uh any comments on this Miss Kendrick go ahead I know you want to have some relative thoughts anymore starts or either company if anyone had any thoughts so I would I would I would just say as someone who is a former legislator I think that when you're picking a lobbyist I think it's almost like picking a doctor right so I think it's like one of those
041situations where they're all going to give you about the same thing but it's about your ability to ask the right questions and to be involved in your situation so as much as we as a board will be involved in our legislation and what our priorities are and getting reports as involved as they will be with us as a district so that's my that's my take if we're not involved with them I think they'll send us the weekly reports and and that's about it so I think we just need to be very intentional about what our legislative priorities are in Jefferson City making sure that we're reading the reports they're sending us and I'm going to ensure that as um as long as I'm chair that they will be coming back to report to us monthly
042about what's going on in Jefferson City um so we're getting those not only the report but we're hearing from them each month about educational issues that are happening so that's that's my take I don't know anybody else so right here having having someone that is pretty much dedicated to you is important for me for our district and you know you see people come and present this huge title Presentation but then you don't get the the dedication that you need to represent your District or your agenda so I I'm just I thought they were both great but for me for our district I would like to have someone that can be dedicated to our district Mr chairman yes Miss Berger I liked um I'm just gonna say um Brad Jay is that how you say it
043or Jay RJ um but they have represented Kansas City kcps for a long time when they were unaccredited and when they are accredited so they know how to represent a district that is unaccredited like our district and can um you know hopefully say positive things about our district that will help ward off the charter schools coming into our community and support public education okay any other comments Townsend okay Miss Coleman I just want to say I think we should be mindful of the fact too that um we choose someone that's not going to have so many clients that um I'm not going to say we're put on the back shelf but I'm just saying oh okay okay now I understand no I think that's important no I think that's an important point that someone has
044a laundry list of clients that you're not a priority and that you know you don't get the customized service I mean I get that that's important um you go ahead driving okay so uh is there a recommendation from the board except the Jose Barnett I'll second it he's been probably moving second in to accept barjay and Associates for our lobbyists for the Middle School District Miss Hicks could you call the roll oh and that was yes MS barmore no Miss Berger yes Miss Coleman no Miss Kendrick yes Mr Townsend the motion is to accept barge yes Miss Graves absent this is my husband Mr McGee no so the motion would fail I'm not sure would fail so is there another motion it's a fail there's another motion I don't know I mean we would have
045to take up the other nominee what we've established in the class is whatever company that scored the highest that the company we went with but no that's the recommendation you can vote a recommendation damn that's what we just needed so does somebody else want to nominate I'd like to nominate is there a second Miss Hicks could you call the roll well that's their choice Miss Kendrick so let's fix what you call the role Miss Baltimore aye um this Coleman okay okay I'm Sorry Miss Baltimore hi Miss Coleman hi Ms Berger no Miss Kendrick no no Mr Townsend aye yeah Mr McGee hi motion passes um is there anything else on the agenda Maybe uh we will have we'll be meeting this Thursday and then we have our um our ribbon cutting and our groundbreaking for
046the demolition of the building at Simonson on Friday morning at nine o'clock I'm looking for a motion to adjourn is there a second all right mistakes could you call the roll to adjourn hi we are adjourned at 703