The Birmingham Water Works Board says it wants to better communicate its mission to lawmakers and to their customers, and just voted to spend $360,000 to hire lobbyists to do it.

The board without discussion, debate or dissent today approved two contracts with Fine Geddie & Associates and The Jones Group at $15,000 per month. The contracts are effective immediately.

The vote came just two weeks before the Alabama legislature goes into session on Feb. 6. Both lobbying firms have previously worked with the water works. The utility sends a team of lobbyists to the State House each session.

“Having lobbying is something that we’ve always had,” Water Works PR Manager Rick Jackson said after the vote. “It’s a way for us to reach out to our stakeholders.”

The board’s vote to hire the team of lobbyists comes weeks after a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers from the Birmingham metro area requested a state audit of the water works. Lawmakers in their letters lamented years of complaints about high water bills, rate increases and internal strife among employees.

The water works serves about 770,000 customers in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Walker counties.

While the Alabama State Legislature meets for a few months, the lobbyists are hired for a full year.

“There are a lot of things that we always have to be on the lookout for that have not come up in the session, but there are a lot of regulations that impact our customers,” he said. “We have to work year-round. We have to always be in turn and find ways to connect with our stakeholders and our customers.”

Both firms have deep Montgomery connections.

The Jones Group will provide government affairs and strategic communication, according to the contract. Fine Geddie & Associates, according to its contract, will monitor legislative and administrative activities relating to the water works. The firm will also “maintain positive relationships with officials and staff members of state agencies.”

Board member Lucein Blankenship abstained on the Fine Geddie contract, while the Jones Group was approved unanimously.

At their meeting today, board members also approved a $5,000 invoice payment to Pat Lynch – for final work conducted on a lobbyist contact from 2023. The invoice was for services in December.

During an executive committee meeting last week, Michael Johnson, the general manager of the water works, said the utility would draft its own legislative agenda with proposed bills.

Jackson today offered general goals when asked about a specific legislative agenda following the meeting,

“Our priority is just making sure that we’re intune with everything we need to know about our customers,” he said. “We’re always willing to have conversations. Our biggest goal is to be transparent – to be transparent with those who are our leaders and especially those that we serve.”