Mobile Lobbying Contract With The Bloom Group Draws Council Questions Ahead of Vote

MOBILE, Ala. — A proposed Mobile lobbying contract with The Bloom Group, the Montgomery firm that recently hired the city’s former in-house government affairs director, drew questions from several City Council members on Tuesday, though the mayor and council leaders defended the deal as a way to expand the city’s reach in the Alabama Legislature.

The 12-month agreement, which would cost no more than $156,000, received its first reading at the council’s Oct. 20 meeting. A vote is expected at the council’s next meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

If approved, the contract would move Mobile away from relying on a city employee for professional lobbying and toward an outside firm with a team of lobbyists. Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis said the money to pay for it would come from the salary the city no longer pays its former government affairs director, Stephen McNair.

What the contract would cost

Under the proposed professional services agreement, the city would pay The Bloom Group $12,000 a month for 12 months, along with up to $1,000 a month for travel expenses. Together, those payments add up to the contract’s $156,000 ceiling.

• Monthly fee: $12,000
• Travel reimbursement: Up to $1,000 a month
• Term: 12 months
• Maximum cost: $156,000
• Scope: Lobbying services before the Alabama Legislature
• Primary contact: Hal Bloom, according to the mayor

McNair’s annual salary with the city was not immediately available. Cheriogotis told council members that McNair’s previously budgeted salary “will more than cover this contract.”

The Bloom Group has lobbied in Montgomery since 1987 and was founded by longtime lobbyist Hal Bloom Jr. City spokesman Dale Liesch said the firm would work alongside Beth Marietta Lyons, a longtime lobbyist who also represents Mobile in Montgomery.

McNair’s move to the firm

McNair served as the city’s director of external and governmental affairs for about three years, working under former Mayor Sandy Stimpson and then under Cheriogotis. In that role, he handled government relations for Mobile in both Montgomery and Washington, D.C.

According to Liesch, McNair left his city job on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The Bloom Group announced on Tuesday, Oct. 13, that McNair was joining its lobbying team as an associate.

Liesch said in an email that McNair would not be representing the city in his new role.

“The city plans to hire the Bloom Group to work alongside long-time lobbyist Beth Marietta Lyons on behalf of Mobile in Montgomery,” Liesch wrote. “While Stephen has a wealth of municipal knowledge that we know will serve the Bloom Group and their various clients well, he will not be lobbying on the city’s behalf.”

During Tuesday’s discussion, Cheriogotis repeatedly emphasized that the city’s agreement would be with the firm, not with its former employee.

“We are contracting directly with Hal Bloom. He is our primary contact there,” Cheriogotis said. “Mr. McNair, through the Bloom Group, will continue to work with them (state lawmakers), but we’ll get the services of that entire group now with this contract.”

At another point, the mayor said having a team around McNair, “with Mr. Hal Bloom specifically,” would “only amplify his effectiveness and our effectiveness at the legislative level.”

Council members raise questions

The contract drew pointed questions during the council’s pre-meeting work session from District 1 Councilman Cory Penn and District 2 Councilwoman Samantha Ingram.

Penn asked why the city would pay an outside firm when it had previously had McNair doing the same job in-house. He also asked how the city would pay for the agreement after adopting a new budget that included McNair’s salary, and he raised concerns about the timing of McNair’s departure and the contract.

“I know y’all look into it, but these are just concerns,” Penn said. “Is there a guideline for a person to leave working with the city and then becoming a consultant?”

Cheriogotis responded that state law sets a two-year “cooling off period” before a city can contract with a former employee, and he said the Bloom Group agreement does not conflict with that rule.

“We’re not contracting with Mr. McNair. We’re contracting with the Bloom Group,” Cheriogotis said. “They have a robust bevy of services they are willing to offer to us.”

Alabama’s ethics law includes so-called revolving-door provisions that limit what former public officials and employees may do for a period after leaving government, including restrictions on lobbying or representing clients before the agency where they worked. Those rules are enforced by the Alabama Ethics Commission, which also maintains the state’s registry of lobbyists.

Ingram asked why the city would not simply hire an in-house replacement for McNair. Cheriogotis said he was not sure anyone could be hired who matched McNair’s skill set, and that the firm would give Mobile more people working on its behalf.

“I am not sure there is another internal person out there now we can hire that is a 1-to-1 transfer,” Cheriogotis said. “Mr. McNair served the city admirably in-house, I’m sure he’ll do the same with The Bloom Group. With the Bloom Group, we will get a number of people experienced with the legislature. You really have to have a team.”

Supporters point to ‘bench strength’

The mayor argued that a single lobbyist cannot keep up with the pace of the Legislature.

“I think this will truly add to the services we are already receiving,” Cheriogotis said. “In the Legislature, being present is half the battle. When you have competing hearings happening all of the time (in Montgomery), one person, frankly cannot handle everything. The Bloom Group provides a team.”

District 7 Councilwoman Gina Gregory, the council’s vice president, endorsed the agreement, calling The Bloom Group “highly respected” in Montgomery and saying the arrangement would give the city “bench strength.”

“It’s impossible to cover everything you need to be covering when you’re in Montgomery. Having that bench strength will give us more help,” Gregory said. “I think it’s a good move for Stephen and for this city.”

Council President C.J. Small also voiced support. He said contracting with a firm would save money because the city would not be responsible for health insurance, retirement and other benefits it provides to employees. He also said a team of lobbyists would help Mobile, the largest city on Alabama’s coast, compete for state resources.

“In South Alabama, we’ve been left out of a lot of things,” Small said. “I’m sure Birmingham and Huntsville have the big boys on their teams. I’m 100 percent with (the city administration) in going with this firm.”

Huntsville contracts for federal lobbying services, with most of that work going to 535 Group LLC. It is unclear how Birmingham handles lobbying beyond its City Council’s Administration and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Online sales tax fight looms

Cheriogotis said the timing matters because of an ongoing dispute over the Simplified Sellers Use Tax, or SSUT, one of the most significant financial issues facing Alabama’s larger cities.

The SSUT, established by state lawmakers in 2016, applies a flat 8% rate to online purchases made from eligible out-of-state sellers. Rather than calculating and collecting the separate state, county and city sales taxes that apply at each delivery address, participating sellers remit a single flat rate, and the state distributes the money. Half of the revenue goes to the state, and the other half is divided among cities and counties, with population figures used to determine how the local share is split.

The tax has become a fast-growing revenue source for state and local governments as online shopping has expanded. In the two years since 2024, it has generated more than $850 million, an increase of more than 34%.

How that money is divided has become the subject of a complex dispute between Alabama’s largest cities and the state’s 67 counties. Compromise legislation that surfaced last spring would have allowed population figures used to split the revenue to be updated more often, but the measure did not advance in the Legislature.

“I do think there is an appetite to form a committee and find the solution going forward,” Cheriogotis said. He noted that the Big 10 Mayors association, which represents the mayors of Alabama’s 10 largest cities, is using the firm Windom, Galliher & Associates to advocate on SSUT distribution.

Who The Bloom Group represents

The Bloom Group has represented cities before, although the only municipality listed as a client on the Alabama Ethics Commission’s most recent registered lobbyist list is the City of Wetumpka.

The firm’s client list includes Fortune 500 companies, major associations and health care organizations. Among them are 3M, Koch Government Affairs and QuantHub LLC. Its Alabama-based clients include:

• American Council of Engineering Companies of Alabama
• School Superintendents of Alabama
• Aviation Council of Alabama Inc.
• Alabama Farmers Federation/Alfa
• Alabama League of Municipalities
• Alabama Association of Conservation Districts
• Manufacture Alabama
• Jefferson County Department of Health

It is common for lobbying firms in Montgomery to represent many clients at once, and state law requires lobbyists to register and disclose their principals with the Ethics Commission each year.

The council is expected to take up the contract for a vote at its Oct. 27 meeting. Mobile City Council meetings are open to the public and are held at Government Plaza in downtown Mobile, where residents may also sign up to address the council during the public comment portion of the meeting.