The agreement is active through April 2023, at which point it will be reevaluated.

“I am excited, this is going to be the second year we have a resort city lobbyist. I think we gained momentum in the first year, and we learned some lessons,” Councilmember Courtney Hamilton said. “We’ve built a lot of great connections with these other communities, and hopefully we start to do more at the state level, or, at least, protect what we have now.”

McClure Policy, LLC, will lobby on behalf of the resort cities in the Idaho Legislature.

That’s a change from last year, when Ketchum employed Boise-based lobbying firm Sullivan & Reberger for $25,000. The switch wasn’t due to dissatisfaction with last year’s firm, according to City Public Affairs Coordinator Lisa Enourato.

“Sullivan did a great job for the group’s inaugural year together. Due to time constraints, the city of Ketchum exclusively selected the Sullivan firm, but as the coalition formalized this last year, they felt it was important to go through an interview process of proposals,” she said. “McClure was selected through that process, which consisted of the mayors of McCall, Sandpoint and Driggs, Jade Riley and Wendy Jaquet.”

Bellevue, Riggins, Stanley and Kellogg will contribute $250 each, while McCall will give $2,500. Last year, Sun Valley contributed $1,000, although they have not yet said whether they will buy in this year.

Hamilton spearheaded this effort, first raising the idea during budget discussions two summers ago. Last year, she expressed concern that the Legislature has often not supported Ketchum’s interests and that small resort cities have been hurt by the actions of state leaders, who she said sometimes throttled the authority of local governments.

Ketchum leaders are particularly interested in issues surrounding the collection of local-option taxes, a special kind of collection that resort cities in Idaho are permitted to take in order to offset the cost of maintenance associated with increased tourism.

“I am really proud of the way the Idaho Resort Cities Coalition has come together,” Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw said. “There is no doubt that it has strengthened our collective voice with the state Legislature.”