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Mark Lawrence informed the Committee that the City is hiring two new senior administrative assistants and one of them will be assigned to working on grants. Once hired, Mark Lawrence will schedule a conference call between staff dealing with legislation and the lobbyists. He added that it's important that lobbyists are proactive and inform the City of what grants would be appropriate for Santa Ana. Sonia Carvalho commented that the legislative process needs to identify what level of authority the City Manager and staff will have so that staff and lobbyists can act quickly when necessary. Councilwoman Martinez added that Councilmembers serve on different regional boards and often travel to Washington, DC and Sacramento to represent those boards. Mark Lawrence will inform lobbyists of these trips so that the Councilmembers can be utilized in advocacy efforts for Santa Ana projects. 4. State Legislative Platform /Funding Priorities The Legislative Committee members thanked Townsend Public Affairs (TPA) for their past assistance. Vince Sarmiento mentioned that the City is currently creating a 5 -year strategic plan, which will identify main areas that the City will focus on in the next five years. Mr. Sarmiento added that once a legislative platform is adopted, it will be very helpful to get regular updates from lobbyists that identify how they relate to Santa Ana's specific needs. Chris Townsend mentioned that Townsend Public Affairs has represented the City of Santa Ana for 14 years, and the last time he had meeting with the City Manager about a legislative platform was 14 years ago. He added that he's excited about continuing to work with Santa Ana. It will help to define protocol on how to have access to Councilmembers. TPA can also work with staff on grant applications. Tony Cardenas from the League of California Cities, Orange County Division, said that Santa Ana's timing in adopting a platform is very good. The League of Cities works with cities to adopt their platforms and there are sample platforms on their website. He suggested that the City focus on local control in the land use area and protection of revenues. Casey Elliott with Townsend Public Affairs mentioned that once they are aware of the City's priorities, they will have the ability to compare and react quickly to any possible funding; having direction from the Legislative Committee will give them the ability to move quickly. Chris Townsend said he was glad to see this opportunity to leverage state - federal nexus and he's excited to see the coordination with both state and federal lobbyists. He mentioned that they can work in conjunction with other community organizations that are active in Sacramento such as Bowers, Discovery Science Center, and others. Legislative City Council Committee Minutes January 16, 2014, Page 3 13BB -3