A divided Deschutes County Commission on Wednesday voted to spend $20,000 to hire a law firm for four months of federal lobbying work.

The objective of the effort is twofold: to motivate Congress to design a program to reduce wildfire risk; and to urge lawmakers to approve $750,000 to build a senior center in La Pine.

”What this does for us is it allows us to take a test drive, if you will,” said Commissioner Tom DeWolf, a longtime supporter of hiring a federal lobbyist.

DeWolf and Commissioner Mike Daly voted in favor of the contract with Ball Janik LLP, a Portland-based firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and Bend.

Commissioner Dennis Luke voted against hiring the company after he read aloud a two-page written statement protesting the Ball Janik contract, scheduled to run Aug. 1 through Nov. 30.

”It is going to be extremely difficult to determine if they were successful or if we would have gotten the funds anyway through the work of our (congressional) delegation,” Luke said. ”Instead of interviewing various firms that have expressed an interest in an open process, we are giving a contract to this firm without any price comparisons or competitive bidding.”

The county contract calls for a ”full range of lobbying services.” Included are advice, reports on legislative action, help communicating with Deschutes County’s congressional delegation, drafting testimony and working with other government agencies, according to the county’s draft of the Ball Janik contract.

The firm plans to begin work on securing a federal commitment for a ”fire risk reduction project” covering areas of the Deschutes National Forest from Sunriver to Sisters, according to the draft contract. The project, which would have a goal of reducing the risk of wildfire in populated areas of the county, likely wouldn’t be implemented until the summer of 2005, the contract says.

In addition, Ball Janik will work to convince members of a U.S. House-U.S. Senate conference committee to include money for a new senior center in La Pine, the draft contract states.

Committee appropriations bills from both houses of Congress have already been passed without the funding, so Ball Janik plans to use its contacts with lawmakers to get the funding added before the end of the 2003 fiscal year, according to the draft contract.

The timing of the appropriations process was a key factor in hiring Ball Janik now as opposed to soliciting competitive bids, DeWolf said.

The contract is a ”personal services contract” and thus doesn’t legally bind the county to use a competitive process, he added.”

”If we go out to a (competitive bid) we’ll miss the appropriations process, period,” DeWolf said.”

Commissioner Daly, who identified himself as the swing vote in Wednesday’s decision, said he decided to vote for the Ball Janik contract because the firm would be working on specific projects.

”We’re looking for senior center money, we’re looking for fuel reduction money – that’s great,” Daly said.

Michelle Giguere, a government relations consultant with Ball Janik who will guide the Deschutes County lobbying effort for the firm, said she was confident her firm could produce results.

”We’re going to spend a lot of energy and a lot of creativity in a four-month period,” Giguere said. ”I think it does make a lot of sense, I think it was a very creative approach for them to take.”

Chris Barker can be reached at 541-617-7829 or at cbarker@bendbulletin.com.