Delegation seeks money for Yakima projects

Yakima Mayor Micah Cawley is leading a congressional lobbying effort in Washington, D.C., this week with a goal of obtaining tax breaks and funding.

No. 1 on the list of the City Council's priorities is getting Congress to extend tax-incentive legislation known as Renewal Communities that's been credited with helping revitalize downtown Yakima.

During a break in the action Monday, Cawley spoke by phone saying that Congress seems preoccupied with one subject and one subject only.

"Everybody on the Hill's talking about health care," he said. "Mostly we're just trying to put a face on the community and build relationships."

Cawley flew in Saturday along with a team from Yakima that includes Michael Morales, the city's deputy economic director, and Yakima County Commissioner Rand Elliott.

Also in attendance are Brad Hill of Yakima Resources, the development company that's preparing to redevelop the former Boise Cascade mill site, and Liz McGree of JEM Development.

In addition to the Renewal Communities extension, the lobbying team is also seeking additional tax breaks for the Boise Cascade redevelopment project and $2 million gap funding for the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard underpass project.

The group is also seeking an additional $750,000 in grant funding to develop a network that would allow firefighters, police and others to communicate under a single system during an emergency. And they sought $350,000 for the William O. Douglas Trail, a 75-mile route that will link the city of Yakima with portions of Lewis and Pierce counties and Mount Rainier National Park.

After already meeting with House Ways and Means Committee staffers, the lobbying team hopes to meet with Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, Cawley said.

"Seriously, we've spent most of our day in buildings just going from meeting to meeting to meeting," Cawley said.

Coincidentally, Yakima police Chief Sam Granato was also in the nation's capital Monday along with hundreds of other law enforcement officials from across the country to lobby Congress on a crime prevention program called "Fight Crime: Invest in Kids."

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 577-7748 or at cbristol@yakimaherald.com.