Ames city leaders were in the nation’s capital earlier this week lobbying for federal funding and hobnobbing with representatives from other cities.

Five of the six city council members, Mayor Ted Tedesco and City Manager Steve Schainker returned to Ames Wednesday morning from the Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C.

The principle purpose of the trip was to lobby Iowa legislators for funding of upcoming municipal projects, though there were also numerous seminars, Tedesco said.

“The highlight of the trip was meeting with congressional staff,” Tedesco said.

The group met with Democrats Sen. Tom Harkin and Rep. Leonard Boswell and Republicans Sen. Chuck Grassley and Reps. James Leach and Tom Latham, said Councilman Daryle Vegge.

The delegation discussed three projects with legislators: the extension of Grand Avenue from Lincoln Way south to Fourth Street, the upgrading of CyRide facilities and technology and the National Special Olympics taking place in Ames in 2006, Tedesco said.

Of those three projects, only two will likely receive federal funding, Vegge said, and it is too early to tell which two will receive funding.

“Two of the three will receive consideration and one will not get any,” he said.

The past week was just the first round of what could be a long process of lobbying, Tedesco said.

“Any time you take a project to Washington, you generally don’t get anything on the first go-’round,” Tedesco said. “Lobbying is a process of days and weeks and months and years.”

Members of the delegation listened to several speakers over the weekend, including Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and journalist Mark Shields.

“[Former Clinton White House Press Secretary] Mike McCurry and [former Congressman] J.C. Watts gave their slants on what’s going on with Congress this year,” Vegge said.

At one workshop, a few Ames delegates met with representatives from other university communities across the country, Vegge said. Among the topics discussed were affordable housing and the unique budget and tax situations arising in college towns.

The conference also allowed the delegation to compare Ames’ budget and civil service offerings to those of other communities in the country, with positive results, said Councilman Matthew Goodman.

“Our city staff is doing a good job,” he said. “We’ve been fiscally smart and that continues to help us in the long run.”

Other cities have suffered much more from federal and state budget cuts than Ames, he said.