Orange could start requiring lobbyists to register with the city

The Orange City Council is exploring whether to start requiring lobbyists to register and report their actions to the city.

The effort is largely to prevent impropriety and promote transparency, officials said, but was also inspired by the recent Anaheim corruption saga.

Councilmember Kathy Tavoularis said all city representatives need to be aware of what lobbyists are working on with projects before the city, and no one should feel nervous about shining a light onto lobbying.

“There’s no shame in being paid for a project, but we need to know who’s working for who, so we’re not confused and there’s no funny business,” Tavoularis said.

The City Council is creating an ad hoc committee to explore the proposed law and update the city’s campaign laws. The ordinance, as it’s currently written, would require lobbyists to register with the city clerk within 10 days of qualifying and pay a fee.

Councilmembers Jon Dumitru, Ana Gutierrez and Tavoularis will be on the committee, which will have 90 days to return with recommendations.

Councilmember Denis Bilodeau had the most skepticism about the need for Orange to implement a lobbying ordinance. He called it a solution looking for a problem and said Orange doesn’t have the kind of lobbying activity that neighboring cities have.

“I really don’t see an issue that this would solve or resolve, making people pay money to be on a list,” he said.

The proposal would require lobbyists who have received $5,000 or more for lobbying during a calendar year to file quarterly reports with a list of issues discussed and the city representatives contacted. At least eight days prior to related public hearings or when any decision is made, lobbyists would need to report to the city clerk any person within the city they contacted.

Each violation of the ordinance would be a misdemeanor at the discretion of the city attorney and any person convicted would be barred from lobbying in Orange for one year.

Several cities in Orange County already have lobbying laws, including Anaheim, Newport Beach, Santa Ana and Irvine. City staff said Orange’s proposed lobbying law is modeled after those cities. Anaheim and Irvine are considering changes to their existing rules.

There’s no estimate of how much the fee would be to register. Anaheim requires lobbyists to pay a $100 registration fee. The city clerk said she’s unsure how much time this would take up for her office, but they would have to create web pages and maintain forms.

Councilmember Adrianna Barrios suggested the city ask when people are registering for business licenses if they are a lobbyist, to save the city from having to create a whole new system.

Several councilmembers spoke generally in support of the proposal. Mayor Dan Salter said it’s good for Orange to show transparency and be a leader on the issue.

Tavoularis said she once had three lobbyists call her for one project and didn’t know who was being paid for by whom.

“It gets very confusing,” she said. “That’s the common denominator here.”

Source: Orange County Register