<p>Local governments that lack a lobbying oversight program do not have to merely throw up their hands when a huge procurement matter arises. They have the choice to set rules for that matter which, if it works, may later be applied more generally.<br />
<br />
Considering that it reflects a typical approach to lobbying, it is
valuable to look at the language of a resolution to improve
Austin's lobbying oversight program (attached; see below). It is
also valuable to consider the opposition to this resolution by a
coalition of local architects, engineers, and contractors, according
to <a href="http://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2015/10/groups-organize-opposition…
Rarely do agencies' own lobbyists get caught by their agency breaking
agency rules on communications. This is what just happened in Houston.
According to <a href="http://abc13.com/news/metro-lobbyist-docked-$10k-after-breaking-agency-…
article last night on Houston's Channel 13 website</a>, an
individual who, under a contract, lobbies state and federal
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/business/retirement/behind-private-eq…; target="”_blank”">Gretchen Morgenson's investigative piece in yesterday's New York <i>Times</i></a>
is extremely disturbing. According to her research, local and state government
pension funds have taken huge risks, and then allowed them to be
hidden from the public, by signing agreements with private equity
This week, California governor Jerry Brown had to go back fifty
years to find someone who agreed with his view of government ethics
reform. According to <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_26635094/california-becomes-fi…; target="”_blank”">an
The Washington state Legislative Ethics Board has been discussing
how many meals a state legislator should be able to accept from
lobbyists and lobbyist-employers under the "infrequent" meals
exception in the state ethics code. The exception allows legislators
to accept food and beverage when their attendance is "related to the
performance of official duties" on "infrequent occasions." The board
has apparently never defined "infrequent."<br>
<br>
I am a big believer in officials taking voluntary action to improve an ethics
environment when passing laws is not possible. For example, if the
state and the council both choose not to prohibit campaign
contributions from restricted sources, that is no reason why a
mayoral candidate should not make it known that he will reject such contributions and do his best
to get all candidates to reject them. In many instances, this can be
the end of such campaign contributions in that particular city or
Here's a good way to get around local government transparency laws.
If you want an appointee's activities to remain secret, let him be hired
by a private entity, give money to the private entity sufficient to
pay his salary, and don't communicate with him via government-owned
computers or smartphones.<br>
<br>
You might think that this would only occur with relatively obscure
individuals and entities, aides who can do dirty work that an agency
wants to keep hush-hush, hired by a social service agency that is
Over the last few decades, governments have privatized many of their
functions. One function that governments have begun privatizing in
recent years is lobbying higher-level governments. Since every government is at a higher level than a local
government (think not
just regional, state, and federal, but numerous agencies at each of
these levels), local government has the most lobbying to do.<br>
<br>
Most local government lobbyists are in-house (or officials do the
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/timing-and-content-withdrawal-partici…; target="”_blank”">The first blog post on the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) matter</a> looked at it
from the point of view of the timing of withdrawal from
participation. This post will look at it from the point of view of
post-employment issues. A third post will look at this matter in