SR 08-09-2016 8A
Ci ty Council
Report
City Council Meeting : August 9, 2016
Agenda Item: 8.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Denise Anderson -Warren, City Clerk , Records and Election Services
Department
Subject: Lobbyist Registration Program Regulations and Establishment of Registration
Fees
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Cou ncil:
1. Authorize implementation of the lobbyist regulations as promulgated by the City
Clerk in accordance with Chapter 4.85 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code; and
2. Adopt the attached resolution establishing the fees for lobbyist registration,
amendme nts and renewal.
Executive Summary
The Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance requiring lobbyists to register with
the City. On March 22, 2016, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2511 (CCS)
regulating lobbying. Regulation of lobbying activit ies will help ensure government
transparency and foster public confidence in government. The City Clerk has
developed regulations for implementation of the Lobbyist Registration program.
Additionally, a resolution establishing the Lobbyist’s annual regist ration fee pursuant, to
cover costs of administering the program, is presented for Council consideration. The
costs associated with implementing the program will be covered by the fees for
registration.
Background
At its meeting of December 16, 2014, at the request of then Mayor Pro Tem Vasquez
and Councilmember Himmelrich, the Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance
requiring lobbyists to register with the City in an effort to promote trans p are ncy. After
hearings on July 14, 2015, and October 27, 2015, on March 22, 2016 , the Council
adopted Ordinance No. 2511 (CCS). The ordinance regulates lobbying activity in the
City of Santa Monica and will become effective on September 19, 2016.
The ordinance establishes a lobbyist annual registration fee, to be set by City Council
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resolution and periodically adjusted, in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of
administering lobbying registration. Additionally, the City Clerk is authorized to
promulgate rules and regulations to implement the program .
D iscussion
As defined in Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.85.010, a lobbyist is an individual
who receives economic consideration as the employee, representative or contractor of a
person or entity other than the City of Santa Monica for communicating with any official
or employee of the City for the purpose of influencing a legislative or administrative
action. For purposes of the lobbying registration program, a lobbyist does not include
City contractors and those seeking City contracts through bids and proposals. The
C ode requires a lobbyist to annually register with the City Clerk, no later than ten days
after qualifying.
Registration Requirements
Lobbyist registration includes providing the following information to the City :
n ame
business and m ailing address
email address
phone number
names of owners of the business
description of the business
name, address and phone number of each client
nature of client’s business
description of governmental decision sought by the lobbyist on the client’s beh alf
name of persons employed or retained by the lobbyist to engage in lobbying
activities
date, amount, description of any payment made to, or on behalf of any City
official or member of an official’s family
W ithin ten days of change s in the above informat ion, the lobbyist must file an
amendment to the registration.
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The City Attorney and City Clerk are responsible for enforcing the lobbyist registration.
Violation s result in a misdemeanor , potential civil action and administrative enforcement
as outline d in Section 4.85.050 of the Municipal Code.
The City Clerk has developed regulations for implementation of the Lobbyist
Registration Program with a focus on continuity, consistency, maintenance and
transparency. The registration form, instructions and d esign of the lobbyist page on the
website have also been created.
Initial Lobbyist Registration Period
All individuals who qualify as Lobbyists under Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter
4.85 prior to October 31, 2016, shall register during the Initial Lo bbyist Registration
Period from September 19 through October 31, 2016. After this time, all Lobbyists are
required to register within ten (10) business days after qualifying as a Lobbyist.
Registration Fee
Pursuant to Section 4.85.030 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code, the Lobbyist’s
annual registration fee is to be established by City Council resolution to cover the costs
of administering the program. The fee being recommended is based on an amount that
does not exceed actual costs of processing the re gistration form, review ing the
application, data entry, uploading documents to website , written confirmation/notification
to lobbyist and providing program information . The proposed fees are $40 for initial
registration and $25 for amendments and annual re newal. These fees will be included
in the Citywide Cost of Service s Study and updated for Fiscal Year 2017 -18.
Public Outreach
N ext steps will include creating a campaign to notify potential lobbyists of the
regulations , fees, and filing deadlines. Curr ently, the City Clerk’s Office has a list of
those who have expressed an interest in becoming a lobbyist, and will work with other
Departments to create a complete list for notification.
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Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Lobbyist registration fees coll ected will be deposited to revenue account 01211.410370
(Lobbyist Registration Fees ). Based on revenues received during the initial phase of the
program, staff will make necessary revenue budget changes as part of the FY 2016/17
Midyear Update. The fees wi ll also be reviewed during the FY 2016 -17 Citywide Cost of
Services Study and revised as necessary as part of the Master Fee Update that will be
presented with the FY 2017 -19 Biennial Budget.
Prepared By: Denise Anderson -Warren, City Clerk
Approved
For warded to Council
Attachments:
A. Lobbyist Regulations
B. Lobbyist Registration Form
C. Lobbyist Resolution
D. December 16, 2014 Agenda (web link)
E. July 14, 2015 Staff Report (web link)
F. October 2 7, 2015 Staff Report (web link)
G. March 22, 2016 Staff Report (web link)
H. Written comments
City of Santa Monica – Office of the City Clerk
City of Santa Monica – Office of the City Clerk
Lobbyist Regulations
Effective September 2016
LOBBYIST REGISTRATION REGULATIONS
All L obbyi s t s in the City of Santa Monica shall be registered through the City Clerk’s Office. Initial
Lobbyist registration will take place between September 19 and October 30 , 2016 .
Definition: A lobbyist is any individual who receiv es economic consideration as the employee,
representative or contractor of a p erson or entity other than the C ity of Santa Monica for communicating
with any official or employee of the City for the purpose of influencing a legislative or administrative
action. (SMMC 4.85.010.)
Section 1. The Initial Lobbyist registration period will begin on September 19 and end on O ctober 31 ,
2016 (“Initial Lobbyist Registration Period”). All individuals who qualify as Lobbyists under Santa Monica
Municipal Code Chapter 4.85 prior to October 31 , 2016 shall register during the Initial Lobbyist
Registration Period.
Section 2 . A fter the expiration of the Initial Lobbyist Registration Period, all Lobbyists are required to
register no later than ten (10 ) business days after qual ifying as a L obbyist under Santa Monica Municipal
Code Chapter 4.85 . (SMMC 4.85.020.)
Section 3. Calcu lation of the ten (10) business days shall begin upon the earliest occurrence of one of the
following actions:
entering into an agreement for lobbying se rvices ;
lobbyist activity with an o fficial or employee;
receiving a payment and/or retainer for services to be rendered for the purposes of
influencing a legislative or administrative action .
Section 4. Lobbyist registration will be renewable on an annual basis beginning June 1 , but no later than
June 30 of each year.
Section 5 . L obbyist registration s that are not renewed by June 30 th shall be terminat ed, effective July
1 st .
Section 6 . An amendment shall be completed and filed with the City Clerk’s Office for any changes in the
required information which may occur. The amendment must be filed within ten (10) business days of
such change. (SMMC 4.85.020.)
Section 7. Completed forms shall be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office along with the applicable fees.
(SMMC 4.85.030.)
a. Initial registration $40
b. Annual registration $25
c. Amendments $25
These regulations are effective the 19 th day of September, 2016 .
____________________________________________________
Denise Anderson -Warren
City Clerk
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Anne Samartha
From:Denise Anderson-Warren
Sent:Monday, August 08, 2016 10:10 PM
To:Anne Samartha
Subject:Fwd: Lobbying Ordinance and Regulations, Item No. 8.A
Attachments:CC.35003.PJL (Lobbying Regulations) 2016.08.08.pdf
Follow Up Flag:Follow up
Flag Status:Flagged
Please add to 8-A for tomorrow night's meeting.
Denise
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Paula Larmore " <plarmore@hlkklaw.com >
Date: Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 8:50 PM -0700
Subject: Lobbying Ordinance and Regulations, Item No. 8.A
To: "Pam OConnor" <Pam.OConnor@SMGOV.NET >, "Terry O’Day" <Terry.Oday@smgov.net >, "Gleam
Davis" <Gleam.Davis@SMGOV.NET >, "Kevin McKeown Fwd" <kevin@mckeown.net >, "Tony Vazquez"
<Tony.Vazquez@SMGOV.NET >, "Ted Winterer" <Ted.Winterer@SMGOV.NET >, "Sue Himmelrich"
<Sue.Himmelrich@SMGOV.NET >
Cc: "Denise Anderson-Warren" <Denise.Anderson-Warren@SMGOV.NET >, "Rick Cole"
<Rick.Cole@SMGOV.NET >, "Elaine Polachek" <Elaine.Polachek@SMGOV.NET >, "David Martin"
<David.Martin@SMGOV.NET >, "Marsha Moutrie" <Marsha.Moutrie@SMGOV.NET >
Dear Councilmembers,
Please see the enclosed letter requesting important clarifications to ensure good faith compliance with Santa Monica’s
Lobbying Ordinance.
Sincerely,
Paula J. Larmore | Attorney at Law
1250 Sixth Street, Suite 200 | Santa Monica, CA 90401
O: (310) 656 ‐4311 | F: (310) 392 ‐3537 | plarmore@hlkklaw.com
NOTICE OF DISTRIBUTION : This e ‐mail message contains information that may be confidential and privileged. Unless
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Add to 8-A
08/09/2016
(310) 656-4311
Aug ust 8, 2016
VIA E-MAIL
Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street, Room 102
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Re: Lobbying Ordinance and Regulations
Hearing Date: August 9, 2016
Agenda Item No. 8.A
Dear Councilmembers :
I am writing on behalf of our law firm to request im portant clarifications to ensure
good faith compliance with Santa Monica’s Lobbying Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) and
the implementing regulations recently released by the City Clerk’s office (the
“Regulations”).
The goal of this letter is to ensure that our firm and clients, including various non -
profit organization s, are more clear on the obligations encompassed by the Ordinance
and Regulations . To ensure compliance , it is critical that the Ordinance and
Regulations are clear about wha t is necessary to comply with their requirements. As
the Ordinance acknowledges, “lobbying is a constitutional right guaranteed by the First
Amendment.” Therefore, it is critical that the Ordinance and Regulations include clear
and straight -forward rules for compliance and at the same time not be unnecessarily
burdensome or overly costly in order not to chill or burden constitutionally protected free
speech on matters of public interest and discourse .
1. List of Specific City Employees/Job Titles Who Are In tended to Be
Encompassed by the Term “Official .”
The Lobbyist Ordinance states that lobbyists must disclose “the names of the
Officials the Lobbyist has contacted on each client’s behalf” and defines the term
“Official” to include City employees “who make direct recommendations to (a) City
Council members, (b) members appointed by the City Council to serve on a board or
commission, and (c) City employees appointed to serve as director of a City
department.” (Ordinance Section 4.85.010 ; emphasis added .) Th is description is
vague and unintelligible. We urge that a published list specifying those City
plarmore@hlkklaw.com
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employees/job titles that constitute Officials, thereby clarifying which particular City
employees are considered to be making “direct recommendations ” to thos e persons
covered in categories (a)-(c) above. It is unreasonable to expect members of the public
to have sufficient knowledge as to whether a particular City employee will be making
“direct recommendations” to the persons identified in (a)-(c) above.
For example:
Is an Associate Planner assigned to process a land use matter (e.g., alcohol
permit, development review permit, etc.) deemed to be mak ing “direct
recommendations” to members of the Planning Commission and/or the
Planning Director by virtue of preparing their written Staff Report and
reciting the oral Staff Report? Or, would that be only the Planning Manager
that is considered to be making a “direct recommendation ” to the Planning
Director and then presumably the Planning Director who makes th e
recommendation to the Planning Commission?
What about planners that answer questions at the Planning Counter?
What about Senior Planner s? Principal Planner s ?
What about attorneys in the City Attorney’s Office? Are they all included?
What about City Staff in the Public Works D epartment ? Are Principal Civil
Engineers included? What about Civil Engineering Technicians? Others?
What about City Staff in the Building and Safety Division ? Plan Check
Supervisors? Senior Plan Check Engine ers?
What about members of the Housing and Economic Development
Department?
What about the Rent Control Board and their Staff?
2. Individual vs. Business Registration and Reporting .
The regulations should clarify whether the Ordinance is intended to r equire each
individual person (rather each than business or firm) to register as a lobbyist . The
definition of Lobbyist (Section 4.85.010) refers to individuals but the Registration and
Reporting Requirements (Section 4.85.020) appear to contemplate busin esses/firms
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registering and then disclosing “the names of all owners of the Lobbyist’s business”
(subsection (e)) and “the name of each person employed or retained by the Lobbyist to
engage in lobbyist activities on each client’s behalf” (subsection (j)).
We respectfully suggest that the business entity should be required to register as
the Lobbyist rather than requiring individual employees of the business es to register.
This approach would appear to be better from both a transparency and administration
perspective.
If each employee of Property Owner “A” or Law Firm “B” registers as an
individual, then members of the public would then need to piece together
all of the individual forms from al l of the individuals to verify the cumulative
lobbying effort from Owner “A” or Law Firm “B”. Conversely , if Owner “A”
or Law Firm “B” register s their business as the Lobbyist and then
disclose s each Official any member of their business has contacted, then
the particular business’ lo bbying efforts will be reported cumulatively.
From an administration and cost perspective, requiring individuals (rather
than their employers/business) to register c ould be extremely
burdensome. A number of employees of Property Owner “A” or Law Firm
“B” will likely be disclosing very similar information (i.e. each employee or
attorney will register and disclose their contacts to the same Officials ).
This is costly (requiring filing fees for each employee o r attorney even
though they may be working on the same matter and potentially speaking
with the same City Officials ), administratively burdensome and serves little
or no purpose. Instead, it seems that the public would potentially be better
served by havi ng information from each business reported by the
business/firm as a whole .
3. Amendment Fee .
T he $25 amendment fee , while nominal as a onetime occurrence, will potentially
be come cumulatively burdensome if (a) it applies to indiv iduals (rather than businesses)
and (b) almost all City employees are defined as Officials (or the City does not clarify
which City employees are defined as Officials). Businesses often work collaboratively
and may have multiple employees/attorneys working on a particular matter. In our
firm’s experience, even a relatively small matter can involve contacting a wide variety of
City employees in various City departments. If the filing fee applies to individual
employees/attorneys , and if several employees/a ttorneys work on the matter, and if
each contact with a new City employee is arguably required to be reported, then then
these separate amendment filings for each new contact c ould cumulatively result in
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substantial fees . T he fees combined with the potent ial of individual rather than
business/firm registration and the potential for almost all City employees being defined
as Officials would potentially impose an undue burden on persons exercising their First
Amendment rights.
4. Definition of “Administrative ” Action .
Lobbyist are defined to include “any individual who receives economic
consideration as the employee, representative or contractor of a person or entity other
than the City of Santa Monica for communicating with any official or employee of the
Cit y for the purposes of influencing a legislative or administrative action.” (Section
4.85.010.) The term “a dministrative” action as used in the Ordinance and Regulations
is undefined and unclear. A broad reading of this term could include the ordinary
fu nctioning of various City departments. These departments interact on a day -to -day
basis with the public, including many paid employees of businesses and non -profits.
For example, the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce works cooperatively with City
Official s on a number of events, including State of the City and New Heroes. Does the
work between City Officials and the Chamber of Commerce constitute “administrative
action” and thus lobbying?
Is issuance of a building permit considered an “administrative” action under the
Ordinance? If so, it would appear that any contractor, architect, permit expediter , or
similar individual who communicates with any City Official regarding the issuance of a
building permit c ould be considered a “lobbyist” under the Ordinance.
We request that the Regulations be revised to specify what City actions
constitute “administrative ” actions for t he purposes of the Ordinance. And, as requested
in Item 1 above, a list of City emplo yees that qualify as City Officials would also assist
with clarifying the reporting obligation.
5. Public Hearings .
The regulations should be clear that statements made at public hearings are not
“contacts” for the purposes of the Ordinance. When a state ment is made at a public
hearing, there is no purpose served (other than im posing an administrative burden on
the speak er ) of requiring a report of the lobbying activity. Further, when a statement is
made at a public hearing, there are dozens of people in the room including City
employees that may constitute City “Officials”. It would not be reasonable to require
members of the public testifying at a public hearing to account for every person in the
audience and consider whether their public testimony cou ld be considered “contacting”
a City official fo r the purposes of the lobbyist O rdinance. Thus, the R egulations should
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be modified to clarify that statements made at public hearings (e.g. the applicant’s
presentation, responding to questions and answers, and public testimony) are not
required to be reported.
Sincerely,
Paula J. Larmore
cc: Rick Cole
Elaine Polache k
Marsha Jones Moutrie
Denise Anderson -Warren
David Martin
F:\WPDATA \7000 \7000.35 (Lobbying Ordinance)\Cor \CC.35003.PJL (Lobbying Regulations)
2016.08.08.docx
Add to 8-A
08/09/2016
Reference:
Resolution No. 10983
(CCS)