Item 27 - Sunshine Ordinance - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Sunshine Ordinance November 16, 2021 Page 4 2 2 4 6 Members of the City Council expressed interest in the City establishing a lobbyist registration policy. There are multiple policy considerations for the City Council to consider to implement such a policy. For the purposes of the current proposed changes to the Sunshine Ordinance, staff reviewed the original lobbyist registration proposal by SACRed (Santa Ana Collaborative for Responsible Development), the organization that originally lobbied the City Council in 2012 to adopt the Sunshine Ordinance. That proposal, which was rejected by the City Council, has since been reviewed by the Clerk of the Council. Based upon her subject matter expertise and experience, the Clerk of the Council made minor changes to that proposal to align with current best practices. As presented, the proposed lobbyist registration provisions of the Sunshine Ordinance contain the following elements: purpose of policy, definitions; annual registration of lobbyists required; quarterly reports of lobbying activity; registration fee; and penalty for violation. Members of the City Council also discussed revolving door regulations and how these regulations affect former councilmembers for purposes of lobbying. Below is a summary of the current law on the revolving door regulations: Government Code Section 87406, also known as the “revolving door regulations” prohibits the following: (1) a local elected official, chief administrative officer of a county, city manager or general manager or chief administrator of a special district who held a position with a local government agency, (2) for a period of one year after leaving officer or employment, (3) from acting as an agent or attorney for, other otherwise represent, for compensation, any other person, (4) by making any formal or informal appearance before, or by making any oral of written communication to, that local government agency, or any committee, subcommittee, or present member of that local government agency, or any officer or employee of the local government agency, (5) if the appearance of communication is made for the purpose of influencing administrative or legislative action, or influencing any action or proceeding involving the issuance, amendment, awarding, or revocation of a permit, license, grant or contract, or the sale or purchase of goods or property, (6) except when the individual is, at the time of the appearance or communication, a board member, or employee of another local government agency or an employee or representative of a public agency and is appearing or communicating on behalf of that agency. Considering that existing State law prohibits these activities, revolving door provisions were not included as part of proposed amendments to the Sunshine Ordinance. The Clerk of the Council’s Office conducted a preliminary fiscal impact analysis and determined that a lobbyist registration policy could be implemented by their office