On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance to require the registration of individuals who engage in lobbying activities before the County of Orange. Specifically “lobbying activities” means any oral, written, or electronic communication to a County Supervisor, made directly or indirectly, for the purpose of persuading or influencing official actions or decisions of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
SB31 will require each local government to create a lobbyist registration program as a condition of the local government being eligible to apply for any discretionary grant from any state agency or department.
Supervisor Bill Campbell “was surprised” to learn that his colleagues were introducing a last minute proposal for lobbyist registration. But he told his colleagues that the “devil is in the details” and after reviewing their proposal he felt it would be more appropriately named the “Citizen Registration Ordinance.”
It’s a rare occurance when I agree with the folks over at Red County blog. They opposed Campbell’s version and they oppose Nelson’s as well. In the case of this week’s proposal, I find myself in agreement that the proposal is fatally flawed.
Yesterday, the Board considered a proposal from Supervisor Bill Campbell to take Orange County out of the dark ages of back room political deals and insider influence trading into the 21st century world of government transparency. The proposal itself did not go nearly far enough, but it was a first step that required registration of paid lobbyists.
After the Orange County Board of Supervisors failed to agendize proposed reforms requiring lobbyists to register and report on their activities to influence county government on matters of public interest, Senator Joe Dunn (ret.) spoke during Public Comments, noting he filed a notice to circulate a petition before the voters. Confident taxpayers want County government to operate with transparency and accountability, Dunn plans to lead an effort to gather the nearly 73,000 signatures required to place the reforms on the November 2010 ballot.
Former State Senator Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) is proposing that the Board of Supervisors adopt a major reform of the Orange County political environment by regulating lobbyists and themselves thus establishing more transparency in the way county government decisions are made.
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