The City Council, on Tuesday, Oct. 24, debated at length on how encompassing an updated lobbying law should be in Anaheim, but divisions emerged over how far some of the most substantial reforms proposed so far should go, which were ultimately hammered out in compromise.
A council majority agreed to keep most of the lobbying law changes, but they did ask city staff to take away language concerning government affairs employees registering as lobbyists. Some councilmembers, however, decried the efforts as going too far.
The proposed update to the city’s lobbying laws would empower the city auditor to audit a random 20% of registered lobbyists in the city annually and to ask elected officials and members of the city’s executive team for information about past meetings where they have been lobbied. It also has definitions for what influencing city officials means and would expand record-keeping requirements for lobbyists.
Craig Steele, an attorney who is helping Anaheim navigate its series of reforms, said at Tuesday’s meeting that under-reporting lobbying activity is likely happening now in Anaheim.
The council last updated its lobbying law in 2022, making it a criminal penalty to run afoul of the lobbying rules.
The City Council is now making another attempt to enhance the laws in Anaheim after independent investigators recently alleged a pattern of potential lobbying violations when they were commissioned to look at concerns of corruption and influence peddling in City Hall. The council will likely vote on a final version of updates in a few weeks.
City Clerk Theresa Bass said there are currently 18 lobbyists registered with the city, and that number typically hovers around 20.
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said the proposed ordinance has teeth, and will ensure people who are attempting to influence city officials register as lobbyists.
“The point of this lobbying ordinance is that Anaheim citizens deserve to know who has the ear of their elected…
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