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Lobbyist Alert - Do You Know Who Your Friendly Neighborhood Lobbyists Are? |
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By Sara Epstein
There are those who feel that neighborhood councils are among the
city’s most vulnerable agencies to lobbying. Both official and
unofficial.
There are regular complaints of attempts to influence NC boards. Especially on land use issues. Grievances have been filed claiming that some neighborhood council board members have personal interests in matters before their boards.
Some NC boards have been caught allowing members with conflicts to either remain in the room during deliberations or to actually participate in the deliberations. Even those who have recused themselves from the vote … in violation of the Brown Act.
The Times story below reports on attempts … by a non-registered lobbyist … to influence outcomes on the Sunland Home Depot project and the Las Lomas proposed project just north of Sylmar.
“Not all lobbyists are registered,” noted on city attorney. “It behooves neighborhood councils to know the rules and to know who among them is pushing an agenda in which they have a financial-benefit interest.”
But, neighborhood councils aren’t the only agencies or bodies that need to be diligent … or, who have crossed the line. LA Times writers David Zahniser and Ted Rohrlich filed this report on the return of former City Councilman Richard Alatorre and his attempts to influence … as an unregistered lobbyist.
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Former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre is enjoying a second coming at City Hall.
Six years after he left the public stage -- his reputation in tatters after admitting that he took cash from people trying to influence him -- he has returned as an advocate for companies seeking city business.
The gravel-voiced 64-year-old, a pioneering Mexican American politician known as one of the architects of Latino empowerment in California, is trading on his status as an elder statesman. He is also an informal advisor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
On behalf of various businesses and unions, he has called upon at least five City Council members and mayoral appointees at the Department of Water and Power, the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Planning Department, the Housing Department, the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports and the Community Redevelopment Agency, according to interviews and records.
But unlike dozens of other political professionals who do such work, Alatorre is not registered as a lobbyist under the city's open government law. Registered lobbyists must reveal whom they work for and how much they are paid, or they risk jail or fines.
Jon Kirk Mukri, general manager of the parks department, said Alatorre has spoken with him six times over the last year and a half about the city's park rangers, about a company seeking to renew its golf concession and about a charter school that wants to operate on parkland in El Sereno. Mukri said Alatorre receives no special treatment, calling the former councilman "just a lobbyist like anybody else."
Sylmar neighborhood activist Bart Reed, who opposes a project that Alatorre has discussed with at least one council member, said community groups depend on disclosures to show them how much of an advantage special interests hold at City Hall. "Having that information about who's lobbying . . . tells you what kind of uphill mountain you may have," he said.
Alatorre did not respond to repeated requests by telephone and letter to be interviewed for this report.
To many in Los Angeles politics, Alatorre has been a legendary figure. He represented portions of the city's Eastside in the state Assembly and on the City Council for more than a quarter of a century, from 1973 to 1999. And he built a powerful local political machine based in Boyle Heights, spearheaded the redesign of voting district maps to expand Latino representation throughout California and doled out a career full of favors in the form of jobs and advice.
Only once has the city Ethics Commission pursued someone for failing to register as a lobbyist. When asked to explain why, ethics officials said only that such a charge can be difficult to prove.
Yet, in many ways, Alatorre has been in plain sight, showing up at public meetings and walking the corridors at City Hall. Five council members -- Richard Alarcon, Jose Huizar, Bernard C. Parks, Jan Perry and Herb Wesson -- say Alatorre has spoken with them over the last 18 months on behalf of at least one of the following:
* Home Depot, which wants to open a store in Sunland-Tujunga in a way that would avoid an environmental review.
* The Las Lomas Land Co., which is trying to build 5,500 homes just north of Sylmar.
* The Engineers and Architects Assn., a city union that had been in a contentious standoff with the mayor over pay.
* First Transit Inc., a city DASH bus service provider, which was seeking a contract change.
(Click here to read the rest of this LA Times story.) _
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