#  Public’s Voice Drowned Out … Billboard Companies Spend Millions Lobbying LA Officials

     Details    Dennis Hathaway   ![logo](https://www.citywatchla.com//templates/ja_teline_v/images/logo.png)         February 04 2016      [  ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Feb-2016/011k.png)    ](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/10454-public-s-voice-drowned-out-billboard-companies-spend-millions-lobbying-la-officials)

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> BILLBOARD WATCH-With the city’s legislative agenda containing such hot-button issues as allowing new digital billboards and granting amnesty to unpermitted and non-compliant signs, it’s little surprise that LA billboard companies spent almost $2.3 million last year lobbying council members and other city officials.
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> As in past years, Clear Channel was the big spender. According to City Ethics Commission reports, the Texas-based billboard giant and its parent company, iHeart Media, paid $670,326 to lobbying firms in 2015 to promote its interests in City Hall.
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> Second on the spending list at $413,790 was West Hollywood-based Regency Outdoor -- perhaps surprising because the company owns far fewer billboards than the city’s big three, Clear Channel, Outfront Media, and Lamar Advertising. However, Regency is embroiled in a dispute with city officials over the fate of its highly valuable billboards on city property at LAX.
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> Other companies and the amounts paid to lobbying firms in 2015 are as follows:
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> -Outfront Media $215,000
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> -Lamar Advertising $187,102
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> -JC Decaux $162,000
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> -Summit Media $146,365
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> -Intelligent Sign Network $90,092
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> -National Promotions &amp; Advertising $20,612
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> A Hollywood firm, Paramount Contractors, spent $155,962 lobbying city officials on signage issues, according to the Ethics Commission reports. Paramount Contractors isn’t a billboard company, but has been involved in legal disputes with the city over super-graphic signage on its Hollywood properties.
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> The LA Outdoor Advertising Coalition, a group formed to lobby the city on billboard issues, spent $209,841 in efforts to influence city officials in 2015. Its membership includes Clear Channel, Outfront Media, and Lamar Advertising, among others.
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> *(Dennis Hathaway is the president of the **[Ban Billboard Blight Coalition](http://banbillboardblight.org/no-transparency-l-a-city-council-committee-and-billboard-legislation/)** and a* CityWatch *contributor. He can be reached at: [**Dennis@banbillboardblight.org**](mailto:Dennis@banbillboardblight.org)*.*)  *Edited for* CityWatch *by Linda Abrams.*

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