On September 15, the San Diego, California City Council will consider raising registration fees for lobbyists. The proposal, which was approved by the Budget Committee in July, increases the annual registration from $40 to $150. Annual registration fees paid by clients who hire lobbyists would also increase from $15 to $30. This increase will be the first since the enactment of lobbyist registration fees in 2008. If approved, the proposal would take effect January 1, 2016

City Clerk Toni Taber was given a reprieve by City Council following a review of the clerk’s job performance during a closed-door meeting on September 1. She had been facing dismissal.

The review was triggered by faulty advice provided by the clerk’s office to City Council and mayoral candidates during the 2014 local elections. The clerk’s office had instructed the candidates to follow state law when reporting late contributions. However, local law has stricter reporting standards.

This lack of information resulted in thousands of dollars in campaign contributions being improperly reported over the past two years and one councilman being fined $10,000 for improper filing.

While Taber was granted a second chance, her office still faces an audit and may have several of its key functions transferred to other city departments.

The Ethics Commission has launched a new online tool to track financial activity for the November 3, 2015, election.

These interactive campaign finance dashboards will provide visual summaries of the contributions and expenditures of candidate and ballot measure committees, lobbyists, contributors, and third parties. It will also provide information on expenditure ceilings and any public funds dispersed through the city’s public financing program.

The dashboards can be found here. The data utilized by the dashboards can be downloaded from the Ethics Commission website or the SF OpenData website.

Beginning September 17, 2015, a new lobbying law takes effect in the San Joaquin County. Passed by the Board of Supervisors on August 18, the ordinance requires lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbyist’s employers to register when lobbying the board.

The ordinance defines a lobbyist as “any individual who is employed, contracts, or otherwise receives compensation of $500 or more in any calendar month” to lobby the board. The definition excludes news organizations, elected officials, and agents of tax-exempt organizations. Registration with the clerk of the board is required 10 days after becoming engaged as a lobbyist. There is an initial registration fee of $75. The annual registration renewal is $50.

The clerk’s office is presently in the process of implementing the new ordinance and creating a registration form.

In September, the Los Angeles, California’s Ethics Commission will be soliciting public comment on the Municipal Lobbying Ordinance. Meetings for interested persons will be held at City Hall at 11:30 a.m. on September 9 and 2:00 p.m. on September 17. The commission is requesting interested persons to sign up for the meetings by email at ethics.policy@lacity.org by September 4.

A voter initiative is being developed in Orange County, California, to create a county ethics commission. The commission would enforce campaign finance limits for countywide offices as well as public ethics, including gifts and conflicts of interest.

The commission would also have a hotline where citizens could provide tips regarding ethics issues and would have the power to subpoena witnesses and documents.

If the initiative qualifies, it would appear on the November 2016 ballot. A version of the proposed initiative is available here.

The City of San Diego Ethics Commission has proposed amendments to the city’s campaign finance laws related to the disclosure requirements applicable to referendum and initiative petitions.

The proposed amendments would require additional campaign disclosures of committees supporting or opposing the qualification of an initiative or referendum measure on the ballot.

The city Ethics Commission is scheduled to consider the amendments at its upcoming August 13, 2015 meeting.

Photo of the San Diego skyline courtesy of Tomcio77 on Wikimedia Commons.

The San Francisco Ethics Commission has unanimously approved a ballot measure requiring expenditure lobbyists to register and report city lobbying activity. The measure will appear on the city’s November 3, 2015 ballot.

The measure creates a new category of lobbyists, termed expenditure lobbyists, defined in the measure as organizations who employ lobbyists to influence city officials. The measure imposes a registration threshold of $2,500 or more in a calendar month spent soliciting, requesting, or urging other persons to communicate directly with a city official.

If approved by voters at the November 3, 2015 election, the measure would become operative February 1, 2016. A draft of the proposed measure can be found here.

The San Diego City Council Budget Committee approved a proposal to increase lobbyist registration fees. Under the proposal, the fees will increase from $40 to $150. Annual registration fees paid by clients who hire lobbyists would also increase from $15 to $30.

This increase will be the first since the enactment of lobbyist registration fees in 2008. The proposal must be approved by the full council, scheduled to meet again in September. If approved, the proposal would take effect in January.

Photo of the San Diego skyline courtesy of Tomcio77 on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Jerry Brown has called a special legislative session to begin Friday, June 26, 2015.

The special session will focus on Senate Bill 16, a bill proposing funding for roads, highways, and bridges in the state.

The special session will take place concurrently with the legislature’s regular session.

Photo of the California State Capitol by Rafał Konieczny on Wikimedia Commons.

The Ethics Commission will be considering a number of proposed amendments to the city’s Election Campaign Control Ordinance (ECCO) and Lobbying Ordinance at a meeting on May 14, 2015.

The proposed changes to ECCO involve non-substantive amendments to several definitions and will make surplus funds rules more consistent with state law. The proposed changes to the Lobbying Ordinance include updating the list of city officials and requiring lobbying entities to disclose contributions made by sponsored committees.

The proposed lobbying amendments are available here.

John St. Croix, the executive director of the city’s Ethics Commission, has announced his intention to resign after 11 years leading the organization.

St. Croix’s resignation letter to commissioners did not give a specific reason for leaving, but did announce August 27, 2015, as his final day.

The resignation and search for a replacement is a discussion item on the commission’s April 27 meeting agenda.

The Office of the City Clerk will make a presentation at the next meeting of the Ethics Commission to advocate for increased lobbyist registration fees and electronic payment of those fees.

The clerk’s office published a report concluding the city should increase the $40 lobbyist fee in light of fees set by other California cities such as Long Beach ($100) and Los Angeles ($450).

The meeting will be held on April 9, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. in the committee room on the 12th floor of the City Administration Building. Changes to fee schedules and electronic payment would take effect January 1, 2016.

The Ethics Commission has announced the release of a new online report entitled “Spending to Influence: Campaign Finance and Lobbying in San Francisco in 2014.”

The report explores the interests and financial activity of campaign influencers during the November 2014 election cycle by using publicly available data of committees, parties, consultants, major contributors, and lobbyists.

The report was prepared by two graduate students in the Master of Public Administration program at San Francisco State University, with guidance from commission staff. The report is available here.