ST. PETE BEACH — Any group or individual who lobbies a city commissioner or staff on a potential project or issue in this city will soon have to declare their intentions by filing as a lobbyist.
In a report to the City Commission at a Jan. 25 meeting, City Clerk Amber LaRowe explained that lobby ordinances and lobbyist registrations can be found at the federal and state level, as well as throughout many Florida counties and cities. “These ordinances ensure accountability and transparency between local government and lobbyists,” she said.
The clerk told officials that staff researched different lobbying ordinances and registrations to develop a proposed ordinance for St. Pete Beach.
Lobbyists “benefit from having registration requirements that are consistent and uniform, so they know what to expect. We know what we should be expecting from them, and they know what they should be giving to us and getting in return,” she said. “The public benefits from these requirements, because it maintains and preserves the integrity of the elected and appointed officials and city staff. It’s not just applicable to you all, it’s applicable to the people who you appoint as well as your city staff.”
Under terms of the proposed lobbying ordinance, which was unanimously passed on first reading, all lobbyists must register with the City Clerk on an annual basis and pay a $50 registration fee.
According to the ordinance, the definition of a lobbyist is wide-ranging and all-encompassing. It refers to “all persons employed or retained, whether paid or not, by a principal who seeks to encourage the passage, defeat or modification of any ordinance, resolution, action or decision of any city commissioner; (or) any action, decision, recommendation of the city manager or any city board or committee; or any action, decision or recommendation of any city personnel.”
The act of lobbying can occur any time and refers to any “communications, whether written or oral, by a lobbyist outside a duly noticed public meeting or hearing on the record, with any member or members of the city commission, or any member or members of any decision making body under the jurisdiction of the city commission.”
The time period that a person can be deemed a lobbyist is during the “entire decisionmaking process on (any) action, decision or recommendation that foreseeable will be heard or reviewed by the city commission, or a city board or committee.”
The penalties for an intentional violation of this ordinance, more than once in a twelve-month period, are a one-year ban from lobbying for the second violation and three-year ban for the third infraction.
City Attorney Andrew Dickman noted the fee is much higher in some south Florida jurisdictions, and the responsibility falls on the lobbyist to register with the city or face penalties.
Commissioner Ward Friszolowski said he thought it was a good ordinance, but wanted to clarify compliance. “We talk with lots of people. I mean, somebody can bump into me as I’m sitting down in a restaurant, sometimes they want to sit down with me, sometimes it’s at the beach bar, sometimes it’s literally on the beach, occasionally they call and make an appointment. Do they have to say to us, ‘I’m a lobbyist?’ Is it the requirement that they do that? Do I have to say, ‘Are you a lobbyist?’ I just want to make sure.”
Dickman said it should be “pretty easy if an attorney calls you up, or even an architect, to talk about a project, you can ask, ‘We have a lobbyist ordinance, are you registered?’
“You’re not going to be held to a higher standard,” the city attorney said. “The lobbyist is the one who has to be responsible for registering with the clerk … The obligation is on the lobbyist, because that’s where the penalty lies.”
Friszolowski said he is more concerned with the casual meeting. “I understand the concept and I am all for this. I just want to make sure we are complying, because you don’t always know,” he added.
Mayor Al Johnson added, “The good part about this is at least now we’ve got more incentive, and a process in the back of our heads when we talk to somebody.”
City Manager Alex Rey said the city will put up signs in various offices, like Planning and Community Development, notifying lobbyists they must file with the city.
Lobbying registration forms will be available in the City Clerk’s office after the second and final hearing of the ordinance in February.