2009-08-12 Board of Ethics Minutes

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Ms. Schoen said she would draft letters for the Board's review at the next meeting. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Further discussion on clarifying lobbyist registration requirements, including Communication No. 2009 -045 (memo to Renee Schoen from Kenneth Goodenow dated 719109, regarding clarification of the County's lobbyist registration requirements and enclosing recommended changes to the Lobbyist Registration Form by the Office of the County Clerk). Mr. Goodenow explained that his office receives inquiries from people who are uncertain as to whether they need to register as lobbyists, or who feel the definition is not clear. As a result, he is seeking guidance from the Board on how to make the process more user - friendly. His office's legal specialist, Levi Hookano, has recommended changes to the registration form, but they have not yet been implemented. The current form being used is from October 2005. Ms. Nicholson asked whether the definition of lobbyist had been changed, and Mr. Goodenow said that since the Board of Ethics is the primary interpreter of that definition, he would defer to the Board on the definition. Ms. Nicholson said it would be helpful to have specific examples of the problem areas if the Board was to craft language to address them. Mr. Goodenow said an example would be if the head of the bar association lobbied on an issue. Though he was not paid for doing so, it could be argued that he received consideration in terms of getting his name out there. A true situation they had dealt with a realtor who was involved with the 2% land fund issue. The realtor was subsequently also a candidate. It was not clear whether she should register as a lobbyist, but there were concerns that she was spending a lot of time and money on the land issue and using it as a platform. Mr. Westervelt explained that he is the legislative assistant to Councilman Enriques and that in his position, he has dealt many times with people who come forward and express that they represent groups. He receives numerous calls and emails from them, and many provide public testimony at Council meetings, and some take out newspaper ads for their causes. Many of them are recurring names and are not registered as lobbyists. He feels they are ducking the responsibility of coming forward and stepping up to a cause and is concerned that at some point they should be instructed to fill out a lobbyist registration form. Ms. Lum asked whether people do not register because they reason they are not being paid. Mr. Westervelt said he never asked why they were not registered, but that they might excuse themselves in that manner. How to enforce the rule is not known. In many cases, it would be justifiable not to register. He questioned at what point a hobby becomes a professional cause.