Commission approves 'lobbyist ordinance'
By Bari Auerbach

The Sunny Isles Beach City Commission recently approved an ordinance requiring lobbyists to register at City Hall in order to disclose issues they may be lobbying for and how much they are being compensated. The ordinance also requires lobbyists to file a form with the City Clerk for clients and topics being lobbied along with a registration fee and application.
Another amendment to the lobbyist ordinance supported by the Commission pertains to the method by which lobbyists must attach a fee letter and specify whether any bonuses, success fees, or other consideration will be received for such lobbying activities.

City Attorney Lynn Dannheisser explained, "This ordinance is a result of the Charter Revision Commission having approved - and the electorate having adopted a lobbyist disclosure requirement that prohibits all lobbyists from accepting contingency or success fees; and directs the City Clerk to disseminate, prior to a public hearing, a disclosure of those lobbyists who may appear.

"[The ordinance] also provides that a violation under this section may render the issue being lobbied voidable. The ordinance enacts the terms of the Charter and in addition, as a result of the amount of lobbying that occurs and lobbyists appearing without an appointment, we are seeking to discourage that situation by establishing a log at the reception desk where the lobbyists will sign in, indicate whom they are visiting and have an opportunity for the Commission to request an appointment as opposed to a spontaneous meeting.

"The Clerk is now directed to orally report the information prior to the item being heard by the Commission. Contingency fees, success fees and any fee bonus as compensation are prohibited.And we have reached an agreement regarding the fee letters such that they do not have to be attached .rather an affidavit may be executed by the lobbyist and principal disclosing there are no success fees involved."

Workshop Discussions
The City Commission held a workshop on April 12 to address issues relating to the lobbyist ordinance including verbiage relating to disclosure of "any fundraising or campaign contributions made directly or indirectly by the lobbyist to any government official."
At the workshop, Robert Myers, Executive Director of Miami-Dade County's Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, explained the cities of Miami Beach and Palmetto Bay have mandated that if a lobbyist makes a contribution to a person who gets elected, that lobbyist is barred from appearing in front of [that elected official] for a period of time.one year in Miami Beach four years in Palmetto Bay.

Myers also provided an overview of lobbying rules and regulations that have recently been adopted throughout the county as well as local municipalities.

"With respect to lobbying, some major changes were made in May of last year and County Commission rules adopted apply to all the [Miami-Dade] cities." Myers said. "The cities can adopt more stringent rules - but not rules that are more lenient.and if you don't adopt any rules, [the city is] bound by county and state rules."

'Who is a lobbyist?'
"One of the things the County Commission did was make some changes to 'who' a lobbyist is.they carved out an exception for individuals who appear in front of you in a quasi-judicial matter," Myers said. "So if you have a quasi-judicial hearing and someone appears before you during a public meeting - either representing the applicant or someone opposed to the application [such as] a community group, president of a neighborhood association, architect, engineer or attorney.those people, under county law, no longer have to register as lobbyists.it's called a 'public meeting exception.'

"[The city] can be stricter and still require them to register - but the county doesn't. [However], if those same individuals still want to meet with [a city official] in a private setting or regarding a legislative matter, than they would have to register as a lobbyist."

Myers also noted the county has carved out a complete lobbyist exemption for board members of neighborhood associations, who don't have to register as lobbyists regardless of the issue; and for non-profit organizations, the lobbyist registration fee has been waived. He also said that if a person has no connection to a corporate entity or structure and is acting in his own individual capacity, that person doesn't have to register as a lobbyist.

Ethical 'talking points'
Discussing the "Jennings Rule," Myers said, "The basic rule of thumb is once [a City Commissioner] becomes aware of a matter (generally a land use matter that will appear before you) anyone who wants to talk to you about that matter is prohibited under Jennings from doing so unless they talk to you at the public meeting when that matter is up for consideration.

"If someone comes up to you at Publix and says I don't think we need to grant this variance you have to stop them and say, 'I cannot talk to you about this.' Some city attorneys even say you can't go out and inspect a property [in question] yourself. All the information is supposed to be gleaned from the parties who come to present to you."

Mayor Norman Edelcup pointed out, "Many times as commissioners, we're invited to condo meetings and we're put in the position of having to comment [on issues]. In response, Myers said, "If you see that the conversation is going down the path of talking about a specific application that will be handled through a quasi-judicial process, you have to be careful.Once the matter does come before the Commission, you can indicate it was brought up and as soon as you realized where it was headed you [chose not to discuss the issue]."

Touching on the Sunshine Law and Citizens' Bill of Rights, Myers said, "These are enforced through the State Attorney's Office, but there is also a process by which the Ethics Commission or Circuit Court can get involved.[Commissioners] can't talk about city business [privately]. It's not just what's on [a Commission] agenda - it's what could foreseeably come before you.When in doubt, assume the Sunshine Law applies through e-mail, memo form, phone conversations - anything the public can't hear [on an issue] coming before you.if any two [or more commissioners] are present talking about city business, the Sunshine Law is triggered."

Myers said commissioners could send out memos to other commissioners on the condition that they don't expect a response. "The safest thing to do would be to [send the memo] to the City Manager for distribution or discussion at the next public meeting," he said. "The Sunshine Law is relatively easy to follow but there are criminal penalties if you violate it."

On the topic of voting conflicts elected officials may encounter, Myers said his office gets more questions about the issue than almost anything else. He noted Commissioners have to consider whether or not a special benefit will come their way as a result of voting for or against a matter. "If you think you may have a voting conflict, you can ask your city attorney or run it by the Ethics Commission. If something isn't an actual conflict but you don't think it 'looks good,' it's my opinion you should step aside.Rather than deal with the political ramifications of someone thinking you have a conflict, you can recuse yourself from the proceedings."

Bi-monthly meetings
During the workshop, the Commission concurred it would be advisable to schedule two meetings per month as well as workshops preceding meetings that would be publicly advertised. Commission members also expressed the need to receive meeting agenda packets in a timely fashion and requested the elimination of "last minute" agenda additions not deemed absolutely necessary by city staff.
 

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