I almost never agree with anything that comes from Supervisors Bill Campbell and Janet Nguyen, but today they fought to establish a new County ordinance that would have created a lobbyist registry, and the other Supervisors overruled them, according to the Voice of OC.
Supervisor Pat Bates argued that the problem with establishing any kind of registration requirements is how to make them even-handed and truly transparent instead of just window dressing.
Bates and other supervisors questioned aloud how to best define what lobbying means. For example, some elected officials lobby supervisors for issues in their respective cities; are they lobbyists? Or are entire staff lists of large companies, like Southern California Edison, required to register?
Yet the majority’s vote to terminate all study of the issue will leave those questions unanswered for now. And it was unmoved by Dunn’s threat to go straight to the voters.
“I don’t fear the public putting forth an ordinance,” Supervisor Shawn Nelson said.
Moorlach echoed Nelson and made sure to note the Orange County Employees Association’s support of the ordinance. “I’m not afraid of the unions or Joe Dunn to do signature gathering.”
Orange County is the only large county in California without any kind of registration requirements for lobbyists.
Obviously the Supervisorial majority is covering up for OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh and other powerful Republican lobbyists, such as Curt Pringle and John Lewis.
I hope that former Senator Joe Dunn does lead an effort to put this on the ballot. We deserve to know who the lobbyists are in Orange County. This should not be covered up. I am very disappointed in particular by Nelson, whose supporters in Fullerton do support a lobbyist registry. This smells like more of Bilodeau’s B.S.
Whatwhatwhat??? Saint Moorlach wants to keep lobbyists doing business in secret?
Does not compute. Sean swears the guy is so HONORABLE!
my thoughts exactly…
Gee, thanks for the nice photo of me talking to Supervisor Nelson (that’s incoming Building Industry Association/OC president Bill Watt in the background) – but for the record, I’m not a lobbyist, here in OC or anywhere else.
Hey, great picture of idiot #1 and his boss, idiot #2! Idiot #1 will cost us millions of dollars for his quadruple dipping pension. Idiot #2 will cost us a lot more because he hides behind wanting to do what is right by the tax payers then laughs at us all the way to the bank. I think we might just put this issue on the ballot as well as the retirement, double-tripple-quadruple dipping issues as well and take it out of their hands so we know it will get done. Moorlach has been flip flopping more than a fish out of water lately, and Bates – I see her mouth moving but all I hear is blah blah blah. Campbell has great intentions, but no one else on the board with courage to take the leap of faith to back him up! I think Janet is coming around, but by then it will be too late for her. I for one am tired of empty promises and having our elected officials kicking the can down the street for somebody else to pick up. Lets just by pass them and do it ourselves.
Typical Republicans who love the almighty dollar, but don’t want us to know from whence it comes. Hypocrites, aren’t they?
Look, I’m the first guy to mock the dupes when they try to cover stuff up, but free speech must be FREE! Why should anyone have to fill out a government-approved form just to voice an opinion?
Statists, the lot of you.
Exactly right. We don’t need more regulations that prevent/restrict access to the government. The problem here is not the lobbyists, but rather, the corrupt politicians taking bribes. And why would anyone trust the politicians to create fair rules for lobbying?
Smokescreen. Every other major county has a lobbyist registry. We should too.
That’s quite the rhetorical question. So you’re assuming that because, in your opinion, all politicians are corrupt, we should not have a simple registry that informs the electorate what powers are attemting to influence votes that affect all of us. You really want to go with this point? What is so wrong with simple transparency?
Damned Supervisors!!! Now Tom Daly can get away with paying fat ass Brett Barbre for “brainstorming” services. I guess if its too got to be true then it must be b.s.!!