means monetary or in-kind payment or remuneration in an amount
in excess of fifty dollars, or the expectation of such remuneration,
for engaging in the legislative advocacy. Compensation does not include
the salary of an employee who devotes less than twenty percent of
that employee's work time to legislative advocacy during any one year
and who engages in legislative advocacy only on behalf of a single
employer. Compensation also does not include reimbursement of or payments
for reasonable travel or business expenses, such as copying, telephone
charges and meals.
means any person, other than any government entity, or officer
or employee of a government entity acting in an official capacity,
who advises regarding, or makes, payments or incurs expenditures of
five thousand dollars or more during any calendar year for directing
or guiding public relations, media relations, advertising, public
outreach, research, investigation, reports, analyses, or studies with
the intent of soliciting, requesting or urging, directly or indirectly,
other persons to communicate directly with a City official in order
to influence any City action.
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Expenditure lobbyist shall not include:
(1) a person who pays compensation to a legislative advocate or who
pays compensation to another representative who appears at a hearing
on any City action; (2) a person who pays dues to a membership organization
that is ongoing in nature and whose membership services do not consist
exclusively of legislative advocacy; (3) an organization who makes
payments to distribute communications to its members; and (4) a person
engaged in publication or broadcasting of news items, editorials,
or commentary, provided that the person is not compensated to take
a specific position.
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means any individual who receives economic consideration
as the employee, representative, or contractor of a person or entity
other than the City of Santa Monica for communicating with any official
or employee of the City for the purpose of influencing City action.
Lobbyist also includes an expenditure lobbyist. For purposes of this
Chapter, "lobbyist" does not include the following:
means any person who is:
A member of the Santa Monica City
Council;
Appointed by the Santa Monica City
Council to serve on a board or commission;
The City Manager, City Attorney,
and City Clerk;
A City department director; and
Any other person who is required
to file a Statement of Economic Interest in connection with the City
of Santa Monica.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16; amended
by Ord. No. 2544CCS § 1, adopted 4/25/17; Ord. No. 2733CCS § 1, adopted 1/10/23)
(a)
Any person who has been a lobbyist
in the two years prior to the start of a term shall be ineligible
to be appointed to serve on a City board, commission, task force,
or advisory board.
(b)
The Council, by a two-thirds vote
of the Council, may appoint a person to a board, commission, task
force, or advisory board, despite otherwise being disqualified under
this Chapter, for good cause, including, but not limited to, unavailability
of qualified candidates.
(Added by Ord. No. 2733CCS § 2, adopted 1/10/23)
(a)
A lobbyist shall annually register
with the City Clerk, no later than ten days after qualifying as a
lobbyist under this Chapter, using an electronic registration system
provided by the City, and shall thereon disclose:
(1)
Lobbyist/lobbyist firm;
(2)
Business/mailing address;
(3)
E-mail address;
(4)
Telephone number;
(5)
The names of all owners of the lobbyist's
business if the business is a sole proprietorship or partnership of
less than five members;
(6)
Names of each individual lobbyist;
(7)
A description of the nature of the
business entity or organization;
(8)
The name, business address and phone
number of each client receiving lobbying services;
(9)
The nature of each client's business;
(10)
A brief description of the governmental
decision that the lobbyist seeks to influence on each client's behalf
and the names of the officials the lobbyist has contacted on each
client's behalf;
(11)
The name of each person employed
or retained by the lobbyist to engage in lobbying activities on each
client's behalf; and
(12)
The date, amount, and description
of any payment made to, or on behalf of any City official or member
of an official's family. Payments to be disclosed include gifts, meals,
fees, salaries and any other form of compensation or remuneration,
but do not include campaign contributions.
(b)
A lobbyist shall electronically file
an amendment to his or her registration and reporting form within
ten days of representation of a new client. An addendum must be filed
electronically within ten days of any change in the information required
to be disclosed on the form related to existing clients. Lobbyists
shall report the names of all officials contacted about a governmental
decision prior to any public hearing on that decision.
(c)
The following are exempt from this
Chapter:
(1)
Persons whose attempts to influence
government action are limited to appearing at public meetings or preparing,
processing or limited to submitting writings for consideration of
use at public meetings if their communications are part of the public
record; and
(2)
Persons representing themselves in
attempting to obtain decisions relating to their own properties or
business; and
(3)
Persons whose communications related
solely to a memorandum of understanding or collective bargaining agreement
between the City and its employee organization; and
(4)
Persons who are officials or members
of neighborhood groups who are not economically compensated for advocating
or speaking on behalf of neighborhood groups to influence a City action.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16; amended
by Ord. No. 2544CCS § 1, adopted 4/25/17;Ord. No.
2771CCS, 12/19/23)
A lobbyist's annual registration
fee is hereby established to be set and periodically adjusted by City
Council resolution in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of administering
this Chapter.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16)
(a)
The City Clerk may promulgate rules
and regulations implementing this Chapter.
(b)
No person shall violate any rule
or regulation implementing this Chapter, and any such violation shall
constitute a violation of this Chapter.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16)
(a)
The City Attorney and the City Clerk
shall be responsible for enforcing the requirements of this Chapter.
(b)
Criminal Penalty. Any
person who is convicted of violating this Chapter shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of
not greater than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the County
Jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(c)
Civil Action. The provisions
of this Chapter may be enforced by means of a civil action for injunctive
and other relief, including statutory damages.
(d)
Penalties and Other Monetary
Awards. In a civil action, any person determined to have violated
this Chapter may be held liable for statutory damages in an amount
of up to ten thousand dollars and for such reasonable attorneys' fees
and costs as may be awarded by the court.
(e)
Administrative Enforcement. The provisions of this Chapter may also be enforced through the
issuance of administrative citations and the imposition of administrative
fines to be set by resolution of the City Council. Administrative
citations for violations of this Chapter shall be issued by the City
Clerk.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16)
