Proposal Would Expand List of People Who Must Register as Lobbyists in L.A.

A Los Angeles ethics commissioner has proposed that leaders of homeowner groups, union activists and some heads of nonprofit organizations who frequently try to influence City Hall be required to register as lobbyists and disclose their activity.

The suggestion drew opposition Wednesday from many of those who would be affected and a fellow ethics commissioner.

If approved, the proposal by Commissioner Sean Treglia could force several of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s appointees to resign from city boards and commissions or stop advocating at City Hall, because he has a policy banning lobbyists from city panels.

Treglia also is proposing that registered lobbyists be banned from political fundraising for city candidates and barred from contributing to candidates unless they live in the district involved in the election, and that politicians be prohibited from asking lobbyists to raise money for them.

In a widely distributed letter, Treglia wrote that the current law requiring registration only for lobbyists paid $4,000 or more in a calendar quarter to influence City Hall is “an absurd rule” that is “too weak.”

“It doesn’t cast a wide enough net,” said Treglia, a tax attorney, in an interview Wednesday. “There are a lot of people influencing public policy decisions but who are not required to register. Essentially, this will create more sunshine and it will simplify the rules.”

Treglia would extend the registration requirement to anyone who is paid $4,000 in a quarter to lobby or spends 20% of their time making direct contacts with city officials, or who makes at least 15 direct contacts in a quarter.

“I don’t care if that person is my mother working on behalf of her neighborhood association,” Treglia said in an e-mail to one fellow commissioner.

The idea of requiring labor activists to register was supported by Carol Schatz, head of the Central City Assn., an advocacy group for businesses.

“There needs to be a level playing field,” she said. “People representing business register. Nobody in labor registers.”

Ethics Commissioner Bill Boyarsky is among those opposed to the law change, saying it would inundate the panel with meaningless registrations.

“Regulating everybody means you regulate nobody,” Boyarsky said, adding that a neighborhood activist who appears at City Hall without pay to comment on a planning project should not be considered a lobbyist.

Boyarsky also objected that Treglia sent his letter to people who frequent City Hall, telling them his proposal “would likely affect you, given your active involvement in City Hall.”

“That’s a veiled threat,” said Boyarsky, a former editor at The Times.

The proposal was also roundly criticized by homeowner group leaders, some of whom frequently discuss issues with city officials if there is a controversial development in their neighborhood.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Polly Ward, president of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns., a coalition of homeowner groups.

“Lobbyists are paid by somebody to promote some specific thing,” she said. “Homeowner leaders aren’t paid, and they basically are doing it to save and protect their community.”

One recipient of Treglia’s letter was Jan Breidenbach, executive director of the Southern California Assn. of Nonprofit Housing. The group lobbied hard a few years ago to get the city to adopt an affordable housing trust fund, and Breidenbach said she probably still makes at least 15 contacts with city officials every three months.

“It’s kind of silly,” she said of the proposal. “There are a lot of people in our community that have a real interest in policy. People should be encouraged to go to the council and make their views known.”

The biggest controversy is likely to be Treglia’s effort to get union leaders who negotiate contracts for workers or try to influence policy to register and refrain from fundraising for city candidates.

Julie Butcher, who heads a union representing 10,000 blue-collar city workers, said she would not object to having to register and disclose her activity, but she would not accept an attempt to prevent her from participating in political campaigns.

“If there was full disclosure, I think that would be enough,” she said.

Treglia plans to submit his proposal to the Ethics Commission for consideration next month.