County Hires Margolin to Lobby State, U.S.

In an stunning public admission of Los Angeles County’s past failures in Sacramento and Washington, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to hire county health czar Burt Margolin and his law firm to lobby the state and federal governments on the county’s behalf.

The move, orchestrated behind the scenes, is an effort to cleanse bad blood and repair credibility problems, particularly between the county and state lawmakers at a time when sweeping changes in health and welfare programs could have a severe impact on the county’s financial condition.

But before the 4-1 vote was taken, Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke excoriated her colleague, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, for engineering the Margolin contract out of public view without any competitive bidding.

Quoting Yaroslavsky’s earlier statements denouncing the use of so-called sole-source contracts with no bidding, Burke vowed not to keep quiet about the hiring of Margolin and the small law firm of Brady & Berliner.

“I am just not prepared to go forward with this. So everybody else . . . if you want to . . . give them carte blanche, guarantee them all the money you want. That’s the way we do business in this county,” Burke said. “I think . . . this stinks.”

Burke protested loud and long that the board was giving Margolin power to develop the county’s legislative strategy, direct its lobbying efforts and supervise other lobbyists employed by the county, without knowing what it will cost and who will actually be involved.

“This raises so many questions. Where did this come from?” she protested. “I have no idea who this firm is.”

Yaroslavsky defended his actions. “We have a vacuum in Sacramento and it’s going to have to be dealt with,” he said. “These are times when you hire people for sensitive, important tasks who have your trust and confidence.”

He said Margolin was the right person for the job at a crucial time. A former Democratic assemblyman from Los Angeles, Margolin was brought in last summer to serve as chairman of the county’s Health Crisis Task Force. He was named health czar after offering the supervisors a high-risk blueprint for saving the county’s public health system from collapse.

Yaroslavsky said the nation’s largest county government has “an awful lot at stake in Washington and Sacramento on an ongoing basis.” Not the least of which is actually receiving the $364-million rescue package promised by President Clinton to bail out its public health system.

What was not said in the board’s discussion of the county’s troubled lobbying program were concerns that Margolin and his law firm might replace Burke’s former law firm--Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue--which has been the county’s Washington lobbyist for many years.

Burke said in an interview that she has no financial interest in the huge firm, where she was a partner for five years before being elected to the Board of Supervisors. Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue was a major contributor to Burke’s campaign.

During the discussion, Burke asked incredulously how many lawyers there are in Brady & Berliner. Margolin, who is not a lawyer, replied that there are seven or eight attorneys in four offices in California and Washington.

While suggesting that the county keep Jones, Day as its Washington lobbyists, Supervisor Deane Dana said it is “absolutely vital” for the county to use Margolin to enhance its lobbying efforts.

Board Chairman Mike Antonovich and Supervisor Gloria Molina joined in the supporting the move.

“We have not been effective in our lobbying program,” Molina said. “They haven’t been doing a good job.”

The lobbying issue took on increased urgency in recent weeks after Steve Juarez, the county’s chief Sacramento lobbyist, resigned effective next week to take a job with UCLA.

Juarez’s resignation and the departure of another county lobbyist comes less than a year after the county replaced its longtime Sacramento advocate.

The beginning of the year is a critical period when the Legislature and Gov. Pete Wilson lay the groundwork for budget deliberations and bills must be introduced.

Last year, the county’s legislative efforts were fraught with problems. The supervisors were criticized for arriving in Sacramento too late in the process to influence state budget talks. And key elements of the county’s legislative program failed on the last night of the legislative session.

Margolin said he will help draft the county’s legislative strategy, set goals, and improve relations with state and federal officials. “Trust and credibility is absolutely critical,” he said. “The county has to be believed in Sacramento.”

One Sacramento lobbyist, who asked not to be identified, said the county must overcome years of difficulty resulting from its inability to speak with one voice.

“The problem L.A. County has is it is a five-headed hydra. There are five very powerful [supervisors] who run the county. It’s very difficult for all of them to have the same agenda all of the time.”