Cutting Lobbyists Out of the Loop

In awarding major county contracts, the Board of Supervisors automatically should be interested in getting the best possible work for the lowest possible price. This is especially so in an era when privatization has become a mantra for saving public dollars. But logic does not always prevail in a system in which lobbyists have a well-established financial and political stake as middlemen and in which access is king.

Despite criticism from the Orange County Grand Jury and others who have looked into the process, cronyism dies hard. It hasn’t even been possible until very recently to get the supervisors to consider real reform in county procuring.

Under the current system, the board considers the three top firms selected by a reviewing committee on a particular bid and then turns a blind eye to the ranking made by subordinates. Enter the lobbyists, who put themselves between the contending firms and the supervisors and make their pitches.

In effect, the one who wins is the one who actually has the most influence with supervisors. These people often have long-standing relationships, some as former staff members or as willing arrangers of fund-raisers. In this environment, the merit of proposals suddenly can get very fuzzy. In the end, there is no guarantee that the public will get an architectural or engineering firm that actually submitted the best proposal.

Next week, the board has before it four options. One is to do nothing and three are to make modifications. The most viable is one that still gives supervisors final say but, if they reject the ranking of staff experts who have screened prospective contractors, requires them to state why.

This would help drive the process out of the back rooms and into the daylight, where the public can see how the process is working. It would provide a needed check on the supervisors and ensure that they base their decisions on something more than friendship with a particular lobbyist.

The supervisors already have ended a system wherein the county awarded contracts to companies that contributed to them. They previously banned gifts from firms that had done business with the county in the previous 12 months.

This latest proposal would be an additional reform, and it would enhance the value and expertise of evaluating staff. The supervisors still would be able to say that they, as elected officials, are the ones making the big decisions.

Anybody with any independence who has considered this issue concludes that the influence of lobbyists must be reduced or eliminated. A further tightening of rules can reinforce public confidence in government.