Payments to City Hall Lobbyists Set Record
Revealing the high cost of doing business in City Hall, lobbyists were paid a record $3.2 million in the third quarter of 1998 to help win City Council approval for a variety of developments and contract awards, according to the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.
The Ethics Commission report, which covers July through September, also shows the highest number of registered lobbyists in the city--170--and lobbyists’ clients--547--since the city’s lobbying ordinance was amended in 1994.
Among the top 10 developers or contractors paying lobbyists were Keystone Towing Inc., which paid $170,000 for assistance in winning a key police garage contract; TrizecHahn Centers Inc., which spent $151,266 to help get approval for its Hollywood Highland redevelopment project; and the Los Angeles Business Advisors, which paid Cerrell Associates Inc. $84,022 for help on charter reform issues.
Lobbyists also reported giving $11,600 in contributions to four council members, the mayor and to a committee set up to support the library bond ballot measure.
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