City Ethics
Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Green Bay Punts on Lobbying Law

Anonymous
City Related

A local lobbying law is only as good as its enforcement, especially
when local government leaders provide no leadership.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20140521/GPG0101/305210355/…; target="”_blank”">a
column by Scott Cooper Williams in the Green Bay (WI) <i>Press
Gazette</i> yesterday</a>, Green Bay passed a lobbying
registration law three years ago and, since that time, only seven
lobbyists, representing two total clients, registered.<br>
<br>
This city hall reporter says that he saw lobbying going on all the
time. "That is why I expected a rush of activity when city leaders
three years ago took steps to make lobbying more transparent. ...
But weeks turned into months, and not a single lobbyist came forward
to sign up."<br>
<br>

Williams says that, knowing that there is lots of lobbying in city
hall, the lack of registration means that the lobbying program needs
tightening. But instead, the council backpedaled on lobbying,
excluding in-house lobbyists from the registration requirement.<br>
<br>
At the local level, there are a lot more in-house lobbyists than
contract lobbyists. Much of the lobbying is done by executives at
local companies (e.g., contractors, developers, and the Packers).
To exclude in-house lobbyists, who haven't been registering anyway, and whom
council members (who certainly know who they are) haven't criticized
for not registering, is effectively proof that lobbying works and
that council members favor special interests even to the extent of
not requiring them to follow the laws they pass.<br>
<br>
As Williams so astutely puts it, "The city
implemented the change after being approached by local companies
concerned about the disclosure requirement. Which begs the obvious
question: Did those company representatives first register as
lobbyists? Nope."<br>
<br>
See <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/getting-green-bay-ethics-program-supe…; target="”_blank”">a 2011 blog post on Green Bay's serious lack of ethics leadership</a>.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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