Richmond Municipal Code Ch. 2.54 Regulation of Lobbyists

The following persons are deemed to be lobbyists and shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter:

(1) Any person, business entity or other organization, including an individual contract lobbyist, which contracts for economic consideration to communicate with any officer of the City of Richmond ("City") for the purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action on behalf of any other person.

(2) Any business or organization any of whose employees or members as a regular part of their duties or employment, communicate with any officer of the City for the purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action on behalf of that business or organization. The requirements of this chapter shall not apply where employees or members indicate affiliation or identification with a business or organization, but do not represent the official position of the business or organization.

(3) Any person who directly or indirectly expends $3,000 or more in any calendar year to influence local legislative or administrative action. Payments made to any person as consideration for communicating with an officer of the City for the purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action shall not be included in calculating expenditures for the purposes of this subsection.

(a) No person shall be deemed a lobbyist under Section 2.54.010 (1), unless that person receives or becomes entitled to receive at least $1,000 total compensation in any month or more than $3,000 in any calendar year for influencing local legislative or administrative action or has at least ten separate contacts for the purpose of influencing local administrative or legislative action within any two consecutive months.

(b) No business or organization shall be deemed a lobbyist under Section 2.54.010(2) unless it compensates its employees or members for their lobbying activities on behalf of the business or organization, and the compensated employees or members have at least ten separate contacts with officers of the City for the purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action within any two consecutive months.

(c) Total compensation shall be calculated by combining all compensation received during the month from all clients for all lobbying activities on all targeted local legislative and administrative actions. Total number of contacts shall be calculated by combining all contacts made during the two-month period on behalf of all clients for all lobbying activities on all targeted local legislative and administrative actions.

The term lobbyist shall not include:

(1) A public official acting in an official capacity;

(2) A newspaper or other regularly published periodical, radio or television station (including any individual who owns, published or is employed by any such newspaper or periodical, radio or television station) which in the ordinary course of business publishes news items, editorials or other comments, or paid advertisements, which directly or indirectly urge action upon local legislative or administration action;

(3) Any communication by an attorney concerning the settlement of a claim or lawsuit involving the City and that attorney's client;

(4) A person invited by or on behalf of any officer of the City to confer, consult or give testimony in aid of the officer extending the invitation;

(5) A person appearing with respect to local legislative or administrative action pursuant to a procedure established by State or Federal law, or pursuant to any procedure established by this chapter for levying an assessment against real property for the construction or maintenance of an improvement;

(6) A person applying for, opposing or otherwise taking any position on a grading permit or a permit relating to the construction, alteration, demolition or moving of a building or to a person filing, opposing or otherwise taking a position of a parcel map or subdivision tract map; provided, however, that if a person qualifies as a lobbyist and that person makes or opposes an appeal or represents a person making or opposing an appeal, pursuant to any procedure or authority provided by law from an administrative determination made with respect to such an application or map, that person shall be required to register as provided in Section 2.54.050 of this chapter upon making the appeal or filing opposition to it;

(7) A person employed by a lobbyist registered under this chapter to provide expert testimony before an officer of the City;

(8) A Richmond neighborhood council, or any officer or member of a neighborhood council acting, in accordance with the bylaws of the neighborhood council and on behalf of the neighborhood council, on an issue or performing a task which the neighborhood council has authorized or endorsed by majority vote. To qualify for this exemption, a neighborhood council shall be duly organized with a majority of its members being residents of Richmond, have defined geographic boundaries, conduct regular meetings, keep written minutes, and have bylaws and a list of current officers on file with the City Clerk.

Whenever used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall be as defined in this section:

(1) "Economic consideration" means reimbursement for expenses incurred. A person shall be deemed to be employed as a lobbyist whether consideration is paid specifically for activity regulated by this chapter or other activity as well.

(2) "Communicate" means to communicate directly or through an agent, associate or employee, but shall not include (A) appearing as a witness in, or providing written statements which become a part of the record of a public hearing, so long as the lobbyist identifies the client or clients on whose behalf the lobbyist is speaking or writing; or (B) the distribution to any officer of the City of any regularly published newsletter or other periodical which is not primarily directed at influencing local legislative or administrative action. A public hearing shall include any open noticed proceeding where public record is kept of who testified and who was represented by a lobbyist testifying at that hearing.

(3) "Officer of the City" means a member of the City Council, the Mayor, the City Manager, the City Attorney, a member of a board or commission, and any other City officer or employee whose duties are not primarily clerical or manual.

(4) "Expend" means to pay, distribute, loan, advance, deposit or give money or anything of value, whether directly or indirectly, for the purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action, and includes a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforceable, to make an expenditure.

(5) "Local legislative or administrative action" means the drafting, introduction, consideration, modification, enactment, defeat, approval, veto, granting or denial by any officer of the City of any resolution, motion, appeal, application, petition, nomination, Article, amendment, approval, referral, permit, license or entitlement to use. Local legislative or administrative action does not include any action by any officer of the City which adjudicates the rights and/or duties of a single individual (or group of individual proceedings are consolidated) other than a proceeding described in Section 2.54.030(6) of this chapter.

(6) "Quarterly" or "quarter" or "calendar quarter" mean the annual calendar quarters of the year, namely, the time periods encompassed by January 1 — March 31, April 1 — June 30, July 1 — September 30, and October 1 — December 31, respectively. The term semiannual means two periods each year, the first comprising the first and second quarters, and the second comprising the third and fourth quarters.

(7) "Public official" as used in Section 2.54.030 of this chapter means an elected or appointed officer or employee or officially designated representative, whether compensated or not, of the United States or any of its agencies, the State of California, any political subdivision of the State, including cities, counties, districts, or any public body corporate and politic agency or commission.

(8) "Client" means the real party in interest for whose benefit the services are actually performed. The client of a lobbyist qualified under Section 2.54.010(2) of this chapter, shall be the business or organization; the client of a lobbyist qualified under Section 2.54.010(3) of this chapter shall be the individual. An individual member of an organization shall not be deemed to be a client solely by reason of the fact that such member is individually represented by an employee or agent of the organization as a regular part of such employee's or agent's duties with the organization and so long as such member does not pay an amount of money or other consideration for such representation in addition to the usual membership fees.

(9) "Activity expenses" means any expense incurred or payment made by a lobbyist or lobbyist's client, or arranged by a lobbyist or a lobbyist's client, which benefits in whole or in part any officer of the City, candidate for municipal office, or a member of the immediate family of one of these individuals. Activity expenses include gifts, honoraria, consulting fees, salaries, and any other form of economic compensation totaling more than $50 in value in a calendar month, but do not include political contributions.

(10) Payments, when required to be reported under Section 2.54.070 of this chapter, shall be reported in $5,000 bracketed increments. For example, a computed amount of $3,172 shall be reported as "between $1 and $5,000," and a computed amount of $13,378 shall be reported as "between $10,001 and $15,000.

(a) No lobbyist shall communicate with an officer of the City for the purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action without first registering with the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall issue a registration number to each lobbyist and indicate thereon the expiration date of the registration, which shall be one year after the last day of the calendar quarter in which registration occurs.

(b) At the time of registration or re-registration, each lobbyist shall pay an initial fee of $35 and an additional fee of $15 for each client identified by the lobbyist at said time. When a client is acquired subsequent to registration or re-registration, a $15 fee shall accompany the filing of the information required herein. The City Clerk shall waive these fees for any organization presenting proof of its tax exempt status under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4).

(c) In order to maintain an active registration, a lobbyist shall re-register between the first and last day of the month in which the registration expired.

(a) At the time of registration or re-registration, and between the first and 15th day of the first month of the first and third quarter so long as that person's registration continues, each lobbyist shall file with the City Clerk a report of:

(1) The name, address and phone number of the lobbyist;

(2) If the filer is a business or organization qualifying under Section 2.54.010(2) of this chapter, a specific description of the business or organization in sufficient detail to inform the reader of the name and purpose of the business or organization;

(3) If the filer is an individual qualifying under Section 2.54.010(3) of this chapter, the name and address of the filer's employer, if any, or his or her principal place of business if the filer is self-employed, and a description of the business activity in which the filer or his or her employer is engaged;

(4) The name and address of each current client;

(5) The proposed local legislative or administrative action the lobbyist is employed to support or oppose, and the client on whose behalf the lobbyist is employed for each proposed local legislative or administrative action;

(6) The names of all individual communicating with any officer of the City on behalf of the lobbyist; and

(7) Any other information required by the City Clerk consistent with the purposes and provisions of this chapter.

(b) The lobbyist shall also, within 30 days after initially registering or after first registering on behalf of a particular client, submit to the City Clerk a written authorization from each client by whom the lobbyist is employed to act in furtherance of such object, including the local legislative or administrative action the lobbyist has been employed to support or oppose. Client authorizations need not be resubmitted at the time of re-registering.

(c) Should services be engaged or terminated by any client subsequent to registering or re-registering, the same information with respect to that client shall be filed by the lobbyist before acting on behalf of that client and no later than 15 days after the change in status. A person who ceases all activity as a lobbyist may notify the City Clerk of that fact and, upon reporting the information required by subsection (a) of this section, occurring since the lobbyist's last semiannual statement or since the commencement of the subject employment, whichever is applicable, shall be relieved of the obligation of making future reports required by this chapter until again acting as a lobbyist.

At the time of registration or re-registration, and between the first and 15th day of the first and third calendar quarter so long as that person's registration continues, each lobbyist shall file with the City Clerk a detailed report of:

(1) All activity expenses incurred by the lobbyist firm during the preceding two quarters, including the following information:

(A) The date and amount of each activity expense;

(B) The full name and official position, if any, of the beneficiary of each expense, a description of the benefit, and the amount of the benefit;

(C) The full name of the payee of each expense if other than the beneficiary;

(2) A report of all political contributions of $100 or more made by the lobbyist during the preceding two quarters to an officer of the City, a candidate for such office, a committee controlled by such officer or candidate, or a committee primarily formed to support such officer or candidate, or any committee primarily formed to oppose a candidate for City office. This report shall include all political contributions arranged by the lobbyist, or for which the lobbyist acted as an agent or intermediary.

(3) With respect to lobbyists as defined in Section 2.54.010(1) of this chapter:

(A) The full name, business address and telephone number of each client, a description of the specific local legislative or administrative action regarding which the lobbyist communicated with any officer of the City on behalf of that client, and the total payments, including fees and the reimbursement of expenses, received from that client for such communication on behalf of the client; and

(B) The total amount of payments received from all clients for such communications.

(4) With respect to lobbyists as defined in Section 2.54.010(2) of this chapter:

(A) A description of the specific local legislative or administrative action regarding which an employee or member of the lobbyist communicated with any officer of the City on behalf of the lobbyist;

(B) Payments to influence local legislative or administrative action, specifically, payments for or in connection with:

(i) Support or assistance of lobbyists,

(ii) Direct communications with a City officer for the primary purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action,

(iii) Soliciting or urging persons other than the filer or the filer's employees to enter into communications with a City officer for the primary purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action.

(5) With respect to lobbyists as defined in Section 2.54.010(3) of this chapter:

(A) Any payment to a lobbyist as defined in Section 2.54.010(1) of this chapter for communicating with any City officer for the primary purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action; and

(B) Payments to influence local legislative or administration action, specifically, payments for or in connection with:

(i) Support or assistance of lobbyists,

(ii) Direct communications with a City officer for the primary purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action, in which case a description of the specific local legislative or administrative action that is the subject of the communication shall be included,

(iii) Soliciting or urging persons other than the filer or the filer's employees to enter into communications with a City officer for the primary purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action that is the subject of the proposed communication shall be included.

(6) As used in subsections (4)(B) and (5)(B) of this section, payments to influence local legislative or administrative action shall not include payments for either of the following:

(A) Compensation or other payments for services which are solely secretarial, clerical, or manual, or are limited solely to the compilation of data and statistics; or

(B) Except for payments to lobbyists and to employees who perform services other than those described in subsection (6)(A) of this section, the costs of any regular, ongoing business overhead which would continue to be incurred in substantially similar amounts regardless of the filer's activities to influence local legislative or administrative action.

(7) Any other information required by the City Clerk consistent with the purposes and provisions of this chapter.

Any person who qualifies as a lobbyist under Section 2.54.010 of this chapter shall have the following obligations:

(1) Not to act as a lobbyist unless registered pursuant to this chapter, and not to accept any economic consideration for acting as a lobbyist except upon condition that the lobbyist forthwith register in accordance with this chapter;

(2) Not to cause or influence the introduction or initiation of any local legislative or administrative action for the purpose of thereafter being employed to secure its granting, denial, confirmation, rejection, passage or defeat;

(3) Not to communicate with any officer of the City in the name of any fictitious person or in the name of any real person, except with the consent of such real person;

(4) To retain all books, papers and documents necessary to substantiate the financial reports required to be made under this chapter for a period of five years.

A lobbyist shall not attempt to evade these obligations through indirect efforts or through the use of agents, associates or employees.

If any lobbyist employs or requests, recommends or causes such lobbyist's client to employ, and such client does employ, any officer of the City, or any person known by such lobbyist to be a full-time employee of the City, in any capacity whatsoever, the lobbyist shall file within 10 days after such employment a statement with the City Clerk setting out the nature of the employment, the name of the person to be paid thereunder, the amount of pay or consideration to be paid thereunder and the date first employed.

It is unlawful knowingly to pay any person to communicate with any officer of the City for the purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action, if said person is required to register under this chapter and has not done so.

All information required under this chapter shall be filed with the City Clerk, on forms provided by the City Clerk. The individual filing shall swear to the accuracy and completeness of the information under penalty of perjury.

(a) The City Clerk shall issue a notice of registration required upon the written request of any officer of the City. Any person who in good faith and on reasonable grounds believes that compliance with this chapter is not required by reason of being exempt under this Section 2.54.020 or 2.54.030 shall not be deemed to have violated this chapter if, within 15 days after notice from the City Clerk that person either complies or furnish satisfactory evidence to the City Clerk evidencing that said person is exempt from registration.

(b) The information provided in registration and activity reports filed pursuant to this chapter shall be compiled by the City Clerk as soon as practicable after the close of each quarter with respect to which such information is filed and shall be forwarded to the City Council.

(c) In January of each year, the City Clerk shall file a report with the City Council on the implementation of this chapter.

(d) All reports and statements filed with the City Clerk under this chapter shall be preserved by the City Clerk for a period of five years from the date of filing. Such reports and statements shall constitute a part of the public records of the City Clerk's Office and shall be open to public inspection.

(e) The City Clerk shall have the power to adopt all reasonable and necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of this chapter.

(f) To assist in the interpretation and implementation of this chapter, the City Clerk shall prepare and make available a "Lobbyist Manual" which shall, in its initial form (except as required to conform to differences between this chapter and San Francisco Administrative Code Article XIIA, Sections 16.520 to 16.532), be similar to and utilize the same interpretations and reporting forms as found in the "City and County of San Francisco Lobbyist Manual dated May 29, 1996."

(g) The first period for which registration and filing of reports shall be required shall be the second quarter of 1997, beginning April 1, 1997. Although lobbyists may register prior to April 1, 1997, registration shall not be required until the end of the first reporting period; thereafter it shall be required as stated in Section 2.54.050 of this chapter.

(a) Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this chapter is liable in a civil action brought by the City Attorney for an amount up to $1,000 per violation.

(b) Should two or more persons be responsible for any violation under this chapter, they shall be jointly and severally liable.

(c) If any person files an original statement or report after any deadline imposed by this chapter, he or she shall, in addition to any other penalties or remedies established in this section, be liable in an amount of $10 per day after the deadline until the statement or report is filed, to the City Clerk. Liability need not be enforced if on an impartial basis the City Attorney determines that the late filing was not willful and that enforcement of the liability will not further the purposes of this chapter. The City Clerk shall deposit any funds received under this section into the general fund of the City.

(d) The City Attorney may also bring an action to revoke for up to one year at the registration of any lobbyist who has knowingly violated this chapter.

No civil action alleging a violation of this chapter, as provided in Section 2.54.130 of this chapter, shall be filed more than four years after the date the violation occurred.

If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this chapter, or the application thereof to any person, is for any reason held be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter or its application of other persons. The City Council declares that it would have adopted this chapter, and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivision, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions, or the application thereof to any person, to be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Source: Ordinance No. 1-97 N.S.)