Lobbyist registry is really easy fix

By Steve Estes

Monroe County Board of County Commissioners Wednesday agreed to delay acting on a lobbyist registration ordinance until April.

That was probably a good move.

The measure has met with a great deal of controversy, although it seems very simple on its face. However, simplicity means nothing when our leadership is looking for a devil in the details.

The premise of this registration ordinance was simple—exceedingly simple.

Voters wanted to know who was spending what trying to influence our elected officials to vote certain ways on certain issues.

And they weren’t interested in the individual property owner that was approaching a commissioner to solicit their help in matters that related only to their individual cases.

They were, and are, interested in the deep-pocket development representatives, or the deep-pocket program representatives, that spend thousands trying to get a favorable land use change decision from either our elected leadership or our staff.

We want to know how often developers trying to hijack the working waterfront preservation ordinance approached the county staff or elected officials, or wrote favorable (to their project) pieces of the eventual mish-mash of bad planning prose that was kicked out.

We want to know how often and how intensely our former commissioners were lobbied that resulted in buying a defunct restaurant on Stock Island.

We want to know how many far-forward planning developers are even now calling on our elected leadership to get a favorable response for an eventual land use decision that stands to make someone millions.

We have no problem with profit. Profit makes our economy run. Profit allows a proliferation of small business to service that profit-making activity.

What we have a problem with is deep-pocketed, out-of-the-sunshine developer representatives getting nearly unfettered access to staff and elected officials, while the common man has to work for a living and show up only at meetings.

Because human nature is what it is, there is a direct correlation to the amount of time our elected officials spend with determined lobbyists to the decisions made on the dais.

We have heard some quite ludicrous reasons why a lobbying ordinance is not needed, and in some cases have heard elected officials being deliberately obtuse in an attempt to muddy the waters and water down the proposal to the point of uselessness.

Again, this is a very simple matter, and one that should be heartily embraced by every sitting member of the county commission.

If it’s a worry about non-profits needing to spend the money to register their executive directors to talk to the county staff and commissioners to beg for their yearly stipend—simple—don’t charge a fee. Don’t charge a fee to the homeowners associations trying to get streets paved, or tress cut, or vacant land taken care of, or ramshackle buildings taken down.

Don’t charge a fee to anyone, just make them all register.

How can you do that, you ask? Glad you asked.

We don’t care whether someone has enough money to pay the registry fee.

What we care about is knowing who is asking for the permission to ask our elected and appointed officials for favors.

And don’t forget, the constituency of this county is probably a lot smarter than our elected officials seem to give them credit for.

We’re absolutely sure that when the normal voter looks at the registry list and sees John Brown, representing the Church of Christ, they are absolutely sure that person isn’t there trying to get a favorable vote on a working waterfront ordinance that will allow hotels double the size of any other anywhere in the county, and no-application commercial footage.

We are sure the average voter will be able to know that a local social services director isn’t there to offer fishing trips and expensive dinners for the right to write a favorable twist to a working waterfront ordinance as was done with the last Growth Management Director. That director is probably there begging for more money to carry out their charitable mission.

We are smarter than our elected leadership gives us credit for. We know the difference between an innocuous visit by someone seeking help, and a not so innocuous visit that will wind up in something that the folks don’t want from our county government.

What we need to know is that our elected leadership is smart enough to recognize our smarts, and smart enough to recognize our need to know who is going to be asking for the “next big thing.”

Easy route to get the voter what they want.