Council weighs hiring lobbyist

Costa Mesa’s interests could soon be among the many special interests

that lobbyists advocate and government critics rail against as having

too much influence in politics.

Councilwoman Katrina Foley is suggesting the city hire a lobbyist

to bring in more state and federal dollars for Costa Mesa projects.

But one of her colleagues on the council said the city’s need for

legislative advocates remains limited.

The city has occasionally used lobbyists to handle specific

issues, but in recent years, it has not had an advocate in Sacramento

or in Washington, City Manager Allan Roeder said.

Costa Mesa is missing out by not having a lobbyist, said Foley,

who is an attorney. For example, she said, federal funding could

help pay for a planned $22-million expansion of the police station

that will otherwise come from the city’s general fund.

“We rarely, if ever, get federal appropriations for our city, and

I think we need to have people who know how to do that working for us

because it benefits our community,” Foley said.

“Every day we don’t have someone working to find us money, it’s

costing us money and we have to rely on taxpayer dollars.”

Six of nine Orange County cities that were surveyed use lobbyists,

and they spend an average of $54,000 a year on state advocates and

$70,000 a year on federal ones, according to a report prepared for

the council.

The report said it’s hard to tell how successful lobbyists have

been at netting funding for the cities surveyed -- they included

Anaheim, Huntington Beach and Santa Ana -- and opinions varied widely

on the overall effectiveness of their services.

For Costa Mesa’s City Council members, the decision may also hinge

on how involved they want to get in the legislative process, Roeder

said.

The council generally works through the League of California

Cities to put in its two cents, and it sometimes sends letters

supporting or opposing bills, but council members rarely take trips

to the state capital.

Hiring a lobbying firm “would involve a very active program of

council members being in Sacramento, testifying on legislation and

taking a much more active role,” Roeder said.

“It’s really a function of how the council feels most comfortable

and what kind of role they see for the city in the legislative

arena,” he said.

Council members on Tuesday said they’d like to see a specific list

of issues for lobbyists to work on and develop a policy for when to

engage lobbyists.

Costa Mesa City Councilman Gary Monahan said he doesn’t see a need

to hire a full-time legislative advocate.