The ranks of 鈥榣obbyists鈥 at sa国际传媒 City Hall are set to shrink.聽
A new policy adopted this week will reduce the number of people who have to comply with the provisions of the citysa国际传媒 official lobbyist registry.聽
The key change is that only those who are paid to advocate on behalf of a business or organization, or those with a direct or indirect financial interest in a specific city matter, must identify themselves as lobbyists when talking to councillors.聽
Previously, the policy could be interpreted as applying to anyone, paid or unpaid, who wanted to talk to the mayor or councillors about a matter within councilsa国际传媒 jurisdiction.聽
鈥淭he purpose of these amendments is to give the policy an enhanced focus on paid lobbying and lobbying with a personal financial interest at stake, while also streamlining the registration process and promoting greater ease of compliance,鈥 read part of a report presented to councillors at Mondaysa国际传媒 meeting.聽
Councillors agreed the change makes sense in that it makes it clear ordinary citizens could speak to them about a variety of issues without first putting their names on the lobbyist registry.聽
鈥淭his amendment reduces the number of people who need to register to only paid lobbyists,鈥 acting mayor Luke Stack said. 鈥淐itizens can 鈥榣obby鈥 us so to speak, all they want, so long as they鈥檙e not being paid to do so or have a financial interest in a particular proposal.鈥
The city adopted its lobbyist registry program a year ago, largely at the urging of Mayor Tom Dyas who had included the idea in his 2022 campaign promises. He said it would promote greater transparency in decision-making on public matters.聽
At Mondaysa国际传媒 meeting, however, Coun. Charlie Hodge said he still found the whole idea of a lobbyist registry peculiar, since he believed it was part of his responsibility as an elected official to meet with people who wanted to meet with him.聽
鈥淚 really find the whole lobbyist thing bothersome. I was elected to be lobbied by the public,鈥 Hodge said. 鈥淚鈥檓 here to hear what they have to say, what they need, what they think, and move it forward to council in the best way I can to serve the needs of the people that voted for me.
鈥淭o answer their questions, to solve their problems, to fight their fights - thatsa国际传媒 why I鈥檓 here, as far as I鈥檓 concerned,鈥 Hodge said.聽
Hodge also noted councillors themselves can be considered as acting as lobbyists, as itsa国际传媒 not uncommon for them to meet with one another before meetings to try to persuade each other to vote a certain way on upcoming agenda items.聽
鈥淭hey meet and greet with people before meetings, try to convince them of their point of view, it happens all the time,鈥 Hodge said.聽
