AGENDA #2.2

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Public Forum on Proposed Lobbying and Ethics Ordinance

 

DATE:             June 14, 2004

 

 

Tonight’s public forum has been scheduled to receive citizen input on a proposed Lobbying and Ethics Ordinance.

 

BACKGROUND

 

On May 24, 2004, the Council called a public forum for tonight on a proposed ordinance that would establish registration and reporting regulations for paid lobbyists and would set ethical guidelines for Town elected officials.  The Council also referred the proposed ordinance to the Town Manager for a report on the estimated record keeping impact of the regulations that would be established by the proposed ordinance.

 

Attached is a copy of the May 24, 2004 agenda materials.

 

DISCUSSION

 

We have reviewed the proposed ordinance prepared by the Town Attorney.  Based on our evaluation of the draft regulations, we have the following comments regarding the potential additional work load that would be generated by the Ordinance. 

 

The Ordinance, as proposed, would require:

 

·        development and oversight of a process for the registration of lobbyists,

·        the reporting of activities by lobbyists,

·        amendments to reports,

·        reports of compensation and expenditures,

·        notices of termination of activities,

·        registration statements, reports, and other forms necessary for Town officials to report to the Town Clerk any lobbying activities they believe has been conducted to influence a municipal decision,

·        notification via certified mail to persons who are required to register but did not do so, and notification of penalties and as well as collection of penalties,

·        a process for public disclosure by elected officials of direct communications with federal, State and local governmental entities and others as prescribed by the Ordinance,

·        a process for public disclosure of meetings and conversations with persons representing public agencies,

·        an administrative process for the Mayor and Town Council to disclose gifts, favors, or gratuities received from lobbyists and others, and

·        all other procedures as required by the proposed Ordinance.

 

Based on current conditions, the Town Clerk’s staff would be able to accommodate the additional work load that would be generated by the Ordinance by increasing the hours of the current part-time staff person, or adding additional overtime hours to current staff.  We do not believe that the additional work could be performed without additional resources, because of the existing workload demands that already require regular overtime work.

 

We estimate that the administrative recordkeeping impact of the proposed ordinance on the Town Clerk’s staff would range between 2 and 10 additional staff hours per week at an estimated cost of $2,000 to $10,000 annually.  The actual cost would depend on the actual level of activity and service demand.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

We recommend that the Council refer the comments received at tonight’s public forum to the Council Committee for its consideration and to the Manager and Attorney for comment.  Depending on the extent of public comment this evening, we recommend that the matter be considered again at the Council’s June 30, 2004 meeting, or deferred for further consideration on September 27, 2004. 

 

ATTACHMENT

 

1.     May 24, 2004 memorandum to the Mayor and Town Council (begin new page 1).