Lobbyists who break rules face no penalty; official seeks change

By Joe Schoenmann (contact)

Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008 | 2 a.m.

It is the slow time for local politics.

The Clark County Government Center’s parking lot is nearly empty; the halls are devoid of the lobbyists who usually roam them, ready to shake a hand and make their case on the behalf of whoever is paying them to influence votes.

Clark County oversees the economic engine of the state — the Strip — so business interests are going to do what they can to sway political decisions. That’s to be expected.

Less understandable is that in Clark County, upheld by many as the model of local government in Nevada, oversight of the interaction between lobbyists and elected officials is rather lax.

The county beefed up its policy regarding lobbyists in 2002, but that policy isn’t always followed.

Last summer, the Sun reported lobbyists filed 189 disclosure forms in the first six months of 2008, but failed to file the forms on 171 other occasions.

The disclosure forms are supposed to state whom a lobbyist visits, whom the lobbyist is representing and what the lobbyist wants to talk about.

Last week, the Sun compared the sign-in sheets with disclosure forms filed from Oct. 1 through Dec. 1.

Over those two months, lobbyists signed in to see county commissioners 107 times. (Sometimes they would sign in once but list four or five commissioners they planned to visit, so the number of individual visits is greater.) On 41 of those visits, lobbyists did not file disclosure forms.

Is it necessary to put some teeth into the county policy regarding lobbyists?

Yes, Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani says, because the policy isn’t being enforced. “It’s all voluntary and I see lobbyists around here all the time who aren’t wearing their lobbyist badges. There’s no tracking. We put commissioner disclosures on a Web site, but we don’t keep a true report of lobbyist disclosures and we ought to.”

She plans to introduce in January an ordinance strengthening the county rules.

What would the ordinance call for?

Giunchigliani, a state assemblywoman for 17 years, wants Clark County to follow the same guidelines as the state, with punishment for lobbyists who violate the rules. Lobbyists are already asked to register with the county and file disclosure forms for each meeting with commissioners. Giunchigliani wants those disclosures to be more accessible to the public. They could be posted on the Internet.

More important, she would like the county to adopt a system of fines for those who don’t follow the rules.

Does she have enough votes on the commission to get this passed?

She said she hasn’t talked to her colleagues about her proposal. But last summer, Commission Chairman Rory Reid told the Sun one shortfall of the county’s regulation of lobbyists was that the policy had “no teeth.”

“I think it’s a reason why people don’t comply — there is no penalty,” Reid said.

But won’t this just create more paperwork, more red tape, more time-consuming hoop jumping? What good is any of it?

The rationale for regulating lobbyists is that the government needs to be as transparent as possible, the public should know who is trying to influence which elected officials on behalf of whom. The thinking is that citizens can then better evaluate the decisions made and the officials who make those decisions.

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Has the county figured out what it will do about the elderly and disabled mobile home owners whose rents at Cactus Ridge Mobile Home Community are spiking in the coming months?

No. As it stands, the rent increases may result in the evictions of homeowners who 10 years ago were moved into Cactus Ridge by the county. Long-time local Realtor Pat Snyder is offering an old-fashioned solution, though. Snyder, a retired great-grandfather of six, hopes to start a donation fund for the residents. His goal is to get 1,000 people to each pledge $10 per month to cover the rent increases for the residents on fixed incomes.

“That’s $10,000 a month that could be spread out to help with their shortages every month,” Snyder said. “What’s $10? Heck, I’d blow that in a casino in no time. We live in a great community and we get a lot of bad raps, but there is a lot of good here, too.”