Local Agency Lobbyists Should Register as Lobbyists

Rarely do agencies' own lobbyists get caught by their agency breaking agency rules on communications. This is what just happened in Houston. According to an article last night on Houston's Channel 13 website, an individual who, under a contract, lobbies state and federal officials for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, TX (METRO) disclosed that he had spoken with a judge assigned to an important case involving METRO. The lobbyist says he didn't talk about the case, but only about the judge's re-election campaign. As "a long-time political supporter" of the judge, this would not be surprising. Many contract lobbyists are involved in political parties and particular campaigns.

But it is against METRO rules for anyone working for the agency to talk with judges dealing with METRO cases. Such ex parte communication rules are common. But since the lobbyist encountered the judge at a country club, was not working on the case itself (usually ex parte communication rules are intended to apply to those involved in litigation, not to others in an agency who happen to run into a judge they may or may not know is involved in a METRO case), and apparently neither party to the conversation said that it involved the case, it's questionable whether a violation should have been found and especially whether the lobbyist should have been fined $10,000 and had people insisting that he be fired.

More serious, I believe, is the fact that the lobbyist has not registered as a lobbyist, insisting that he provides "strategic advice." He is hardly alone in this; half of those who lobby in Washington say the same thing. But his agency should insist that he register as a lobbyist if it contracts with him for any activities that involve direct or indirect communications with government officials. This is a serious oversight on the part of METRO and should be immediately corrected.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics