SF Ethics Commission

EARNINGS AND EXPENSES OF LOBBYISTS

REGISTERED WITH THE CITY

 

THIRD QUARTER SUMMARY

July 1 through September 30, 2005

Emi Gusukuma, Chairperson

John St. Croix, Executive Director

Date Issued: October 25, 2005

Report Prepared By: Kristian Ongoco 

Table of Contents

Third Quarter Summary of Earnings and Activity of Registered Lobbyists.................................... 1

 

Table 1: All Reported Activity.......................................................................................................... 6

 

Table 2: Political Contributions of $100 or more............................................................................. 7

 

Table 3: Total Political Contributions............................................................................................... 8

 

Table 4: Activity Expenses............................................................................................................... 9

 

Table 5: Gift Tickets and Admissions.............................................................................................. 10

 

Table 6: City Contracts Awarded..................................................................................................... 10

 

Table 7: Employment of City Officers or Employees....................................................................... 10

 

Table 8: Payments for Campaign Consulting Services.................................................................... 10

 

 

 

Summary of Earnings and Activity of Registered Lobbyists

Third Quarter 2005

 

 

The Regulation of Lobbyists Ordinance (“Ordinance”), San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code Article II, Chapter 1, Sections 2.100 - 2.155, require individuals and entities that qualify as lobbyists to register with the Ethics Commission and file quarterly activity reports.  Forty-three lobbyists filed reports with the City and County of San Francisco on October 17, 2005, detailing their lobbyist activity during the Third Quarter of 2005 (July 1 – September 30).  The Ethics Commission has compiled this information in its Third Quarter 2005 Summary of Earnings and Activity of Lobbyists Registered with the City.

 

Individual lobbyist activity reports are available from the Ethics Commission office at 30 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 3900 , on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

 

 

The Ordinance provides that there are three kinds of lobbyists: contract lobbyists, business and organization lobbyists, and expenditure lobbyists. 

 

Contract lobbyists are individuals or entities that are hired to influence local legislative or administrative action on another’s behalf.  Contract lobbyists must register with the Ethics Commission when they earn $3,200 or more in any consecutive three months in exchange for lobbying services OR when they have at least 25 separate contacts with City officers in any two consecutive months for the purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action.  Clients and employees of contract lobbyists are not themselves contract lobbyists and are not subject to the registration and reporting requirements of the Lobbyist Ordinance.

 

Business and organization lobbyists are entities that lobby on their own behalf.  Business and organization lobbyists may include for-profit and non-profit corporations and organizations, associations, and unions.  An entity qualifies as a business and organization lobbyist if the entity pays employees or members any amount to lobby on its behalf AND the employees or members have at least 25 separate contacts with City officers, within a two-month period, for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action.  Individual employees and members of business and organization lobbyists do not themselves qualify as lobbyists and are not subject to the registration and reporting requirements of the Lobbyist Ordinance.

 

Expenditure lobbyists are entities which spend, directly or indirectly, more than $3,200 within any three consecutive months to influence local legislative or administrative action.  Payments made to contract lobbyists and other paid advocates do not count toward the $3,200 threshold, nor do dues payments, donations, and other payments to any business and organization lobbyist or expenditure lobbyist.

 

Each lobbyist must file with the Ethics Commission quarterly reports containing information about payments made or received in order to influence local legislative or administrative action, actions each lobbyist sought to influence, activity expenses incurred, political contributions of $100 or more made or delivered by the filer or made by a client at the behest of a filer to a City officer, candidate or committee, City contracts awarded, payments made in exchange for campaign consulting services, and the names of each City officer employed or retained by the filer or by a client of the filer.

 

City Officers include: any officer identified in San Francisco Administrative Code 1.50, elected officials, the Controller, the City Administrator, department heads, members of City boards and commissions, members of the Board of Education, members of the Governing Board of the Community College District, members of the Housing Authority, members of the Redevelopment Agency, members of the Transportation Authority, and       the Superintendent of Schools.

 

Local legislative or administrative action includes, but is not limited to, the drafting, introduction, consideration, modification, enactment, defeat, approval, veto, granting or denial by any officer of the City and County of any resolution, motion, appeal, application, petition, nomination, ordinance, amendment, approval, referral, permit, license or entitlement to use.

 

 

Table 1:  All Reported Activity

Table 1 provides a summary of all reported activity by lobbyists (hereinafter “filers”) for the third quarter of 2005.  The table summarizes payments promised to and received by contract lobbyists in exchange for lobbyist services, payments made by business and organization and expenditure lobbyists to influence local legislative and administrative action, political contributions made, delivered or arranged by a filer or made by a client at a filer’s behest, and activity expenses incurred by filers.  Filers are listed in alphabetical order, and all amounts (for Table 1 and for all tables) have been rounded to the nearest dollar.  The total promised payments reported by contract lobbyists was $987,851.  The total received payments reported by contract lobbyists were $1,703,446.  The total reported payments made by business and organization and expenditure lobbyists were $168,194.   

 

Table 2:  Political Contributions of $100 or More

Filers must report the total amount of political contributions made, delivered or arranged by the filer, or made by a client at the behest of the filer during the quarter.  Filers must itemize contributions equaling $100 or more.  Filers must report contributions made to the following: a City officer; a candidate for City office; a committee controlled by a City officer or candidate for City office; a committee primarily formed to support or oppose a City officer or candidate for City office; a committee primarily formed to support or oppose a local ballot measure whether or not the committee is controlled by a City officer or candidate for City office.  Table 2 lists all political contributions of $100 or more made by filers during the third quarter. The total reported political contributions were $16,088.

 

Table 3: Total Political Contributions

Table 3 lists (in descending order by lobbyists’ total contributions) all political contributions of any amount made by filers during the third quarter. 

 

Table 4: Activity Expenses

All filers must report activity expenses.  An activity expense is any expense incurred or payment made by a lobbyist (or others specified in the Ordinance) which benefits a City officer, a candidate for City office, a family member thereof (including domestic partners), or aides to members of the Board of Supervisors.  Activity expenses include gifts, honoraria, consulting fees, salaries, and any other form of economic compensation totaling more than $30 in value in a consecutive three-month period. 

 

Table 4 lists activity expenses reported by filers, the total of which includes salaries paid to employees who also serve as City officers.  The table lists the filer, salaries paid, the date of the activity expense, the name and official title or position of each beneficiary of the expense and a description of the benefit conferred.  The table also includes the total cost of the activity, the portion of the total cost of the activity which represents the value of the benefit conferred on each beneficiary and the name of the payee of the expense if it is different from that of the beneficiary.  The total reported amount of activity expenses during the third quarter was more than $20,091, of which more than $20,000 was attributed to salaries.

 

Table 5: Gift Tickets and Admissions

Filers are required to report gift tickets and gift admissions to political fund-raisers and events sponsored by 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations given to City officers.  Table 5 shows each reported gift ticket and/or admission given to a City officer.  The table gives the date and description of the political or charitable event and the name and official title of the beneficiary of the gift ticket and/or admission.  No filers reported gift tickets and/or admissions given to City officers or employees during the quarter.

 

Table 6: City Contracts Awarded

Filers must report certain City contracts they were awarded during the reporting period.  Table 6 lists the type of contract awarded (rendition of personal services; furnishing of any material, supplies or equipment to or from the City; or sale or lease of land or buildings to or by the City, or financing of the same), the date the contract was approved, the name of the City officer and Department that approved the contract, and the subject matter of the contract.  One filer reported being awarded a City contract during the quarter.

 

Table 7: Employment of City Officers or Employees

Filers must report the names of City officers or employees who have been employed or retained by the filer at any time during the reporting period.  This table lists the name and position of the City officer and the services provided by the City officer to the filer.  Filers must also report whether a City officer or employee has been employed or retained by a client of the filer at the behest of the filer at any time during the reporting period.  Filers in this case must list the name of the client and that of the City officer.  Two filers reported employing City officers or employees during the quarter.

 

Table 8: Payments for Campaign Consulting Services

Filers must report the total payments received from City officers during the reporting period in exchange for providing campaign consulting services (as defined in S.F. Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code Article I, Chapter 5, Section 1.505).  Such payments must be reported only if the filer contacted the officer within one year of the date of payment.  No filers reported receiving payments for campaign consulting services during the quarter.

 

 

Table 1 – All Reported Activity

 

Lobbyist Organization	Payments Promised By Clients	Payments Received From Clients	Activity Expenses	Political Contributions	Payments Made To Influence Local Action
Robert Achtenberg	400	400	0	0	0
Bruce Balshone, Pacific Resources Engineering & Planning	5,645	0	0	0	0
Barbary Coast Consulting	141,836	141,836	0	500	0
Barnes, Mosher, Whitehurst, Lauter & Partners	56,500	156,168	0	0	0
BergDavis Public Affairs	113,326	67,385	0	0	0
F. Joseph Butler, AIA	6,849	5,255	0	0	0
California Independent Grocers Association	0	0	0	0	0
California Urban Issues Project	0	0	0	0	0
CC California, Inc.	0	0	0	0	0
Citizens to Save the Waterfront	0	0	0	0	53,909
Clear Channel Outdoor	0	0	0	0	258
Coalition for Better Housing	0	0	0	0	0
Comcast Corporation*	0	0	10,000	0	70,783
Committee on Jobs	0	0	0	0	11,640
Jack Davis	0	80,000	0	0	0
Dewey Square Group	40,000	40,000	0	0	0
GCA Strategies, Inc.	0	23,847	0	500	0
Gladstones & Associates	0	326,623	0	2,388	0
Golden Gate Restaurant Association	0	0	0	0	11,428
Jon Golinger	10,500	11,882	0	0	0
HMS Associates	210,000	380,000	0	1,000	0
Hotel Council of San Francisco *	0	0	10,000	0	1,000
Kay & Merkle	800	800	0	1,000	0
Keil & Connolly	0	0	0	0	0
LaPointe & Associates	70,050	66,550	0	0	0
McCarthy & Schwartz	0	55,919	0	4,700	0
Morrison & Foerster	104,358	40,621	0	0	0
Moscone, Emblidge & Quadra	0	70,000	0	4,500	0
Pacific Gas and Electric	0	0	55	0	1,512
Pacific Telesis & Subsidiaries	0	0	0	0	806
Platinum Advisors, LLC.	79,984	56,987	0	0	0
David Prowler	15,553	15,553	0	0	0
RCN Telecom Services of California	0	0	0	0	375
Reuben & Junius, LLP	1,843	1,843	0	1,000	0
William G. Rutland Jr. LLC	77,500	90,000	0	0	0
SF Apartment Association	0	0	0	500	6,000
SF Association of Realtors	0	0	0	0	2,775
SF Baseball Associates	0	0	0	0	7,707
SF Chamber of Commerce	0	0	0	0	0
Small Property Owners of San Francisco	0	0	0	0	0
Solem & Associates	52,407	71,777	36	0	0
Steefel, Levitt & Weiss	300	0	0	0	0
Jane Winslow Consulting	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	987,851	1,703,446	20,091	16,088	168,194
*Filer incurred more than $10,000 in activity expenses for employee salaries

 

 

Table 2 – Political Contributions of $100 or more made by lobbyists

(Listed alphabetically by committee or candidate’s last name)

Table 3 – Total Contributions by Lobbyists

(Includes contributions of less than $100)

LOBBYIST	TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Barbary Coast Consulting	$500
GCA Strategies	$500
Gladstone & Associates	$2,388
HMS Associates	$1,000
Kay & Merkle	$1,000
McCarthy & Schwartz	$4,700
Moscone, Emblidge & Quadra, LLP	$4,500
Reuben & Junius, LLP	$1,000
SF Apartment Association	$500
	$16,088

 

 

Table 4 – Activity Expenses

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 5
Gift Tickets and Admissions
Lobbyist	Date	Event	Beneficiary
		None

 

 

Table 6
City Contracts Awarded
Lobbyist	Date Awarded	Type of Contract Awarded	City Officer/Department Approving Contract
Pacific Gas and Electric Co.	Ongoing	Furnishing of any material, supplies or equipment to or from the City. Filer provides gas and electricity to city offices.

 

 

Table 7
Employment of City Officers or Employees
Lobbyist		Name of City Officer Employed	Services Provided for Filer
Comcast Corp.		Linda Crayton, San Francisco Airport Commissioner	Director of Governmental Affairs
Hotel Council of San Francisco		Patricia Breskin, Taxi Commissioner	Executive Director, Hotel Council of San Francisco

                                                                      

 

Table 8
Payments for Campaign Consulting Services
Lobbyist		Name of City Officer From Whom Payment Received	Amount/Date of Payment & Services Provided
		None