Incredibly, there's currently no way for citizens to know
who's being paid to lobby their elected officials. Although county, state, and federal lobbyists are required to register with those jurisdictions, lobbyists that seek to influence city legislation have for decades operated in complete darkness.
Tomorrow afternoon at 2:00, the City Council's Culture, Civil Rights, Health and Personnel Committee will take up long-pending
legislation that would remedy that oversight, requiring lobbyists to register with the city's ethics and elections commission. The legislation, sponsored by council member Nick Licata, would
require paid lobbyists to file quarterly reports saying who they ...