The California League of Cities is hiring a "public affairs fund raiser" according to an ad they placed in this week’s Calpeek. You can see the job description here.
In general there is nothing wrong with special interests raising funds to promote their cause–their unique interests. However, so-called quasi-government organizations such as the League should perhaps be held to a different standard.
In fact, the League plays a major role in not just influencing government from the outside looking in like other lobby groups that represent doctors or labor, the League actually makes public policy and decides who is appointed to various major government bodies.
Take Orange County for example where it is the League of Cities chapter that selects what local elected officials will serve in many of our transportation authority board seats. This is suspect at best. Given that the organization actually prints on its monthly agenda the following disclaimer:
Brown Act Reminder: The Orange County Division has a policy of complying with the spirit of open meeting laws.
This should make us all uncomfortable. Every city council member in the county getting together and making substantive policy decisions and no real rule of law applies?
Now this same group wants to hire a fund raiser who would raise funds to push an agenda–a political special interest agenda.
I well understand the motivation for the League. They have important policy initiatives and yet they are constantly left behind because other lobby groups have more money and resources than them. Cities can’t spend money on politics, so they are by proxy paying into a quasi-government organization that can hire a quasi-political fund raiser to wage quasi-political campaigns.
Beware of this formula. And remember, the League should be given no more regard that the firefighters union or the ACLU or the California Pro-Life Council–all special interests with self-serving, perhaps noble, but self-serving causes.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
A great post, Adam. But at the end, you say that cities can’t spend money on politics. Yet, in some respects that is exactly what they do when they retain their lobbyists. Policy and politics are inseparable in our modern public policy system. After all, policy is set by politicians, right? I see your main point, which is that the League of Cities takes it one step further, blantantly playing ‘politics’ — but let us not forget that, unfortunately, one of the most lucrative jobs out there for lobbyists is taking checks from government to go get more money for government.