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Irvine city officials are looking for ways to tighten and strengthen the city’s lobbyist rules after Anaheim’s corruption scandal showed how little lobbyist oversight there actually was in that city.
It’s a scandal that also touched on Irvine City Hall.
Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan’s former consultant and Democratic power broker Melahat Rafiei pleaded guilty to attempted federal fraud and admitted to attempted bribery in 2018.
Now, officials are rethinking their relationship with lobbyists as Irvine City Council members are expected to discuss overhauling regulations at their 4 p.m. Tuesday meeting.
The discussion came up in Irvine after Anaheim commissioned an independent investigation following a federal corruption probe that alleged Disneyland resort interests held outsized influence on city policymaking.
In their 315-page report, independent investigators also found Anaheim had loose lobbyist regulations.
“Upon review of the 315-page report, the City of Irvine was named 11 times in the context of a cannabis-related proposal in April 2018,” reads a memo from Irvine Councilmember Kathleen Treseder included with the staff report.
“In connection with this proposal, Melahat Rafiei, a political consultant, was indicted and pleaded guilty to a felony charge for attempting to defraud one of her political consultancy firm’s clients,” Treseder wrote. “She further admitted in court documents that she agreed to bribe two members of the Irvine City Council in 2018 on cannabis-related matters.”
Recently, Anaheim officials closed a loophole that let employees of companies like Disney avoid registering as lobbyists.
[Read: Is Anaheim a Cue for More Cities to Start Registering Lobbyists?]
Treseder’s memo emphasizes similar changes are needed to increase transparency and avoid “undue political influence” in Irvine.
Treseder originally was also calling for the council to establish an ethics committee, but the council agreed to throw out that detail late last year.
[Read: Irvine Becomes Second Orange County City to Eye Tightening Lobbyist Rules]
Changes to the city’s lobbying ordinance would largely lower the requirements for registration and disclosure, according to the city staff report.
Currently, people don’t need to report lobbying activity unless they receive more than $10,000 per quarter.
This threshold could dip down to $1,000 per month for outside lobbyists. For in-house lobbyists, they would have to register no matter the amount of money they are contributing.
The staff report also explains that all lobbyist registrations and reports would be designated as public records subject to public review under the proposed changes.
Angelina Hicks is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
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