Following the lead of Irvine and Anaheim, county officials are strengthening lobbying regulations to create more transparency around efforts to sway decision-making in local government.
The OC Board of Supervisors is set to add stricter disclosure requirements and expand the definition of what the county considers lobbying. The board will need to vote a second time in support to finalize the ordinance.
Starting in January, registered lobbyists in Orange County would be required to submit quarterly disclosure reports of “lobbying activities” directed at not just county supervisors and their staff, but also department heads and county appointees who have voting power on legislative bodies. The ordinance defines “lobbying activities” as any communication made “for the purpose of influencing official actions or decisions.”
Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco counties already require lobbyists to publicly disclose efforts to influence local officials, according to a county staff report.
The proposed quarterly reporting system draws from Irvine’s revised lobbying ordinance, staff said. The disclosure reports, which would be administered by the county’s Campaign Finance and Ethics Commission, are to be made public within 10 days of submission and would need to be preserved for at least five years.
Irvine and Anaheim adopted stronger lobbying laws after the 2023 corruption scandal at Anaheim City Hall, in which independent investigators said they found numerous potential violations of the city’s lobbying laws over the past decade. FBI investigators as part of their probe alleged that a self-described “cabal” of business and political leaders may have exerted influence at City Hall.
Supervisor Doug Chaffee, who introduced the county ordinance, said the point of the new regulations is to increase public trust.
“Reporting is another step in transparency for us, and it’s a step in what I would call good government,” he said.
Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said the ordinance is not meant to discourage public input and community engagement.
“It provides more sunshine regarding efforts to influence by entities hired to lobby, not people just simply wanting to discuss issues that may affect their neighborhoods,” he said. “We want to make sure that continues to be something that we encourage.”