"Economic consideration"
means monetary or in-kind payment or remuneration in an amount in excess of fifty dollars, or the expectation of such remuneration, for engaging in the legislative advocacy. Compensation does not include the salary of an employee who devotes less than twenty percent of that employee's work time to legislative advocacy during any one year and who engages in legislative advocacy only on behalf of a single employer. Compensation also does not include reimbursement of or payments for reasonable travel or business expenses, such as copying, telephone charges and meals.
"Expenditure lobbyist"
means any person, other than any government entity, or officer or employee of a government entity acting in an official capacity, who advises regarding, or makes, payments or incurs expenditures of five thousand dollars or more during any calendar year for directing or guiding public relations, media relations, advertising, public outreach, research, investigation, reports, analyses, or studies with the intent of soliciting, requesting or urging, directly or indirectly, other persons to communicate directly with a City official in order to influence any City action.
Expenditure lobbyist shall not include: (1) a person who pays compensation to a legislative advocate or who pays compensation to another representative who appears at a hearing on any City action; (2) a person who pays dues to a membership organization that is ongoing in nature and whose membership services do not consist exclusively of legislative advocacy; (3) an organization who makes payments to distribute communications to its members; and (4) a person engaged in publication or broadcasting of news items, editorials, or commentary, provided that the person is not compensated to take a specific position.
"Lobbyist"
means any individual who receives economic consideration as the employee, representative, or contractor of a person or entity other than the City of Santa Monica for communicating with any official or employee of the City for the purpose of influencing City action. Lobbyist also includes an expenditure lobbyist. For purposes of this Chapter, "lobbyist" does not include the following:
(a) 
City contractors and those seeking City contracts on their own behalf through bids and proposals;
(b) 
Licensed architects;
(c) 
Licensed professional engineers;
(d) 
Representatives of other government agencies.
"Official"
means any person who is:
(a) 
A member of the Santa Monica City Council;
(b) 
Appointed by the Santa Monica City Council to serve on a board or commission;
(c) 
The City Manager, City Attorney, and City Clerk;
(d) 
A City department director; and
(e) 
Any other person who is required to file a Statement of Economic Interest in connection with the City of Santa Monica.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16; amended by Ord. No. 2544CCS § 1, adopted 4/25/17; Ord. No. 2733CCS § 1, adopted 1/10/23)
(a) 
Any person who has been a lobbyist in the two years prior to the start of a term shall be ineligible to be appointed to serve on a City board, commission, task force, or advisory board.
(b) 
The Council, by a two-thirds vote of the Council, may appoint a person to a board, commission, task force, or advisory board, despite otherwise being disqualified under this Chapter, for good cause, including, but not limited to, unavailability of qualified candidates.
(Added by Ord. No. 2733CCS § 2, adopted 1/10/23)
(a) 
A lobbyist shall annually register with the City Clerk, no later than ten days after qualifying as a lobbyist under this Chapter, using an electronic registration system provided by the City, and shall thereon disclose:
(1) 
Lobbyist/lobbyist firm;
(2) 
Business/mailing address;
(3) 
E-mail address;
(4) 
Telephone number;
(5) 
The names of all owners of the lobbyist's business if the business is a sole proprietorship or partnership of less than five members;
(6) 
Names of each individual lobbyist;
(7) 
A description of the nature of the business entity or organization;
(8) 
The name, business address and phone number of each client receiving lobbying services;
(9) 
The nature of each client's business;
(10) 
A brief description of the governmental decision that the lobbyist seeks to influence on each client's behalf and the names of the officials the lobbyist has contacted on each client's behalf;
(11) 
The name of each person employed or retained by the lobbyist to engage in lobbying activities on each client's behalf; and
(12) 
The date, amount, and description of any payment made to, or on behalf of any City official or member of an official's family. Payments to be disclosed include gifts, meals, fees, salaries and any other form of compensation or remuneration, but do not include campaign contributions.
(b) 
A lobbyist shall electronically file an amendment to his or her registration and reporting form within ten days of representation of a new client. An addendum must be filed electronically within ten days of any change in the information required to be disclosed on the form related to existing clients. Lobbyists shall report the names of all officials contacted about a governmental decision prior to any public hearing on that decision.
(c) 
The following are exempt from this Chapter:
(1) 
Persons whose attempts to influence government action are limited to appearing at public meetings or preparing, processing or limited to submitting writings for consideration of use at public meetings if their communications are part of the public record; and
(2) 
Persons representing themselves in attempting to obtain decisions relating to their own properties or business; and
(3) 
Persons whose communications related solely to a memorandum of understanding or collective bargaining agreement between the City and its employee organization; and
(4) 
Persons who are officials or members of neighborhood groups who are not economically compensated for advocating or speaking on behalf of neighborhood groups to influence a City action.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16; amended by Ord. No. 2544CCS § 1, adopted 4/25/17;Ord. No. 2771CCS, 12/19/23)
A lobbyist's annual registration fee is hereby established to be set and periodically adjusted by City Council resolution in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of administering this Chapter.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16)
(a) 
The City Clerk may promulgate rules and regulations implementing this Chapter.
(b) 
No person shall violate any rule or regulation implementing this Chapter, and any such violation shall constitute a violation of this Chapter.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16)
(a) 
The City Attorney and the City Clerk shall be responsible for enforcing the requirements of this Chapter.
(b) 
Criminal Penalty. Any person who is convicted of violating this Chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not greater than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(c) 
Civil Action. The provisions of this Chapter may be enforced by means of a civil action for injunctive and other relief, including statutory damages.
(d) 
Penalties and Other Monetary Awards. In a civil action, any person determined to have violated this Chapter may be held liable for statutory damages in an amount of up to ten thousand dollars and for such reasonable attorneys' fees and costs as may be awarded by the court.
(e) 
Administrative Enforcement. The provisions of this Chapter may also be enforced through the issuance of administrative citations and the imposition of administrative fines to be set by resolution of the City Council. Administrative citations for violations of this Chapter shall be issued by the City Clerk.
(Added by Ord. No. 2511CCS § 1, adopted 3/22/16)