February 10, 2006

Councilmember Dave Cortese unveils aggressive reform proposals

Calls for tightening lobbyist restrictions, strengthening enforcement

San Jose mayoral candidate Dave Cortese unveiled on Feb. 6 reform proposals to enforce real-time lobbyist reporting, tighten lobbyist restrictions and provide citizens with greater access to information and meetings.

To give these new provisions the “teeth” needed to assure compliance, Cortese proposed establishing new criminal and civil penalties and strengthening the sanctions for violation of provisions already in effect.

“Lobbyists are dictating public policy at City Hall, and this must change,” said Cortese. “As mayor of San Jose, I would do everything in my power to reduce their influence. We can’t have lobbyists running City Hall.”

Dave Cortese

Highlights of the lobbyist reforms Cortese intends to pursue if elected mayor of San Jose include:

- Real-time publishing on the City Clerk’s Web site of all lobbyist fund raising activities, contributions raised/offered and solicitations made on behalf of an elected official

- Electronic filing of daily lobbyist disclosure reports on the City Clerk’s Web site

- Permanently banning former employees of San Jose, including elected officials, from returning to City Hall to lobby their former supervisors

- Prohibiting registered lobbyists, whose primary occupation is to influence the outcome of legislation, from serving directly or indirectly through others as fundraisers, treasurers or other campaign employees/consultants for candidates for city office

- Prohibiting former city employees, including elected officials, from registering as lobbyists or providing political consultation services to a registered lobbyist for at least eight years, the equivalent of two terms in office, after they leave City Hall

“Former city employees or elected officials should not be able to exert undue influence on public policy,” said Cortese.
To better enforce the balance of power in local government, Cortese proposed to:

- Establish new criminal and civil penalties for elected officials and city employees who violate the City Charter or Municipal Code

- Work with the city council to obtain the authority to initiate termination proceedings against any city council or mayor’s office employee found to violate the City Charter

- With the assistance of the city council, refer to the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury any violation of the Charter or any serious ethical violation to seek removal from elected office

To provide San Jose citizens with greater access to information and meetings, Cortese proposed to:

- Expand citizen access to information that helps clarify how city policies are adopted and how citizens can provide input before the city council votes on an issue

- Prohibit the city council from voting on any issue if staff reports are not released at least six days before a council meeting to provide citizens a greater opportunity to respond before a final vote is cast

- Disclose real estate appraisals used in the purchase or condemnation of property to prevent city government from attempting to take a citizen’s property without fair compensation

- Require producing an official transcript of all Council closed session meetings and making that information available after a legitimate reason for secrecy has passed

- Require all electronic correspondence—including e-mails, voice-over-Internet and calendars of public employees and elected officials—be made available in the City Clerk’s office for easier public access “San Jose City Hall has been guarding information from the public for far too long,” said Cortese.

For more details, visit Cortese’s campaign Web site, www.davecortese.com, and click the “On the Issues” button. The reform package can be found on the link “A Clean, Open and Ethical City Hall.” Contact Bea Baechle, media relations for the Dave Cortese for Mayor Campaign, at (408) 230-3402 or bea@davecortese.com to schedule time with Cortese.