About Cambria

Transparency is our friend, if we know where to look.  Luckily for you, I happen to have a few excellent resources up my sleeve. This year, for the first time, senators and representatives must disclose their earmark requests for budget appropriations every year. Representative Capps’ site notes that she has requested $2 Million for the Fiscal year 2009-10 (Federal Fiscal year begins in October.) Of course, we can’t count that money yet. There are quite a few more hoops we must jump through. I have a request in to Rep. Capps to ask her a few questions about her earmark for Cambria. I will post additional information as I have  it. If you know a shortcut to speaking with Mrs. Capps, (short of hiring a lobbyist), please contact me. amanda at aboutcambria.com

According to the agenda for next week’s CCSD meeting, the district will consider a contract with Van Scoyoc Associates Inc. The District was advised to hire a lobbying firm to assure money is appropriated and budgeted for the desalination project. The Army Corps of Engineers is now the lead agency on the project, instead of the CCSD.  The current system in Washington DC isn’t exactly the ideal of the democratic process, but we must work within the system as best we can. Personally, I find the current system distasteful and ridiculously uneven, but that doesn’t mean I think hiring a lobbyist is a bad idea, in theory. It’s probably necessary if we are to secure any federal funds for a desal plant. Of course, whether we should be spending this much on lobbying in pursuit of funding for desal is a different question entirely.

Unlike many of the firms and companies with which the district enters into contracts, the profiles of lobbying firms are well-documented, publicly available and easy to find online.  A quick trip to OpenSecrets.org reveals a great deal more about Van Scoyoc Associates Inc. than the firm’s own site. Some of the highlights:

Only three lobbying firms have made more money than Van Scoyoc Associates Inc. between 1998 and 2009. Van Scoyoc Associates brought in $210,248,000 over that ten year period, almost $55 million more than the number five firm. They were the number 2 firm in 2006 and number 3 in 2007 and 2008.

Van Scoyoc Associates also ranks high in the “revolving door” category. When American voters discard elected officials—and their staffs—lobbying firms and interest groups are quick to snap up the unemployed. Lobbying firms—which often charge steep fees from their deep-pocketed clients—can offer former government employees salaries far greater than those proffered by Uncle Sam, as well as continued influence on Capitol Hill. In return, firms get lobbyists who already have established connections in the federal government and whose résumés can act as a powerful draw for potential clients. The lobbying firms shown here have the greatest track record of hiring former government employees. There are 50 lobbyists listed for 2009 at Van Scoyoc Associates, over half meet the “revolving door” criteria. One of these revolving door lobbyists (Marda Robillard) even contributed to Lois Capp’s campaign in 2008.

For a very complete picture of who this firm has lobbied and who they have lobbied for, visit OpenSecrets.org. If you find more that we should know about this firm as we consider entering into a contract with them, add it here as comment. Or, better yet, come to the CCSD meeting next Thursday and raise the issue and your concerns.

ADDED 8:20am: The CCSD is already listed (with active hyperlink) on the Van Scoyoc Associates website.

From the Water Economics Blog of David Zetland (Aguanomics) this view of special interests:

Bottom Line: Special interests have existed forever. The only “solution” to them is to transfer decision-making from small groups (e.g., politicians) susceptible to special interest lobbying to disaggregated groups that are harder to lobby (e.g., market participants).

Click here for the longer explanation and example Zetland offers.

Read the details reported to the state of California by the CCSD about their lobbying expenditures by clicking the link or downloading using right-click. Thank you to Charlotte for this information.

Lobbying Reports 1999 through 2007