Lobbyists Rake in $1 Million in Cook County

The Cook County Clerk's online database Lobbyist Online has its benefits.

Launched last July, the website allows residents and elected officials to perform online searches of lobbyists, their clients, which officials they've contacted, as well as expenditures and compensation.

As of this year you can also download a spreadsheet detailing all self-reported lobbying activity within the county.

Yet some say the website is ultimately an honor system and only those lobbyists who value transparency will self-report.

According to the clerk's latest report, lobbyists made $1 million trying to influence Cook County officials in the first half of 2011.

13th District Commissioner Larry Suffredin also topped the list of officials lobbied with 44 contacts, 18 more than Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Earlier:

The spokesperson for the Cook County Clerk, Courtney Greve, acknowledges this figure may be misrepresentative of the bigger picture.

"I find that highly unlikely that a new administration like the county board president wouldn't have been lobbied more than 26 times," Greve said.

Suffredin agreed."It's a little misleading to say that I have more contacts than the president, because she seems to have more contacts with people who have interest in specific financial things," Suffredin said.

Suffredin said the high number may be attributed to his willingness to speak with those who have an interest in Cook County topics.

"I have a general open door policy for anyone who wants to talk to me," Suffredin said.

Preckwinkle's office could not be reached for comment.

What's Missing

"From the activity reported, we know county officials were lobbied about the budget, the proposed closure of Oak Forest Hospital, contracts and more,” Cook County Clerk David Orr said in a press release on July 25. “Some lobbyists are diligent in their reporting, but it appears too many fail to report all of their activity.”

Exactly who is failing to report activity is difficult to determine. Although the penalty for not filing a semi-annual report is $50 per day, and after one month may increase to $150 a day, the Clerk's Office doesn't determine whether the reports are complete. 

"It's incumbent upon the lobbysits or the lobbying firms to accurately report how much they're lobbying county officials," Greve said. "Our office is the adminstrator of the lobbying reports, but we have no policing authority."

Who's Reporting

A large percentage of lobbying contacts for both Suffredin and Preckwinkle came from only one non-profit group, Citizen Action of Illinois (CAS). CAS, a progressive political coalition, met with Suffredin nine times this year, often to debate his position on the closing of Oak Park Hospital as well as to act as an a consultant for the county's Independent Board of Directors, a committee Suffredin helped create in 2008.

CAS contacted Preckwinkle six times, yet only four of those contacts were meetings while the rest were phone calls. 

"You can't tell me that Preckwinkle only met 26 times with lobbyists over six months," Co-Director Lynda DeLaforgue said. "I would say she had hundreds of contacts."

Another non-profit group, the Cook County Farm Bureau, was responsible for eight of Preckwinkle's contacts, all of which were letters. The organization, which sends out mail to remind elected officials of the rural and agricultural side to Cook County politics, has a reputation for precise self-reporting, even listing the amount of money spent on postage. 

Suffredin also received eight email or letter contacts from the Farm Bureau.

Need For Transparency

DeLaforgue said the real concern isn't that CAS met frequently with elected officials or that the Cook County Farm Bureau sends out letters, but that many lobbying groups aren't following the Cook County Lobbyist Ordinance requiring that they self-report.

"We take transparency and reporting very seriously and that's why we comply with the Cook County law," DeLaforgue said.

"This is the first time we've been called out," DeLaforgue added, referring to the negative scrutiny CAS has experienced since the report came out. "I'm somewhat dismayed that this law seems to be blatantly circumvented by folks we know are talking to elected officials."

However, Greve believes the website it's still a step up from the old system.

"This online database is intended to be a starting point," Greve said. "It's intended to make the process more transparent than the old paper file we used to have."

"Lobbying is a natural part of the business, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with a lobbyist contacting an election official," Greve said. "What's important is that it's going to be discolosed to the voters so they know if an elected official is acting in their best interest."

"It's the ability to advocate and petition your government," Suffredin said. "As a lawyer, it's what I've done my whole career."

Suffredin also said that a good lobbyist seeks to educate elected officials. "They make sure that those who are making decisions have the best available data," Suffredin said.

DeLaforgue agreed with Suffredin that lobbying is a First Amendment right.

"The problem isn't who is talking to who, but the transactions, contributions, who is being wined and dined," DeLaforgue said. "That's what gets to the heart of it."

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