PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

On the golf course the other day – no surprise, yes, I was there – a friend asked me what lobbyists really do.

The fact is that there are a lot of misconceptions about the role of lobbyists who function much like attorneys with the phrase “everyone deserves representation.”

Good lobbyists can have their general reputations tarnished by the misdeeds of the few, some of whom carry around bags of money to buy their way into results.  Plus various disreputable figures gaining notoriety by selling access in Washington, D.C.

To be sure, as is true with any profession, there are – to use an old phrase – “rotten apples who spoil the barrel.”

Most of the lobbyists I know well – and, remember, I was one in Oregon for about 25 years when my company also ran an office in Washington, D.C. – do their best to represent clients with skill and honesty.

To my friend on the golf course, I make the following points to define lobbying:

• Lobbyists are like lawyers. They represent clients.  Their “courtroom” is the Capitol building or anywhere else they can meet with elected legislators or Executive Branch officials.
• Lobbyists have contracts with clients, which are negotiated in advance of representation.
• Lobbyists help clients understand the context of the legislative process. One client I represented for a number of years called it “understanding the guardrails of the legislative process,” something he would not have understood without a lobbyist — me.
• Lobbyists help clients put their best feet forward in the process of making new laws. Sometimes that means working to pass a bill that would be acceptable to a client.  Sometimes that means working to kill a bill that would harm a client’s interests.  But good lobbyists also work to help a client find middle ground compromise, which, after all, is the definition of politics.
• Lobbyists help clients deal with Executive Branch agencies, for it often is agencies, who, at the behest of the governor, introduce various pieces of legislation. And, it is agencies that engage in administrative rule-making processes to implement bills that have passed.  So, a lobbyist’s task relates both to the Legislative and Executive Branches.
• Lobbyists help clients by advising them about political contributions, which is part of the cost of doing business in the making public policy. As we helped our clients deal with this issue, we kept what I call “relationship records,” as opposed to what some others do, which is to keep “voting records.”  Our view was that we wanted to advocate contributions to candidates who were willing to listen to our perspectives, then make their own decisions.

Without adding more to the list, let me just add that there can be a perception that the only actions lobbyists take is to kill or pass bills.  As I noted above, that is not always the case.

Here is an example of what a federal lobbyist in the firm I helped to found in 1990 did for the City of Pendleton just the other day.  The lobbyist is Kirby Garrett and here is what he wrote to summarize what happened:

“Good win for Pendleton today.  It has been working to attain the laundry list of state and federal approvals needed so sediment can be removed from McKay Creek (which flooded last spring), and restore flow capacity to avoid another flood this coming spring.  Pendleton needed to start work today to remove the 800 dump trucks’ worth of sediment by the end of the six-week in-water work period.

But, the Army Corps of Engineers informed the city yesterday the approval would be delayed until next week. The City Manager relayed this to me yesterday and asked for our help.

“I worked with Congressman Greg Walden’s office to explain the issue and solicit its help to apply pressure on the Corps to meet the original timeframe that had given the City.  After a lot of back and forth all throughout yesterday among me, the City, Walden’s office, and the Corps, Pendleton received the permit this afternoon and will start work today.  This is a welcome piece of good news for the community amidst all the other local flooding occurring now (from the Umatilla River – separate from McKay Creek).”

So, for lobbyists and their clients, the work can involve big and little stuff.  It’s all important.