ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM AMENDING SECTIONS
1.11.050 (EMAIL RETENTION) AND 1.11.070 (LOBBYIST
REGISTRATION) OF CHAPTER 1.11 (SUNSHINE PROVISIONS) OF THE
ANAHEIM MUNICIPAL CODE TO INCREASE THE EMAIL
RETENTION PERIOD FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES, TO MAKE
CERTAIN VIOLATIONS OF THE CITY’S LOBBYING PROVISIONS A
MISDEMEANOR, AND TO REQUIRE THAT LOBBYISTS CERTIFY
THEIR REPORTS UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY
WHEREAS, in 2017, the City adopted a “Sunshine Ordinance” to increase transparency in City government; and
WHEREAS, the Sunshine Ordinance, among other things, increased the electronic retention period applicable to emails of certain City employees, and established a protocol for lobbyists to register with the City and report their lobbying activities; and WHEREAS, the City now desires to increase the retention period for emails of members of the City Council, their staff, and members of the City’s Executive team to two years if those emails constitute a public record; and
WHEREAS, the City also desires to strengthen its regulation of lobbyists and establish criminal penalties for intentional violations of the lobbying provisions of the Sunshine Ordinance.
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Anaheim Municipal Code 1.11.050 is hereby amended to read in full as follows:
1.11.050 EMAIL RETENTION.
All emails sent and received by any member of the City Council, staff of the Mayor or City Council, or the Executive Team of the City shall be retained on the City's servers for ninety (90) days. In addition, emails sent and received by any member of the City Council, staff of the Mayor or City Council, or the Executive Team of the City shall be retained on the City's servers for two years if: (1) a law expressly requires the communication to be kept, or (2) preservation of the communication is necessary or convenient to the discharge of the public officer's or employee's duties and the communication was made or retained for the purpose of preserving its informational content for future City use or reference. To the extent inconsistent with this section, the provisions of Section 1.10.070 of the Anaheim Municipal Code and Administrative Regulation 155 shall not apply to the public officials or employees whose emails are regulated by this section.
SECTION 2. Anaheim Municipal Code 1.11.070 is hereby amended to read in full as follows:
1.11.070 LOBBYIST REGISTRATION, REPORTING AND REGULATION. .010 Initial Registration. Within fifteen (15) days of Lobbying the City of Anaheim or any regional agency in which Anaheim has a voting role, a Lobbyist shall register with the City Clerk, by filing a lobbying registration form, as provided by the City Clerk and made available on the City Clerk’s webpage, which shall include, at a minimum, a written statement containing the following information, certified as true under penalty of perjury: 1) the Lobbyist's full name, business address and telephone number; 2) the name, business address and telephone number of any individual or entity by whom a Lobbyist is employed, retained or engaged for compensation to perform Lobbying services in the City; and 3) the legislative or administrative action of the City with respect to which the Lobbyist has been employed, retained or engaged. This registration shall be maintained by the City Clerk for the period of time set forth in the City's record retention schedule and shall not be exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act. The failure to timely register as a Lobbyist is a violation of this Chapter and a penalty fee may be assessed by the City Clerk, as set by resolution. .020 Quarterly Report. Each Lobbyist shall file a report, certified as true under penalty of perjury, disclosing any Lobbying of the City of Anaheim or any regional agency in which Anaheim has a voting role, with the City Clerk on a quarterly basis on a form provided by the City Clerk and made available on the City Clerk’s webpage. The report shall be filed and received by the City Clerk no later than 30 calendar days after the end of the quarter and shall be posted on the City Clerk’s webpage. The report shall specifically identify the local legislative or administrative action, if any, the Lobbyist supported or opposed during the reporting period. The failure to timely file a quarterly report with the required disclosures is a violation of this Chapter and a penalty fee may be assessed by the City Clerk, as set by resolution. .030 Registration Fee. The City Council may by resolution establish a registration fee as set forth therein to defray the reasonable cost of regulating Lobbying activities in the City.
Registration shall not be complete until the fee is paid. .040 Appearance of Unregistered Lobbyist. If a Lobbyist who has not registered appears at a public Meeting of any City Legislative Body in order to make a presentation on behalf of a client, the Lobbyist will be permitted to make the presentation upon stating the information required by subsection .010 on the record. The Lobbyist shall be required to file the required registration form, and pay the registration fee and any penalty fee as set by resolution, to the City Clerk within seven (7) calendar days of such presentation. .050 Annual Report. Within ninety (90) days after the end of a calendar year, the City Clerk shall prepare and submit to the City Council a report outlining the activity of registered Lobbyists during the calendar year as reflected in the documents provided pursuant to subsections .010 and .020, as well as a list of any fines assessed or notices issued pursuant to this section.
.060 Notice of Registration. The City Clerk shall issue a “notice of registration required” upon receipt of credible evidence that a person is acting as a Lobbyist without having registered as required by subsection .010. Any person who in good faith and on reasonable grounds believes that he or she is not required to register under subsection .010 shall, within thirty (30) days after notice from the City Clerk, furnish evidence to the City Clerk that he or she is exempt from registration. The City Clerk shall review that evidence, as well as any other evidence he or she deems relevant, and make a determination whether the person is required to register as a Lobbyist.
.070 Appeal. A decision of the City Clerk requiring a person to register as a Lobbyist, or assessing a penalty fee under subsection .010 or .020, may be appealed to the City Hearing Officer, whose decision shall be final without any further action of the City being required. .080 Criminal Penalties. The penalty fees provided for in this section apply to inadvertent violations of its provision. Any person or entity that knowingly or intentionally i) acts as a Lobbyist in the City without having registered in compliance with subsection .010, ii) fails to file the quarterly report required by subsection .020, iii) files a quarterly report that contains inaccurate information or omits information required to be disclosed by subsection .020, or iv) conceals or diverts compensation for Lobbying activity in order to avoid the requirements of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a maximum of six (6) months in jail and a fine of $1,000.00. In addition, no person convicted of a violation of this section may act as a Lobbyist or otherwise attempt to influence municipal legislation for compensation for one year after that conviction, and no person convicted of a second violation of this section may act as a Lobbyist or otherwise attempt to influence municipal legislation for compensation for an additional three years after the second conviction.
.090 Applicability. The provisions of this section shall not apply:
1. To a public official acting in his or her official capacity;
2. To any newspaper or other regularly published periodical, radio or television station (including any individual who owns, publishes, or is employed by any such newspaper, periodical, radio or television station) which in the ordinary course of business publishes news items, editorials or other comments, or paid advertisements, which directly or indirectly urge action upon municipal legislation, if such newspaper, periodical, radio or television station or individual engages in no further or other activities in connection with action upon such municipal legislation;
3. To a person invited by the City Council or any of its committees, or by any board or commission, or any committee of a board or commission, or by any officer or employee of the City charged by law with the duty of conducting a hearing and making a decision as to a pending or proposed matter, for the purpose of giving testimony to aid the body or person extending the invitation;
4. To a person applying for a grading permit or for a permit relating to the construction, alteration, demolition or moving of a building, or to a person filing a parcel map or subdivision tract map; provided, however, that if a person meets the definition of a Lobbyist and takes an appeal, or represents a person taking an appeal, pursuant to any procedure or authority provided by law from an administrative determination made with respect to such an application or map, they shall be required to register as provided in this section upon taking the appeal or any action relating to the appeal;
5. To a person who is a professional licensed by a state licensing organization, including, but not limited to, attorneys, architects and engineers; provided however, that the exemption for attorneys shall only apply if the attorney is engaged in the practice of law with respect to the subject of the employment; or
6. To a regular employee of an organization communicating to the City during the course of his or her employment on behalf of his or her employer.
SECTION 3.
The City Council of the City of Anaheim hereby declares that should any section, paragraph, sentence, phrase, term or word of this ordinance be declared for any reason to be invalid, it is the intent of the City Council that it would have adopted all other portions of this ordinance independent of the elimination of any such portion as may be declared invalid. If any section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance, and each section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one (or more) section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase had been declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4.
The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of this ordinance and shall cause the same to be printed once within fifteen (15) days after its adoption in the Anaheim Bulletin, a newspaper of general circulation, published and circulated in the City of Anaheim.
SECTION 5.
This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force thirty (30) days from and after its final passage.
THE FOREGOING ORDINANCE was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Anaheim held on the ____ day of ______________, 2022, and thereafter passed and adopted at a regular meeting of said City Council held on the ____ day of ______________, 2022, by the following roll call vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
CITY OF ANAHEIM
By: ____________________________________
MAYOR PRO TEM OF THE CITY OF
ANAHEIM
ATTEST:
______________________________________
CITY CLERK OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM