A Mercury News Editorial - 2/29/04
WITH $1.5 BILLION CONTRACT AT STAKE, COMPANY HIRES THOSE WITH
TIES TO CITY OFFICIALS
Here's today's can-you-believe-they-do-this argument for more disclosure about the dealings of lobbyists in San Jose: Facing off against City Hall with a $1.5 billion contract at stake, cable giant Comcast has assembled a posse of five top guns -- one lobbyist for every two council members.
Neither Comcast nor its hired hands will say how much money the lobbyists are earning. All involved claim the lobbyists have been hired for their expertise. Yet none of them has a background in telecommunications. What they are, plain and simple, is influencers with strong ties to the mayor and to council members.
It's not uncommon for developers and big business to assemble dream teams of lobbyists to increase their chances of winning lucrative contracts and land use approvals from the city.
Team Comcast has grown as Comcast and San Jose officials have continually failed to see eye to eye.
The sticking points, San Jose officials say, are $39 million worth of service upgrades, community access to a TV studio and a state-of-the-art fiber optic network capable of beaming closed-circuit programming to local schools and government offices.
Comcast calls San Jose's wish list too costly and extensive. The company says it would force customers to pay up to an additional $1.50 a month for services that would also benefit non-cable subscribers.
Since May, because of the impasse, Comcast and San Jose have been embroiled in a legal battle. That's when Comcast started hiring lobbyists. Here's the team:
* Ash Pirayou has served as a campaign treasurer for Mayor Ron Gonzales, as well as council members Cindy Chavez, Nora Campos, David
Cortese and Ken Yeager.
* Jerry Strangis has contributed to the campaigns of all of the council members and has helped raise money for Gonzales and council
members Forrest Williams, Terry Gregory and Chuck Reed.
* Dustin DeRollo worked for Gonzales as a staff aide until December 2002
and served as Gonzales' campaign manager.
* Tom Saggau is a former city employee with the Parks and Recreation Department.
* George Shirakawa served two terms as a city council member and is
currently an East Side Union High School District board member.
Pirayou, the lead consultant, says the Comcast deal is complicated. And while no one on the team is a telecom expert, Pirayou says "we all bring different skill sets'' to the table, including public relations and community outreach expertise.
Comcast is not breaking any laws by building a powerful lobbying team. It's using a similar model in Washington, D.C., in its attempt to help acquire Walt Disney Co. But the strategy makes it clear that the company expects success to come from influencing elected officials, not from legal maneuvering or from negotiating with city staff.
Locally, the strategy has proven successful. Here are just two examples:
* Calpine hired a half-dozen lobbyists in 2001 to help persuade San
Jose officials to sign off on its Metcalf power plant in South San Jose.
* Last year, Sequoia Voting Systems relied on the same team assembled
by Comcast to win an $18.9 million contract with Santa Clara County for
its first-ever purchase of electronic voting machines.
San Jose needs to join other cities across the country in requiring lobbyists to disclose their dealings with elected officials and how much their clients are paying them. So-called ``success fees'' -- paid to lobbyists only if they garner a favorable council vote -- in San Jose can reach $500,000 for one job.
Comcast won't say how much it's paying the lobbyists. Pirayou, an attorney, says his client-privileged agreement does not allow him to disclose the amount.
According to current San Jose rules, all he is required to do is register with the city as a lobbyist and disclose his clients' names and addresses.
San Joseans deserve more information about lobbyists -- especially those traveling in packs -- and how they influence decisions that affect us all.
To read the previous editorials in this series, go to
www.mercurynews.com/opinion and scroll down to Money and Influence.
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