Political Consultants on Double Duty : Lobbyists Hired to Run Campaigns for City Council Members

The front door of Curtis Rossiter’s private consulting firm in Venice is just a few feet from the entrance to the campaign headquarters of Los Angeles City Council President Pat Russell. And the proximity is no accident.

For the last 18 years, Rossiter has been Russell’s closest and most trusted political adviser, hired to run her three reelection campaigns since 1975. In recent years, he has also become one of the most skilled lobbyists at City Hall, guiding land development cases through the city bureaucracy on behalf of his builder clients with the support of one City Council member in particular--Pat Russell.

For example, Rossiter was hired by the Summa Corp. and won Russell’s support for its controversial Playa Vista project, a huge hotel, office and residential development near Marina del Rey. With her backing, the full City Council annexed the development project into Russell’s 6th Council District, a needed step for the project.

Rossiter lobbied Russell for Summa and served as her top political aide during the same period, serving a dual role that is not only legal but is a common practice at City Hall where other council members have relied on consultants-cum-lobbyists.

Councilmen Robert Farrell and John Ferraro, who, like Russell, are up for reelection Tuesday, also have used campaign consultants who have doubled as lobbyists. And other council members have done the same, getting political help from representatives of major corporations, developers, small businesses, community groups and individuals, who in turn seek to influence council members to obtain city business or approval of their projects.

Many who are familiar with the practice, including some members of the City Council itself, say it may be legal but it is also an invitation to conflict of interest.

Some petitioners for city business can get an advantage over others, the critics say, simply by hiring the right consultants and lobbyists, the ones who also serve as campaign consultants to council members.

They also note that while city law restricts the lobbying activities of former city employees, political consultants are allowed to go back and forth on a council member’s political payroll and still lobby the same council member on behalf of their clients.

“It certainly is something that raises concern,� said Councilman Joel Wachs who added that the potential for a conflict depends on “how strong someone is able to make an independent decision.�

Wachs, who faces reelection on April 14, is relying on staff aides on leave from their city jobs to run his campaign, rather than a political manager with lobbying ties.

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky said he “would not engage anybody to run my campaign or to do political work for me who is also a lobbyist in this building because that person by necessity has to have multiple loyalties�--split loyalties that could test a consultant’s allegiance.

Consultants Defended

But other council members readily place their political fortunes in the hands of consultants who also walk City Hall corridors seeking to influence legislators, and say they see nothing wrong with it.

For example, Steve Afriat, who is managing Russell’s campaign this year, has a roster of private clients and has also been involved in Ferraro’s reelection bid in the 4th District. Leslie Winner and Rick Taylor of Winner, Taylor & Associates, who have represented private clients at City Hall, are involved in the Ferraro campaign as well as the Farrell reelection bid in the 8th District. They also are managing the candidacy of Homer Broome Jr., a former public works commissioner, for the vacant 10th District seat.

Other council members who are not up for reelection this year have also relied on political consultants who doubled as City Hall lobbyists. Afriat and his partner, Russell Blackstone, have handled political consulting or fund raising for Council members Gloria Molina and Michael Woo. Betsy Eaton, who has lobbied for a cable television company, ran Councilwoman Joy Picus’ 1985 reelection campaign. Winner and Taylor have worked for Councilmen Richard Alatorre and Gilbert W. Lindsay.

In defending the practice, the council members contend that neither political consultants nor their private clients enjoy any more influence on the legislative process than campaign contributors.

Adequate Safeguards

They also argue that disclosure of a lobbyists’ activities provide the public with adequate information to help safeguard against any conflict of interest. And the consultants themselves are just as adamant.

“I don’t agree with the perception that it represents a conflict,� Rossiter told The Times.

Rossiter was a member of Russell’s staff from 1969 to 1982, rising to the position of chief of staff by the time he left to open his own consulting firm.

“I hope I have an advantage over other lobbyists working in the district,� he said. “But the advantage is not because I have run Pat’s campaign. The advantage is because I know what Pat wants. I know City Hall because I worked there for 13 years.�

Over the last two years, Rossiter and his firm, Urban Technology Consultants, have been paid $181,037 for working on development projects, according to city records. In the same period, he and his Venice company received $110,367 from Russell’s campaign committee including $72,917 in payments and fees to assist her in raising campaign funds and map out her reelection.

Retained as Campaign Aide

Amid questions of her dealings with Rossiter raised by her election opponents in the current campaign, Russell recently removed her old friend as campaign manager but retained him as a top campaign aide.

“There’s no ethical problem in my knowing Curtis and having him do my campaign out of my respect for his ability and his integrity. . . . I have no conflict of interest in that and talking with him on a project that he’s dealing with. . . .� Russell said, adding that her decisions have been based “on the merits.�

In addition to Summa Corp., Rossiter’s clients have included Hughes Development Corp. and Continental Development Corp., both of which sought--and won--Russell’s support for major projects in her district.

A spokesperson for Howard Hughes Properties, the real estate division of Summa Corp., said the firm hired Rossiter because of his knowledge of the community and of the workings of City Hall. “He was simply someone who was very familiar with City Hall,� said Christine Henry, director of community relations for Howard Hughes Properties. “He knows the district . . . and he’s worked at City Hall for many years.�

Afriat, who assumed the job as Russell’s political consultant, also sees no conflict in his new role as a lobbyist who also runs political campaigns.

“I don’t think there is any more conflict than a lobbyist who gives a lot of money to council members,� said Afriat of his dual role.

Enhanced Relationship

Afriat, 34, who was Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky’s chief deputy before becoming a lobbyist in July, 1985, acknowledged that his political work on behalf of council members enhances his relationship with elected officials and, as a result, makes him more attractive to prospective clients seeking to influence the council.

Councilman Woo, who paid Afriat $44,228 last year as a campaign fund-raiser, said Afriat has represented clients before council committees on which Woo sat. However, Woo said he has voted against at least one Afriat client and added that he saw “no ethical problem� with their relationship.

Assistant City Atty. Shelley Rosenfield said there is no legal prohibition against lobbyists seeking to influence city legislation while concurrently working on the campaigns of City Council members.

“There is a question of appearance (of a conflict), and any council member might want to consider the issue of voting on a matter where they have employed a political consultant who also happens to be a lobbyist,� said Rosenfield, who added that the situation shows the need for full public disclosure.

Disclosure Requirements

City law requires lobbyists to identify their employers, specify the issue or project they are seeking to influence and to list their pay. But while some lobbyists comply fully with the disclosure requirements, others do not.

Furthermore, unless lobbyists appears before the City Council or committee or a city commission, they are under no obligation to say which city officials were lobbied in the process. Nor would they be required to do so, under a proposal now before the council to toughen the city’s lobbying law.

During the last two years, the Winner and Taylor firm has worked on various council campaigns and represented private clients, but Taylor said he and his partner are getting out of the lobbying business to concentrate on political campaigns. He stressed, however, that the move has nothing to do with any conflicts between their roles as lobbyist and political consultant.