Council Members Letter To Tom Perkins

Memorandum

DATE TO

SUBJECT

CITY OF DALLAS

August 24, 2009 Tom Perkins, City Attorney Request for Briefing on Registration Process for Paid City Lobbyists

Currently, the City of Dallas does not have a registration process for paid lobbyists who meet with councilmembers, city plan commissioners, city staff or other city officials in an effort to obtain policy decisions favorable to their clients. Often, such decisions have significant financial consequences for both the lobbyists and their clients. In order to ensure transparent, open government, and discourage even the appearance of impropriety, we request that the City Council consider adopting a registration process for paid lobbyists similar to that employed by the State of Texas. We request that the City Attorney brief the council on the State of Texas registration process, how such a process might be implemented in our city, and inform us of registration programs utilized by other Texas cities.

Ange a

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I c: The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Mary K, Suhm, City Manager Deborah Watkins, City Secretary Craig Kinton, City Auditor Judge C. Victor Lander, Judiciary Dave Cook, Chief Financial Officer Ryan S. Evans, First Assistant City Manager Jill A. Jordan, P.E., Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez, Assistant City Manager Forest Turner, Assistant City Manager

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