CAO 98-04CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
TO:
FROM:
SERGIO RODRIGUEZ
CITY MANAGER
CAO #98-4: ETHICS ORDINANCE: LOBBYIST PROHIBITION.
DATE: MARCH 4, 1998
I am in receipt of your Febt~mry 18, 1998 request for written legal opinion concerning City
of Miami Beach Ordinance No. 97-3105 proscribing lobbying activities by City Board members.
In your request, you state that Deputy City Attorney Jean Olin verbally opined "... that any
professional sitting on a Board cannot appear, or have a representative of their faxu appear, before
the Board on which they are serving or any other Board of the City of Miami Beach. This opinion
may have profound implications for many of the professionals on the City's development review
boards... who will, in all probability, need to step down from their respective appointments."
Absent any legal interpretation, the language of City of Miami Beach Ordinance No. 97 -3105
is clear - the subject prohibition is limited to a Board member or his Associates: from appearing,
representing or acting on behalf of a third person before the City Commission or any other City
agency. (See, Miami Beach City Code Section 2-47.5(1)).
The Ordinance contains one exclusion from the term "lobbyist" involving persons who
appear as a representative of a not-for-profit corporation without special compensation or
reimbursement for such appearance. See, Section 2-47.5(2)c.
A copy of the subject Ordinance is attached to this opinion for your study. The Ordinance
is clear in its effect upon City Board members, expressing legislative intent to prohibit City Board
members or their associates from lobbying other Agency members.
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See Miami Beach City Code, Section 2-47.5(2)b, defining the term "Associate".