May 13, 2002
Lobbyists Gone Wild
By J. Barlow Herget
RALEIGH - Remember the sinner in church who stands up and starts revealing all of his sins and the preacher follows each revelation with a "Tell it all, brother!"? Then, the sinner tells of a sin involving his neighbor’s goat, and the preacher moans, "Oh man, you shouldn’t tole that!"
That’s how David Emmett must have felt when he read the accounting of "Brother Joe" McClees’ lobbying expenses for the N.C. Technological Development Authority (TDA) in the newspapers recently. Emmett is president of the TDA and Joe McClees has been the TDA’s principal lobbyist since 1999. Over that stretch, he was paid $150,000 a year plus $200,000 in expenses. All the spending came to light following an audit by State Auditor Ralph Campbell.
Unlike the sinner, McClees is keeping mum about the disclosures. He has been unavailable for comment, repeatedly. But Emmett clearly wished the expense reports had remained concealed. He even wrote a letter to the editor protesting that the revelations were old news and admonishing the newspaper for not looking ahead to better days for the TDA.
A look back at the TDA record, however, is instructive. It gives citizens a peek behind the curtain where lobbyists and government officials meet, and it is also timely as an election year issue when other public bodies consider hiring lobbyists to gain influence in Raleigh and Washington. The TDA is a private, nonprofit agency that promotes economic development, especially in new ventures. It has received $19 million from the state since 1992.
For taxpayers, McClees’ expense reports make for grim entertainment. He billed the TDA $1,335 for cornmeal in one instance. He routinely spent $800 a day for a driver and limousine when he traveled to Washington on TDA’s behalf. He got the TDA to pay $3,893 for a trip to President Bush’s inauguration. He billed the TDA $7,000 for preserves and jelly, $3,500 for seafood and $2,400 for hams (all gifts).
He even asked for reimbursements for hotel and meal expenses on days when he claimed to be in two places at once. For example, he was reimbursed for a hotel bill in Washington, D.C., for June 11, the same day he asked for $735 for hotel expenses in Raleigh!
More interesting are the tabs he picked up for legislators. He paid for hotel rooms last summer for Rep. William Wainwright, D-Havelock, and Rep. Howard Hunter, Jr., D-Northampton, who also served on the TDA Board.
While McClees’ story may be one of a "lobbyist gone wild," the hiring of private lobbyists by public agencies is a growing trend. Other quasi-government nonprofits such as the N.C. Biotechnology Center and MCNC in Research Triangle Park have them. The City of Raleigh may hire a lobbyist in Washington. A group of UNC-CH boosters has begun collecting money to pay a lobbyist separate from the legislative liaisons currently employed by the UNC System. And even Granville County has set aside $10,000 for a lobbyist.
Why all this need for lobbyists?
"Brother Joe" McClees’ story again is instructive. McClees’ lavish bills went unquestioned because he got the job done for TDA. As noted above, the TDA received millions of dollars from the state.
Raleigh Attorney Reef C. Ivey, II, put it this way when Raleigh debated hiring a Washington lobbyist:
"I wonder if you have any idea of how difficult it is to get money from our Congress and how little time our U.S. representatives or senators have to spend on any particular item? Without regard to your ideological bent, it is pretty clear that very little gets obtained from Washington without someone putting constant pressure, information and follow-up on the representatives and senators involved, as well as any administrative agency. The people who can do that most efficiently are the lobbyists. If we do not pay to play, we are going to continue to receive a lesser share than other cities."
Paying to play also is a function of lobbyists. They are among the most reliable and generous political contributors in town. These contributions gain them access and with access, they can influence legislation or rule making.
McClees never knew his expense reports would show up on Page One of the daily newspaper, but he knew how to buy influence in the state legislature and government.
Who do you think got most of those jams and jellies?
J. Barlow Herget is a writer and former member of the Raleigh City Council.
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