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Murchison Addresses Lobbying Issues At Beer & Politics by Ryan ZumMallen | Archive | 02.24.10 |
+ 1:20pm | Controversial local lobbyist Mike Murchison spoke publicly for the first time in months at a Beer & Politics forum last night, addressing questions about his professional background and offering his perspective on the recently-approved Lobbyist Ordinance passed by the Long Beach City Council. The District Weekly's Dave Wielenga called it a "good showing" and pointed out that Murchison thinks ongoing negotiations between the City and his developer client Tom Dean are not yet over. The Press-Telegram's Paul Eakins focused more on the personal and professional rebuilding that Murchison has done since two of the lobbyist's actions with high-profile Long Beach officials came under investigation in late 2009. Changes made to the Lobbyist Ordinance from its original 2008 version turned Murchison around on the issue, he said. The lobbyist also explained the nature of his profession and said he will continue the tactics that made him one of the most influential behind-the-scenes figures in local development. Click here to read our policy on covering the Long Beach City Council.
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10 Comments so far.
Paul My question to Mike was who represents the person that lives here? He asked, "Concerning what?" I told him, "quality of life issues." His answer tells much about the state of Long Beach. He said,"The quality of life is going to go down because the city does not have enough money." The meaning of my question blew right by him. Quality of life does not have to mean money. Sometimes it is just saying no to something like a cement plant in your back yard. Mike said the City Staff makes all of the decisions in this town. He knows their, "individual likes, hobbies, where they went to school, their families," etc. That says much too. The Council is mostly a rubber stamp for Staff recommendations. So it seems that no one represents the average person that lives here and goes off to work everyday. Too many of the Staff are all about the money it seems. Many of the staff don't even live here and see the city as a business that makes them money. It is a state of affairs that seems to be nationwide, but especially so, in Long Beach. The public needs to know the actions of all the lobby people, including the non profits. At least then we know then who is calling the shots on the city staff and why. I'm sorry....so sorry Everyone is always sorry when they get caught doing something wrong. I imagine it would have been business as usual otherwise. I wonder if the '22' is getting more business now to drown their sorrows. CHARLIE I don't know much about Mike Murchison accept what I read in our LBPOST, and it looks like he's doing a good job for both the city and client; They do have their place on the American scene, and I do know nothing would hardly get done in DC & our Congress if it wasn't for the Lobbyist, but of course, this present U.S. Congress is something else to be desired - the BIG THREE back there sort of reminds me of a needle stuck in a grove of and old DECCA Record playing Sental Mental Journey. :>) get a life Paul you misunderstood what he was trying to say; is that if you are looking for quality of life issues that are paid for by the City of LB - i.e. - museums, music in the park, libraries, parks, etc. and you want to keep those going then you have to realize that someone has to bring money in to give the city the necessary funds to keep those programs going. If you are referring to quality of life in general I hardly think that Murchison's clients are damaging that - how do hotels and housing cause that problem? The city of LB is a city manager form of government, not Mayor form of government - city staff develops the recommendations and gives them to a part-time city council for a decision - so who would we lean on to determine who makes decisions at the end of the day? Murchison has been around as he alluded to last night for quite some time in terms of working with city staff - isn't it reasonable to expect that he would know them fairly well??? The average person is represented and for someone like you there must be a certain project that you are unhappy with - to wit - complain to your elected official that represents you or get involved in the process before the decision is made - easy to comment after a project has been built. Who Represents LB citizen Paul, the answer to your question about who represents the people who live here is: The City Councilpeople and Mayor whom you elect. If those people are not representing you the way you believe they should, vote them out of office (and not just vote them up to the State or Federal level to get rid of them). As a Citizen, it is your responsibility. Become involved and elect people who are not in someones pocket and that includes Unions, illegal aliens, & etc. Or consider running for office yourself. Professional Politicians are not what we need. We need Citizen Statesmen who are not afraid to say "No" and are not just worried about continuing their employment on the public, but who want to Serve for altruistic reasons. LBCritic I agree with the final comment of the eveving . . . Mike had a lot of [guts] to come out and speak to us. I give him a lot of kudos for doing so. I also agree that he, and others with the same high care for LB, provide a great service. Roy "{G}et a life" recommends that those opposing a particular project "get involved in the process before the decision is made". That's what those interests wealthy enough to hire a lobbyist are best positioned to do. That's also what corrupts our system and effectively disenfranchises the rest of us. Enjoyed Event I enjoyed the beer. Andy I have observed lobbyists at work on the federal, state, special districts and local levels of government. At the local level I am a little suspicious about their value to their clients, but that's their client's business. (I refer to getting paid for calling up a department head or local elected official. Folks, you can make the call yourself, but it's your money.) My concern is not with essentially secretarial activity but rather with really effective lobbying, often including some formidable bundling activity. But if the who and the what are well known to the community, and we can all figure out the why, I figure we'll just have to live with it. Capster to GET A LIFE - quoting: " If you are referring to quality of life in general I hardly think that Murchison's clients are damaging that - how do hotels and housing cause that problem?"....please - you are joking aren't you???? What are you smoking anyway??? Hotels and housing have huge impacts on various areas of quality of life, like parking, traffic and street issues, impact on existing housing and commercial activities, etc. This city, and most of the world, has somehow gotten lost and hooked on a concept of unlimited growth, which, in a finite world / universe, can only result in collapse, period. Cities whine that we need to grow to generate more tax revenues - bollocks! The added revenues never end being enough to cover the mismanagement of money and programs, thus generating yet new cries of "We need more growth!" No - we need to define a maximum limit of a city's or town's size, then do an excellent job of managing funds and resources to CREATE an excellent quality of life. That was Disney's intent when they created the city of Celebration, FL and in many ways it has worked fairly well. As the downtown growth has continued here in Long Beach, the once beautiful skyline is now becoming blotted out with more and more buildings, and we are not one iota better off financially than before we fueled that growth. As population densities increase, the impact on infrastructure increases along with traffic congestion, etc., stress levels rise, quality of life declines over time, and nothing is improved. Better we define Long Beach as, say, a city of 500,000, and once that limit is reached, "sorry folks, we're full" becomes the answer, just as it does with restaurants, night clubs, etc. As for the developers - sorry, you are now limited to the redevelopment of areas of the city as infrastructure ages and needs to be upgraded or replaced. We don't OWE builders or developers a place for unlimited growth and expansion. Seems like we've learned very little from history. Planet earth will be only too happy to kick our happy asses out if we don't start respecting natural boundaries and limits. lol
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LBPOST.com Managing Editor Ryan ZumMallen keeps up on all the current and breaking Long Beach news.
Ryan ZumMallen has served as the managing editor of the LBPOST.com since 2007. He graduated from CSULB with a degree in Print Journalism in 2008 and is a member of the 2009 class of Leadership Long Beach. You can find him on various basketball courts around the city.
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