Council tables lobbyist scheme

An ordinance that would have required all lobbyists coming before the Chapel Hill Town Council to keep public records of their activities was removed from consideration by the council Oct. 27.

Proposed in January by the Coalition of Neighbors Near Campus, the ordinance would have required paid lobbyists to register and report their activities.

But University officials - one of the focal points of the proposal - would not have qualified as lobbyists because they are employees of public agencies.

After months of deliberation, the council decided it was not happy with the proposal, said council member Dorothy Verkerk.

"We felt that it would not have accomplished what the members wanted," Verkerk said.

Council member Sally Greene said there were concerns about the ordinance's wording because it did not achieve the petition's objective.

The original goal of the coalition's petition was to prevent closed meetings between the council and any group trying to gain influence, said coalition member Gene Pease.

"We felt that any potential developer that could influence the council's decisions should be registered with the town," he said.

Pease said that the coalition focused on the University after learning that council members had met privately with UNC officials but that the petition was not directed solely at UNC. "We're not picking on the University," he said. "But we felt it was a serious issue as well."

Verkerk had a different view of the meetings. "People seemed to think that there were some sort of back-door deals going on, which I can assure you were not," she said.

Virginia Knapp, associate director of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, said the proposed ordinance would have negatively affected members of small businesses and nonprofit groups. "It made it harder for them to approach their elected officials."

Pease said the coalition thought the meetings between town and University officials were inappropriate.

Verkerk confirmed that council members had met with University officials, but said she did not believe anything discussed at the meetings was of public concern. "We met very casually, and probably talked about our low-carb diets or something like that."

Nancy Suttenfield, UNC vice chancellor for finance and administration, wrote in an e-mail that the University is carrying out state business, not lobbying.

The coalition does not have any immediate plans to revive its petition, Pease said. "We're still waiting, and we're hopeful that something will come of it," he said.

Greene also said the Town Council is not done with the issue. "The concerns that were raised are credible."

Contact the City Editor at CITYDESK@UNC.EDU.