Redistricting Director's Selection of Lobbyist as Media Director Draws Criticism

The commission that will decide City Council district boundaries for the next decade chose a registered lobbyist this week to be its media director, following two firms' withdrawal of bids to do the work after reports surfaced they had lobbying clients at City Hall.

Commission Executive Director Andrew Westall, who is also the, announced the selection of Vanessa Rodriguez to be the panel's media director in an email this week to commissioners. She is eligible to be paid up to $20,000 for leading the media campaign to engage the public to participate in the redistricting process.

Rodriguez has been registered as a lobbyist with the city since 2007, currently with Mercury Public Affairs, which lobbies city officials on behalf of the California Restaurant Association, HMS Host Corp. and towing company HP Tow.

Former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez is a partner at Mercury. Westall worked for Nunez when he was in the Assembly.

Rodriguez said she could not comment on her position or discuss her work as a lobbyist because she is not the commission's spokesperson, a post which she said had not yet been filled.

Westall did not return calls and emails seeking comment.

"I'm at a loss of words to that," Commissioner Jose Cornejo told City News Service when asked for comment about Rodriguez's selection, adding that it was the first he had heard of Rodriguez's background.

"I think given her background in lobbying that the commission should have been made aware of that," he said. "It doesn't necessarily disqualify anyone from doing the job. But Andrew (Westall) will have to answer to the commissioners questions about that."

"We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we need to figure out ways to avoid distractions," he added.

Cornejo, a former chief of staff to Councilman Tony Cardenas, said commissioners had not yet received Rodriguez's resume.

The 21-member L.A. City Council Redistricting Commission is charged with drawing boundaries for the 15 City Council districts that will stay in effect until after the 2020 census. The commission was seeking a public relations firm to engage minority communities in the redistricting process.

Two communication firms, Dakota Communications and Cerrell Associates, dropped their bids for the contract after the Los Angeles Times reported the firms' lobbying history, prompting the commission to vote last month to give Westall authority to select a media director.

The commission has been criticized by city officials since its inception.

Councilwoman Jan Perry resigned her leadership post on the City Council in early November, citing "disgust" that district maps were being circulated to commissioners in secret before any public meetings were held.

Councilman Bernard Parks subsequently criticized the panel's hiring of Westall, who was a legislative deputy for Council President-elect Herb Wesson until recently, to be its executive director. Parks questioned Westall's ability to neutrally assess maps for his former boss' district.

Perry, who is scheduled to testify before the commission tomorrow, said Rodriguez's selection looks bad for the panel.

"The other two (firms) stepped back because of the outcry that they were registered lobbyists. And then to go ahead and select someone who's a registered lobbyist, seems like there's a gap in logic here," Perry said.

Cornejo said he remains concerned that smaller media outreach firms were not given an opportunity to divide up the task.

"I've also raised concerns that we ought to look at how much we're spending on all these different communities of interest to make sure their voices are heard," Cornejo said.