Marc Luber: Hey everyone – wondering what it’s like to be a lobbyist?
That’s what we’re looking at today on JD Careers Out There – where we get you
career advice from fellow lawyers and non-practicing lawyers – to help you achieve success and
happiness in your career.
In law school, you learn how to think, read and write like a lawyer.
We’re here to help you enjoy your career – and a big part of that is finding a path
that excites you – so let’s see if you’re excited about today’s path of Government
Relations.
I’m Marc Luber – and we’re talking to Martha Pellegrino, the Director of the Office
of Government Relations for the City of Portland, Oregon.
I asked Martha to tell us what she does as a Lobbyist in the public sector.
You’ll notice that we had some CRAZY Skype issues, so we actually show Martha’s photo
so that the video feed doesn’t distract from her great answers.
Here’s a look at our talk:
Martha Pellegrino: Essentially, as a lobbyist, we are advocates in the legislative process
for our client.
In this case, it’s the city of Portland, Portland city council, all of our different
city departments.
So any issues that come up that have some sort of legislative consequence, or in many
cases, administrative consequence at the state or federal level, my office is involved.
We help to identify what those issues are and then work on strategies to get the kind
of outcome that is good for the good people of Portland.
As the director, I oversee an office of 7 people, so we are an in-house lobbying shop.
So that includes doing work at the federal level, as I mentioned state level, and then
some regional and statewide issues as well.
As the biggest city in Oregon, we’ve got a responsibility to the whole state.
So we spend a lot of time travelling around and also hearing about what issues are facing
other communities.
Luber: Interesting.
So can you give us an example of some of those issues, some examples of things you might
be advocating for the city of Portland?
Martha Pellegrino: Sure.
Well, let me start with some broad issue areas because the thing that never ceases to amaze
me is how many different things touch cities.
So we deal with issues like transportation, affordable housing, water infrastructure,
sewer infrastructure and then we’ve got all those issues that everybody else deals
with - personnel, public contracting, we’ve got police and fire, 911 responders and the
list goes on.
So in each of those issue areas, we have different legislative items.
Luber: I always thought that if people want stuff done on their behalf, that they need
to personally go or organize in groups and go to their congresspeople.
I never knew that there were lobbyists representing public groups or cities that are doing that
same work.
How does that work?
How do you interact with just the common folk, like me and my neighbors who would maybe have
an issue?
How does that work?
Martha Pellegrino: Well, first of all, there’s enormous value to citizen activists and citizen
advocates and non-profit organizations that help and sort of organize people.
In
our experience, members of Congress love to hear from people in their district and love
it when people flag issues that are important to them.
How it differs a little bit and how we interact with the public, is that we serve an elected
body.
And any person in Portland can actually lobby or advocate to the city council saying, “This
particular issue is something I want the city to take a stance on or take a position on.
Here’s this letter I want you guys to sign on because I think it would actually mean
a lot to have the city of Portland sign on.”
But basically, with very few people, because we are a government entity, we don’t have
teams, dozens of lobbyists.
We’re not like maybe a private national industry group who can have armies of people
in DC; we really serve a coordinating role, we track all the pieces and then we help facilitate
those communications.
But a few times a year, we’ll hold open forums for people to come and let us know
what they care about at the state or federal level.
So, that’s one way the community can interact directly in our process.
Luber: Interesting.
How else are you given the signal that this is something you need to go advocate for?
What else tells you?
Is it the mayor?
Who’s telling you, “This needs to be handled”?
Martha Pellegrino: Well sometimes that does happen.
I mean, we work very closely with the Portland mayor, Mayor Sam Adams, and all the Portland
city council.
And so there are some times when those issues will be flagged at the elective level.
They’ll also be flagged sometimes at our city departments.
In the Portland Water Bureau, or Bureau of Environmental Services, or city attorney’s
office.
One of the interesting to think about, especially for lawyers, is that, when you’re practicing
in a traditional environment, you’re hired by a client to help advise them on legal issues
and sometimes that involves going to court.
Well on the lobbying side, you’re also advising a client about how to navigate issues, but
in a decision-making body other than a court.
So, at a city council or a state legislature or the congressional level or the federal
agency; it’s about learning the rules of the game so that you understand how to effectively
navigate that decision-making process.
So you’ve got court and then, in my mind, you’ve got everything else - and all the
other places where your client’s interest could be impacted.
So anyway, that’s just another way of thinking about it.
Luber: In the Full Interview, Martha tells us lots more about what it’s like to be
a lobbyist, specifically in the public sector.
She breaks down what it takes to accomplish the job, what skills from law school are regularly
used, how to break in to government relations and how having a JD helps you to do that.
You can find the full interview at JDCareersOutThere.com.
And you can take a shortcut to the site by going to JDCOT.com.
If you’re already at the site, you can scroll down to the full version – be sure to become
a member so you can watch the full interview and get access to lots more exclusive content
filled with great advice.
Thanks again for watching everyone – I’m Marc Luber and look forward to seeing you
again soon.
Take care.