What Is San Clemente’s DC Lobbyist Working On?

The city of San Clemente has a lobbyist in Washington, DC, who is working to get cash and authorizations for the Army Corps of Engineers beach replenishment project and the La Pata Avenue extension project, among other efforts.

“Realistically, the way the system really works, you couldn’t go back there and wander around and try to obtain federal funding without the guidance of lobbyists like this,” San Clemente City Manager George Scarborough said at a June council meeting.

Michael Willis of Marlowe & Co., the city’s consultant, reported to council members last week that ) and six other legislators have “signed on to language in the highway bill to try to get La Pata” funding, though legislators can't name specific projects in appropriations bills anymore.

"We work through these things and try to understand what the new normal is going forward," Willis said.

Council members have been pushing for , offering a and additional egress from the city in the event of a disaster at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

An engineering study by the Army Corps of Engineers is wrapping up as well. The environmental study forhas been under way since 2001.

The corps will give the project some priority over other projects because corps activities are partially responsible for the beach erosion; turning the Santa Ana River into a concrete channel removed in large the coast’s supply of sediment, engineering officials have said.

The lobbyist company is also working on moving forward the "quiet zones" at road/rail intersections through town, as well as other projects.

According to city documents, Marlowe & Co. has been in the employ of the city for the last two years at $45,000 per year. The company has helped secure $2.1 million in federal money for city projects, the documents state.