San Jose councilmembers team up to lobby city

Terming out of office hasn’t kept San Jose policymakers from sticking around City Hall as paid lobbyists. But the business of swaying former colleagues is becoming a crowded field.

Councilmember Sergio Jimenez is jumping into the elected official to lobbyist pipeline. He’s already formed a new consulting firm before terming out of his council seat at the end of this year. Joining him is former Councilmember Raul Peralez, a San Jose police officer who started his own consulting business after leaving office. Together, under the newly formed Brownstone Strategies, they plan to lobby San Jose officials and other public agencies — for clients such as nonprofits and companies — in areas that include land use, development and crisis management.

It’s the latest instance of San Jose’s “revolving door” through which government officials become paid lobbyists, which has prompted concern over the years about unfair deal making advantages. As a result, San Jose enacted a “cooling off” period in which former councilmembers and employees can’t lobby the city for two years after leaving office. Last year, officials cut that period to one year.

The firm’s work is already in full swing. Jimenez said he’s nabbed two clients so far, but declined to disclose them. He said he understands he’s subject to the city’s revolving door policy.

“You should not expect me to be lobbying any city of San Jose councilmembers at least for a year after I’m out of office,” Jimenez told San José Spotlight. “What I would say is, that doesn’t necessarily apply to Raul, because he is already out of that revolving door timeline.”

Peralez, who took office in 2015 and termed out in 2022, said he’s had his own consulting business, Raul Peralez Consulting LLC, for about a year. He only recently agreed to partner with Jimenez and, as of yet, hasn’t taken on any work.

“I filed for my LLC last year. It is solely as a part-time business, but I haven’t been doing much outreach and I do not have any clients right now. I do intend to keep my own company active for now,” Peralez told San José Spotlight. “My job with SJPD is and will remain my primary job. I will only conduct consulting work in a part-time capacity adhering to the restrictions of my work permit with SJPD.”

As a police officer, “it’s my understanding (Peralez) can do some work in San Jose but it would need to be outside of public safety work,” Jimenez told San José Spotlight.

Jimenez said he started Brownstone Strategies a year ago, in consultation with San Jose’s city attorney. Meanwhile, he expects another public official to come onboard. He was tight-lipped on details as it hasn’t yet been finalized.

“We plan to grow the team. There is one other current elected official that’s agreed to come onboard but she has a few things going on, politically, so we’re going to wait to bring her onboard,” Jimenez said. “I expect in the next few months you’ll see a new face there.”

San José Spotlight’s prior reporting uncovered how lobbyists with powerful clients in the heart of Silicon Valley often meet with officials without fully disclosing what’s discussed — even after these issues were made public.

Sean McMorris, a government ethics and transparency expert at Common Cause California, said the new venture doesn’t raise red flags for him. He said if Jimenez is following the probationary period, there’s less risk of undue influence.

“What such laws do, in addition to providing a cooling off period, is mitigate the possibility of a public official quitting their job to go immediately work for a special interest who has a financial stake in upcoming decisions that official has insider knowledge of and influence over,” McMorris told San José Spotlight.

He likewise didn’t see a problem with a police officer lobbying his employer’s city if it’s been two years since he held elected office. That said, McMorris argues the public has every right to “scrutinize everything” and form their own opinions about lobbyists and their backgrounds.

“Lobbying in and of itself is not bad, it’s actually a crucial part of democracy, but paid lobbying is where the wealthy have an advantage. It is thus appropriate for governments to impose laws that mitigate this access-and-influence bias in order to retain a sense of fairness and equity in the democratic process,” McMorris said.
Brownstone may have to fight for the front of the line. San Jose counts 56 lobbying firms currently registered at City Hall, according to an official list. Last month, San José Spotlight first reported how former Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco lobbied for the owner of Regional Medical Center, a private hospital she once spoke out against in East San Jose. This news outlet also reported how former mayor and congressional candidate Sam Liccardo started his own consulting firm, 15th North Street Consulting, last September. His firm doesn’t appear on the city’s lobbyist registry.

Jimenez, meanwhile, stands at the beginning of his next chapter. He said he sees Brownstone as the continuation of his public service.

“I don’t have immediate plans to run for another office,” he told San José Spotlight. “I think Raul and I are well positioned to start capturing a bit of market share in this space because I think that while you do have a lot of consulting businesses here, there aren’t a lot of folks who have the intimate elected experience that we bring. There’s business for everyone.”

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.