Yakety kayak

It’s time again for the city to hand out contracts for kayak tour operations at tony La Jolla Shores, and lobbyists aren’t far behind. First on the water is Bartell & Associates, where staffer Adrian Kwiatkowski, a longtime veteran of kayak contract lobbying, pulled down $900 from San Diego Bike & Kayak to lobby for “issuance of Kayak Concession.” A request for proposals posted online by the city says the currently temporary concession permits expire on March 15 of next year. A new round of permitting is needed, the document says, “to reasonably ensure water safety during kayak operations, preserve and maintain the marine natural environment to the extent reasonably possible, and to mitigate and relieve congestion at the boat launch ramp as well as vehicle and pedestrian congestion on Avenida de la Playa.”

Past kayak battles have ended up with money in the pockets of politicos, as described by Moss Gropen in his May 2010 chronicle here of lobbyist Jack Monger and his former associate Kwiatkowski. “The Monger Group’s curious interest in kayaks began in late 2008 when San Diego Bike & Kayak Tours approached them, seeking a strategy to best position themselves in a nascent licensing process for kayak tour operators,” wrote Gropen. “As it happens, San Diego Bike & Kayak donated $2500 to the strong-mayor campaign in 2009. Was the modest contribution an attempt to grease the skids? When I asked Monger why San Diego Bike & Kayak chose to make this their first — and only, to date — monetary contribution to a political cause, he snapped, ‘My client just likes good government.’”