Government Of the Lobbyists, By the Lobbyists, and For the Lobbyists

The Sacramento Bee has an op-ed about the "volunteer aides" who have become regulars at Sacramento City Hall. At first I thought they were talking about something like this. In fact these people are basically lobbyists who have business before the city, making "volunteer aide" a misnomer that is almost surreal, as is the fact that the new mayor (former basketball star Kevin Johnson) has "set aside" room on the third floor of City Hall "for official city staff and Johnson-designated volunteers to work side by side."