Taxpayer funded lobbyists "paid handsomely" but what do they do?

Taxpayers and citizens advocates - take notice! We thought you might like this post by Phil Fountain, referencing the HillCo lobby war:
http://www.empowertexans.com/Issues/lobby_war_greater_transparency


The section is particularly interesting:

...Particularly when many lobbyists are "getting paid handsomely" (a phrase used by Mr. Schwartz) to represent governmental entities, such as cities, counties, school districts, municipal utility districts (or MUDs), etc., yet there is little to show for their work. There's typically not a written legislative agenda regarding specific legislation, and tax-funded lobbyists rarely testify before legislative committees.

Take Fred Hill, for example, he's a former legislator that now represents governmental entities as a lobbyist. During the 2009 legislative session, Mr. Hill appears to have been paid by at least eight North Texas cities, yet never once testified at a public committee hearing.