Why BlackBerry When You Can Take the Bus?

The D.C.-based lobbying firm is opening an office in the other Washington -- Washington state -- and plans to conduct federal lobbying from there.

Quite a trick, you say? Well, Monument insists that companies like having their federal lobbyists close at hand. In fact, lobbyists spend a lot of time on the road, explaining the capital's odd ways.

"We've found that clients -- particularly those with no D.C. office -- like having someone on the ground in Seattle," said C. Stewart Verdery, Jr ., the company's founder. Monument's clients in the Pacific Northwest include Digimarc, Microsoft, Weyerhaeuser and Zillow.com.

The Seattle outpost will be staffed by Timothy Punke, who has already been out there part-time with his family. Punke, a former chief international trade counsel for the Senate Finance Committee and its current chairman, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), will split his time between the coasts.

Sounds like a lovely trend. Maybe the Post needs a K Street columnist on the Amalfi Coast.

Hire of the Week

Alan L. Hoffman, former chief of staff to Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), has a cool new gig. Starting next month, he'll be senior vice president for external relations for the University of California system, a job that puts him in charge of communications and government relations for its 10 campuses.

But unlike other positions of its kind in the private sector, the university discloses the terms of employment. With apologies to Hoffman, 42, here are the highlights.

Hoffman will receive an annual salary of $370,000. "Given that he wishes to maintain an existing family home in the Los Angeles area, his appointment allows for up to one day per week of telecommuting," the press release says.

He also gets "an annual automobile allowance of $8,916" and "reimbursement of reasonable costs associated with temporary accommodations in the Oakland area, not to exceed $25,000 over a six-month period," the release adds.

Not bad for government work.

Please send e-mail to kstreet@washpost.com.