Proposed Limits On Fund Raising Gathering Steam
By AMANDA BRONSTAD
Staff Reporter
The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission is expected to endorse a draft ordinance this week banning fund raising by city commissioners and setting in motion a process that could shake up the system of citizen oversight of city departments.
The commission will take up the ordinance, drafted by the city attorney’s office, at its regular monthly meeting on Feb. 10, and it is expected to refer the law to City Council’s Rules and Elections Committee.
“We believe this is a no-brainer,” said City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who co-authored a motion asking the ethics commission to consider a fund-raising ban. She said passage by the 15-member council was assured. “With the momentum, we’ll have more than eight votes.”
That level of support would put pressure on Mayor James Hahn, whose chief legal deputy, Carmel Sella, was on record as recently as mid-January opposing a ban on fund raising by city commissioners, whom Hahn appoints.
But momentum for the ban has gained steam in recent weeks, and last week Hahn spokeswoman Shannon Murphy said that if the measure cleared the council Hahn “would carefully consider the recommendation and would likely sign it.”
The change in attitude came as District Attorney Steve Cooley, whose office is investigating airport contracts and the role of airport commissioners in their selection, called on Hahn to support the ban on Jan. 29. As part of its investigation, Cooley’s office has subpoenaed several airport officials, contractors and Hahn’s deputy mayor responsible for the airport, Troy Edwards, to testify before a grand jury.
There were also indications that the council would pass the ordinance with at least 10 votes, enough to override a mayoral veto.
“The only reason the mayor has indicated that he may not veto it is because he believes the council has enough votes to over-ride his veto,” said a politically active former commissioner. “If he didn’t believe the council had 10 votes, he would veto this.”
On Feb. 5, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo sent the draft ordinance to the ethics commission for review.
In a letter attached to the draft ordinance, Delgadillo said, “The city has a compelling interest in dispelling the public appearance of ‘pay-to-play’ corruption and the ordinance is narrowly tailored to serve that compelling interest.”
The ordinance includes provision for penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. Delgadillo also suggested the commission adopt penalties that would remove violators from their commissions and prohibit them from serving on any commission for at least five years.
Earlier support
In 1996, Hahn, then city attorney, argued before the ethics commission that a ban on fund raising by commissioners was necessary.
“The perception that we have commissioners who are in effect serving two masters, that in addition to serving the public, that they also have to somehow provide fund-raising activities on behalf of all of us elected officials, I think is not a good one,” Hahn said at the time. “Obviously, we have seen a lack of confidence by the public in a lot of what’s going on in government today.”
Anthony Alperin, then an assistant city attorney, added that merely disclosing fund-raising activities, rather than banning them altogether, does nothing to “attack the problem.”
The ethics commission did pass the ban in 1996, but it was not acted on by the council. As recently as December, the commission seemed to be more supportive of a measure calling for disclosure of all fund-raising activities because it was more likely to reach the mayor’s desk.
Bill Boyarsky, a member of the ethics commission, said recent testimony by commissioners of other departments and councilmembers, along with those who have made the same arguments Hahn did as city attorney, have convinced the commission to scrap a disclosure measure in favor of a full ban.
“With the grand jury investigation going on, I think this is the time (for a ban),” Boyarsky said. “They can get enough votes out there.”
City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who co-authored the motion with Greuel, said a key convert was Council President Alex Padilla, chairman of the Rules and Elections Committee.
Padilla, who had been neutral on the topic, said last week he is convinced a ban is necessary. He said that while commissioners are ordinary citizens, they also are city officials who should be considered in a “special category” when it comes to fund raising.
“The political dynamics in Los Angeles have evolved to the point where there is serious concern in the general public about the role of commissioners,” said Padilla. “The more I look at it, commissioners are volunteers. But at the end of the day, they’re city officials, too.”
Some councilmembers have concerns about the constitutionality of banning commissioners from fund raising. Councilman Tony Cardenas issued a statement favoring a policy that removes “perceived or real improprieties.” But, he added, “I hope we can do that and not step on people’s constitutional rights.”
The right to participate in the political process should not be taken away from commissioners, who are generally more active in politics than most people, said Steven Afriat, president of Burbank lobbyist firm Afriat Consulting Group Inc.
Banning commissioners from fund raising will not stop the practice, he said, noting that a commissioner’s spouse may host a fund-raiser that doesn’t violate the ban, he said.
Still, he believes the council and the mayor will sign off on the ban under political pressure.
“I don’t know if there’s enough members of the council who have the courage to say there’s nothing wrong and people have the right to fund-raise,” he said. “The D.A. is a politician himself running for re-election. And the mayor is under a lot of political pressure.”
Shaking up the system
The impact of a ban could be far reaching. There are 300 commissioners in the city, all appointed by the mayor and who come to his attention through some level of political involvement.
Among the commissioners who have held fund-raisers for Hahn are Airport Commission President Ted Stein, Planning Commissioner Mitchell Menzer, City Redevelopment Commissioner Doug Ring and Recreation and Parks Commissioner Mike Roos.
There is concern, therefore, that banning the practice could chill fund raising by many of the most connected people in the city and force the ranks of experienced commissioners to dwindle.
For one councilmember, however, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. “If you look at commissioners in total, you find a large number of them are professional people who come from certain areas of the city and have time to work as commissioners because they have been successful in their careers,” said City Councilman Bernard Parks.
Unlike his predecessor, the independently wealthy Richard Riordan, Hahn has had to rely on a constant flow of cash into his political machine that has not subsided since he took office in 2001.
The upside of the ban for commissioners may come in relieving them of the burden to fund-raise. “One commissioner I spoke to said he would be thrilled not to raise money,” the former commissioner said. “A couple of commissioners have said they have been thinking of resigning. But, if this passes, they’ll stay on.”
