Will voters bring ethics to Los Angeles County government? Some aren’t so sure

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zahniser, bringing you the latest trials and tribulations from city and county government.

For the past month, the big news out of Los Angeles County government has been the plan to expand the Board of Supervisors, which has divided political allies and produced heated debates at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration.

That proposal, planned for the Nov. 5 ballot along with several other changes to county government, has come under fire from some on the board, who warn that it still has an unknown price tag.

Critics say the proposal, which would expand the board from five to nine members, comes with a sweetener to make it irresistible to voters: a new ethics commission charged with rooting out wrongdoing.

Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who co-authored the proposal, described it as “once-in-a-century ethics reform.” She also argued that, given the events of recent years, an ethics watchdog is long overdue.

Last year, former Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas was convicted on corruption charges involving votes he cast at the county. (He has filed an appeal.) The year before that, real estate developer Arman Gabay was sentenced to four years in prison for giving bribes to Thomas M. Shepos, a high-level official in the county’s real estate division. (Shepos was also convicted.)

Then, there are the many criminal cases targeting Los Angeles City Hall, which have resulted in the convictions of two former council members, a deputy mayor, a former city commissioner and several others.

Horvath said that better enforcement of laws regulating campaign fundraising, lobbying and conflicts of interest would help rebuild public confidence. She also pushed back on the idea that the new ethics commission is an enticement to get voters to expand the board.

The package of government changes, including the establishment of an elected countywide executive, is “not just individual improvements,” Horvath said.

“They collectively aim to disrupt the status quo and better serve all Angelenos,” she said.

Some aren’t quite as excited about the rollout of the new ethics commission — including groups that are generally supportive of these types of changes.

Sean McMorris, who handles ethics and accountability issues for the advocacy group California Common Cause, sent the supervisors a letter warning that the ballot proposal lacks the necessary specifics, and safeguards, to ensure the new ethics commission is truly independent.

Some of the details surrounding the ethics proposal — which calls not just for a new commission but also an office of ethics compliance and the creation of an ethics compliance officer — would be worked out after the ballot measure is approved by voters.

Horvath has said she is committed to making the new ethics commission truly independent. At the same time, she has repeatedly reminded her colleagues that she is not interested in letting “the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

That argument has not swayed Rob Quan, an organizer with Unrig LA, which has pushed for anti-corruption measures at the city and county. Quan said the ballot language leaves open the possibility that members of the new ethics commission could be removed by the supervisors for political reasons.

On Tuesday, Quan told the supervisors that the ethics proposal “feels like cheap sweetener thrown in to punch up the other reforms.”

“To say these are half-baked reforms is actually a gross overstatement,” he said. “This might be least independent ethics commission ever imagined. Telling voters otherwise would be deeply misleading.”

Horvath’s proposal, which was co-authored with Supervisor Janice Hahn, has drawn opposition from someone keenly familiar with the formation of ethics agencies.

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Ruth Galanter, who held office from 1987 to 2003, said she thinks a new county ethics commission would be a waste of money. Galanter signed the ballot argument opposing Charter Amendment H, which created the city’s ethics commission.

That measure, which was approved by voters in 1990, ushered in an array of changes, including public funding for political campaigns. It also delivered a major pay increase to L.A. City Council members, which Galanter opposed.

Galanter believes a new county ethics commission would simply duplicate the work of the Fair Political Practices Commission, which is charged with enforcing campaign finance and conflict-of-interest laws up and down the state. She said the FBI and the L.A. County District Attorney, not the city Ethics Commission, have been responsible for uncovering major corruption at City Hall in recent years.

“We have the evidence,” she said. “They’ve had a city ethics commission for 30 years. And does it make anybody more ethical? It doesn’t appear to. It doesn’t work.”

Galanter has expressed interest in writing the ballot argument against the proposal for board expansion and the new ethics office. Horvath, for her part, has been working to rebut the critics, pointing out that the work of the ethics office would go well beyond rooting out misconduct, taking on tasks such as educating voters and making election information more easily available.

Once the new office is up and running, Horvath said, it would ensure online access to an array of campaign material. For the county, that would be a sea change.

The city’s ethics agency, which has dozens of employees and a budget of more than $6 million, has made a huge amount of election material — campaign mailers, radio ads, television commercials — accessible to the public on its website. Those aren’t available on the county’s site.

The proposal still needs one final board vote before heading to the ballot. Even if voters reject it this fall, the county could still create a new ethics office.

On Tuesday, the board approved a plan from Horvath and County Supervisor Kathryn Barger to begin creating such an office, regardless of how things go in November.

Barger, who opposes the board expansion measure, said she sees no reason why voters should have to wait.

State of play

— EXECUTIVE DECISION: Some L.A. County public employee unions have begun pushing back against a key piece of the ballot measure to restructure county government: creating a new elected chief executive. Barger and County Supervisor Holly Mitchell tried to strip the CEO proposal from the measure. Their effort failed on a 3 to 2 vote.

— OUT OF JAIL: The 29-year-old accused of breaking into Mayor Karen Bass’ residence pleaded guilty to a single count of vandalism, avoiding additional time behind bars. The D.A.’s office dropped its charge of felony burglary against Ephraim Hunter, who was sentenced to probation and ordered to spend at least three months in drug rehab.

— GIVING ORDERS: Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order requiring state agencies to remove homeless encampments, while urging cities to follow suit. Some say the order is aimed at shifiting blame for the homeless crisis to local government.

— HE’S BACK: Former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who held the city’s top elected office from 2005 to 2013, launched his second run for governor on Tuesday. Although the election is still two years away, Villaraigosa is one of several contenders looking to replace Newsom. Villaraigosa last ran for the office in 2018.

— HYDEE VS HOME SHARING: City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto has accused a group of businessmen of operating more than 30 illegal short-term rental properties across L.A., including at least 10 subject to the city’s rent stabilization ordinance. The city’s lawsuit seeks up to $15 million in damages. At least one of the companies targeted in the lawsuit has denied wrongdoing.

— KOREATOWN KONVERSION: LA4LA, the initiative promoted by Bass during this year’s State of the City address, has converted a residential building in Koreatown into housing for dozens of homeless residents. LA4LA is supposed to get government, philanthropy and the private sector working together to complete affordable housing.

— BACK TO THE BUS: County Supervisor Janice Hahn took the bus again.

— FRENCH CONNECTION: We told you last week that the LAPD was sending nearly three dozen people to the Olympic Games in Paris. Now, there are more details on that particular delegation. The contingent, made up of 32 reserve officers and a supervisor, has been assigned to patrol various sites during the games. The French government is paying for the group’s travel and lodging.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s program to combat homelessness went to Hollenbeck Park in Boyle Heights on Thursday. The operation, carried out in Councilmember Kevin de León’s district, moved about 15 people indoors, according to the mayor’s team.
  
• On the docket for next week: The Fair Rep L.A. Coalition hosts a virtual teach-in on the city’s upcoming Charter Reform Commission process. The event, which begins at 6 p.m. on Monday, will include information on how to apply to serve on the commission.