They can’t be bought: L.A. City Council nixes higher gift limit

The Los Angeles City Council has dropped a plan to increase the limit on gifts city officials can accept.

Smart move.

As The Times’ David Zahniser reported, two months ago council members voted to draft a law allowing people with financial interests at City Hall, such as contractors and bidders on construction projects, to give gifts of up to $150 per year, an increase from the current $100 limit.

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The council proposal came after the Ethics Commission urged them to ban gifts altogether. The goal was to simplify the rules, since city officials are already prohibited from accepting gifts from lobbyists. Plus, it was a way to address the public cynicism about special interests influencing politicians.

So it was quite surprising when council members voted not only to ignore their ethical advisors but to go the opposite direction and let city officials accept even more gifts.

City Hall critics — and probably a few editorial boards — were ready to pounce this week as the City Council was expected to finalize the new, higher limits. Instead, council members reversed course.

Council President Herb Wesson said: “It wasn’t worth the blowback.”

There’s an open question as to whether a $100 limit on gifts is still too high. Members of the City Council — which is the highest paid council in the nation, by the way — argued they didn’t want to get in trouble if someone bought them a cup of coffee. A hundred bucks buys a lot of lattes.

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