Heffernan welcomes conflict rule ally
June Casagrande
Councilman Gary Adams’ announcement that he will propose
tightening city rules on recorded campaign messages as part of a
conflict-of-interest ordinance has created strange bedfellows of two
council members on opposite sides of a local political scandal.
Councilman John Heffernan, who proposed creating new conflict
rules governing city elections, did so with Adams’ campaign manager,
Dave Ellis, in mind.
As consultant for the Airport Working Group, Ellis’ firm received
about $458,000 of a $3.6-million city grant to the working group and
Citizens for Jobs and the Economy to promote El Toro Airport
education. Working group executive director Barbara Lichman and jobs
group leader Bruce Nestande were also paid six-figure sums from the
grant for their work.
Though the payment to Ellis’ firm was legal and within city and
grant guidelines, Heffernan believes such payments shouldn’t be.
He has asked the city to consider drafting conflict-of-interest
rules that would forbid paid campaign consultants from later
receiving lucrative jobs funded out of the city treasury.
If Heffernan gets his way, new rules would also forbid candidates
from misrepresenting their political party affiliations and
endorsements on campaign literature.
In the wake of revelations that Ellis produced a phony and
misleading phone message to benefit Adams’ campaign, Adams is now on
Heffernan’s side of the issue.
Adams, who says he did not know about or approve of the phony
phone message, said he plans to propose an additional provision to
proposed conflict rules that would require the scripts of all
recorded campaign messages be filed with the city clerk’s office
prior to their being used.
Current rules require campaign literature to be filed with the
clerk’s office, but do not cover phone messages.
The district attorney’s office is reviewing a complaint against
Ellis and Adams about the phony message.
“I’ve been sitting back, waiting and hoping that one of the people
on the council who worked with Ellis would take a lead in moving a
conflict-of-interest ordinance forward,” Heffernan said.
He added that he was pleased by Adams’ announcement. “If this
comes from someone whose campaign Ellis ran, it’s not such a slap in
the face,” he said.
Adams’ suggestion could put into motion Heffernan’s idea, which
has been on hold due to the November elections and the holidays.
Heffernan said he will push to assure that new rules contain not only
stricter guidelines, but meaningful penalties for those who break the
rules.
“For example, if you do something wrong and the city has to hold a
special election because of it, should you pay the $50,000 or
whatever it costs to hold a special election?” he said. “These are
the things we need to decide and let everyone know up front.”
* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.
She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at
june.casagrande@latimes.com.
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