Chick to Push for Reform of City's Ethics Laws

By Jessica Garrison, Times Staff Writer

Days after warning of "potential illegal acts" in connection with the Los Angeles airport department, Controller Laura Chick said Thursday that she would push to reform the city's ethics laws to prevent city commissioners from raising or giving money for political campaigns.

Chick said she felt new rules were necessary because of a widespread perception that some commission members may be engaging in "pay to play," that is, using their positions to solicit political contributions from contractors who have business before them in exchange for preferential treatment.

Earlier in the week, when Chick released a routine audit of the city's airport department, she announced that she had asked local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to open investigations into how Los Angeles World Airports awards contracts. She declined to elaborate on the specifics of her allegations.

On Thursday, she again demurred when asked to point to specific examples of rules broken. But she said she was disturbed about a growing public perception that special interests have too much power in City Hall.

"I have this visual image of fungus," she said, adding, "I'm not saying keep money out. I'm saying keep it as clean and open and honest and fair as possible."

Chick's plan is similar to other proposals being debated by the city Ethics Commission. And in October, City Council members Bernard C. Parks and Cindy Miscikowski called for a code of conduct for commission members that would prohibit them from lobbying or fundraising.

Chick said she believes new rules would lead to more diverse representation on the panels that run city departments. Under the City Charter, most commissioners are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council.

Throughout the last three mayoral administrations, Chick said, many commissioners, particularly those on traditionally powerful panels such as the Airport Commission and the Department of Water and Power, have been big political contributors.

"If they were forgiven the burden of raising money … you would start to see different people appointed to commissions," she said. "You would start to see … people from council districts that have rarely been represented."

Chick said she plans to convene a group of people in early January to talk about ways to reform the city's ethics codes without violating 1st Amendment rights.

She also wants to drum up support for the proposed reforms, some of which have been pushed before, only to fade away.

In 1996, for example, the Ethics Commission pushed a measure that would have banned commissioners from soliciting political contributions, but it never was enacted by the council.

Chick said that if proposals stall again, she may try to take the issue directly to voters with an initiative.

Mayor James K. Hahn, who defended the city's airport commissioners after Chick's audit, said through a spokeswoman Thursday that he had not heard about Chick's proposals but looked forward to discussing them with her.

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