Mayor’s Reform Plan Is Getting a Cool Reception

Three weeks ago, amid calls for local campaign finance reform, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn curtly assessed a proposal to ban fundraising by city commissioners. “I don’t know what the argument for it is,” the mayor said.

By Friday, Hahn’s position had evolved so radically that he was calling on city leaders to make Los Angeles a national leader in efforts to change the way political campaigns are financed. “We are going to set the standard,” Hahn said as he unveiled his own sweeping plan to restrict local fundraising, lobbying and political giving.

But the mayor, who has raised more than $1.3 million for his 2005 reelection campaign, received a rude reception Friday at City Hall.

Many questioned his sincerity. And although a few reform advocates lauded his proposal, some observers suggested it was the move of a desperate politician struggling to clear the cloud that has hung over his administration since prosecutors opened investigations into alleged improprieties in city contracting.

“There is a disingenuousness,” said City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who for months has been pushing, over mayoral opposition, a more modest proposal to prohibit fundraising by members of city boards and commissions.

“Why the flip-flop?” Miscikowski asked.

Hahn’s plan would place new bans on political giving by city contractors, developers and lobbyists, further restrict fundraising on behalf of local political campaigns, and prohibit campaign consultants from lobbying officials for whom they have done political work.

The mayor said he has come to believe Los Angeles city leaders should do what they can to restore citizens’ faith that government decisions are not for sale. “This is in response to people saying to me: ‘What do you think? What are your ideas?’ ” he said.

His proposal would position Los Angeles at the front of national efforts to pass so-called pay-to-play laws limiting campaign contributions from city contractors, said Craig Holman, a political scientist with the nonprofit group Public Citizen.

The broad outlines of the plan have won praise from good-government advocates and others. Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who has been working to pass the ban on fundraising by members of city boards and commissions, said Friday she would support the mayor.

“I am for anyone who would like to continue our efforts to have the toughest campaign-finance laws in the country,” Greuel said.

But the prospective effect of a ban on political giving by many who do business in and around city government remained unclear.

Hahn’s office said the mayor did not calculate what percentage of his own campaign contributions had come from the people he would now ban from giving.

City Controller Laura Chick, who has been strongly advocating for new fundraising restrictions, estimated that a ban such as Hahn proposed would eliminate 50% to 60% of donations to local political campaigns -- and thus might be too drastic.

“It has the potential for shutting down local elections, disallowing campaigns from going forward,” Chick said.

The mayor argued that public financing and donations from other sources would ensure that local campaigns were adequately financed.

Many observers and elected officials said Friday they did not trust the mayor’s motives. A common theory was that he wanted to be perceived as a crusader against political corruption, but at no cost to his own rich campaign fund.

“It sounds to me like it’s life-raft time for the mayor,” said longtime political consultant Larry Levine, who worked with Hahn on the 2002 campaign against San Fernando Valley secession.

Levine is a staunch opponent of campaign finance regulations, which he believes undermine free speech while doing little to curb corruption.

Going into the mayoral campaign next year, Hahn has been facing questions over whether his fundraising practices have opened the door to corruption in the way city contracts are awarded, particularly at the airport, port and Department of Water and Power.

In recent months, the Los Angeles County Grand Jury has begun hearing testimony on contracting at the airport, and federal prosecutors have subpoenaed thousands of contracting documents.

At the same time, several prominent local politicians have been monitoring the investigations closely as they assess how vulnerable Hahn could be to a challenge next year.

One Hahn advisor acknowledged Friday that the mayor’s proposal was born amid concern that the criticism is gaining momentum and threatening to overshadow the work of his administration and dominate next year’s reelection campaign.

In moving out front with a dramatic proposal, Hahn “disarms” his critics and political opponents, said the administration insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to jeopardize his relationship with the mayor. The proposal also shifts pressure from Hahn to the City Council, the advisor said.

But if Hahn is serious about reform, he may have to overcome critics on the council who are questioning his motives and methods.

Hahn had pledged this year to work closely with other elected officials to build consensus for important city priorities, such as a budget. But he did not discuss his reform proposal with council members or other elected officials before he leaked it Thursday evening -- a strategy some officials said they found baffling.

The mayor provoked even more criticism by refusing to return donations from those whose political giving would be banned in the future under his proposal. Hahn said other candidates have had months to announce their candidacies and raise money, just as he has.

His critics appeared unmoved by that explanation.

“It’s one thing to propose ethics legislation after you’ve raised over a million dollars,” Councilman Jack Weiss said Friday. “It’s another thing to root out the allegations of corruption that have been made and show the public the city has been run appropriately.”