Local News in Brief : Council Asks Lifting of Boundary-Setting Rule

The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday called for state legislation allowing members of the agency that sets boundaries for cities to vote on matters affecting their campaign contributors.

The action, approved unanimously and without discussion, was requested by West Valley Councilman Hal Bernson, who serves as a city representative on the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission.

City, county and state officials are not prohibited from voting on matters affecting contributors, but they do face such requirements while serving as members of local agency formation commissions.

Bernson’s request came in the wake of recent assertions by Agoura Hills that a LAFCO decision making it difficult for the city to expand its boundaries was invalid because one voting commissioner--County Supervisor Mike Antonovich--accepted campaign contributions from property owners adjacent to the city.

Bernson serves as an alternate LAFCO member and was also cited by Agoura Hills officials, although he did not vote on the issue being disputed by Agoura Hills.

In requesting Wednesday’s action, Bernson complained that petitions that come before the agency requesting annexations of land to a city are signed by thousands of landowners.

“The burden of examining all of these lists and other lists of thousands of parcels of land to see whether an elected LAFCO member may or may not vote on the matter becomes onerous,” he said.