Tougher Election Fund Law Sought

Frustrated by efforts to enforce Los Angeles’ year-old campaign contribution law, City Atty. James K. Hahn has proposed a Charter amendment that would place tighter controls on political candidates and harsher penalties on violators.

The suggested changes, which were forwarded to the City Council’s Governmental Operations Committee, would impose civil as well as criminal penalties against candidates convicted of violating the contribution law that was passed by city voters in 1985.

In a letter Tuesday to committee members, Hahn also suggested broadening the powers of the city clerk’s office to include the power to subpoena campaign records in an effort to make it “a more enforceable campaign finance reform law.”

Under Hahn’s proposal, candidates would have to identify their political committees and provide more extensive financial records of those committees. Candidates would be required to choose a certified public accountant as a campaign treasurer, and a written record would have to be made of expenditures of more than $1,000.

The proposed revisions, subject to City Council review before being placed before city voters, come five months after council members had asked Hahn to review the campaign financing law.

Under the existing ordinance, a $500 limit is placed on campaign contributions to local council races and a $1,000 ceiling for mayor and other citywide races. The law also limits contributions from committees controlled by a candidate.

However, confusion over that law raised questions about its effectiveness. Those shortcomings were magnified when the city attorney’s office earlier this year sought to investigate whether Councilman Richard Alatorre had illegally used campaign funds to win election last year.

Alatorre, a former assemblyman, had been accused of knowingly using large amounts of money controlled by his state campaign committee. Alatorre, in turn, contended that he had spent the money before he officially declared his candidacy and so did not violate the city’s new law.

Last August, the councilman agreed to pay a $141,966 fine to settle a lawsuit filed against him by the city. A criminal case against three of his political aides was dropped.

Hahn said at the time that the city was handicapped in the prosecution because Alatorre refused to cooperate with investigators and the existing law did not allow the city attorney to force Alatorre to testify about his campaign practices. The law also did not require the Alatorre campaign to turn records over to investigators.

Hahn’s proposed Charter amendment would require candidates and their committees to make records available and to testify in an investigation.