Port Board Bars Conflict of Interest

The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners has adopted a conflict-of-interest policy that prevents its members from doing business with the Port of Los Angeles. But the new rules came under criticism for allowing the commission president to represent law clients that do business with the port.

The new policy--approved unanimously and without discussion at Wednesday’s meeting--came in response to a $500,000 contract that is pending between the port and a firm owned by Commissioner Robert Rados for design of a new fireboat. While allowing the Rados contract, the new rules prohibit similar deals in the future.

But the policy, which was adopted at Mayor Tom Bradley’s urging, has drawn criticism from Harbor District Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who said it should cover the actions of all commissioners or none.

City Ordinance Cited

Flores said that both in the case of Jun Mori, the commission president, and Rados, there is provision for acting against a conflict of interest under an existing city ordinance.

However, the new Harbor Commission policy is more restrictive than the city law. The city requires public officials to abstain from voting on matters in which they have a commercial interest. The Harbor Commission now has an outright ban on its members engaging in business with the harbor whether they have a direct commercial interest or not.

Mori is nevertheless excluded from the policy because he provides a service to clients and tenants of the port but not to the port itself.

“If the Harbor Department or any other department or the city as a whole feels that the conflict-of-interest laws that we now have are not sufficient,” Flores said, “then I think if they’re going to change the policy, it should include not only those who do business with the city but all of those who have any economic gain.”

In 1985, Mori generated controversy by representing law clients who do business with the port. After The Times reported that the senior city attorney assigned to the Harbor Department had repeatedly complained that Mori was insensitive to the appearance of conflicts of interest, the city attorney conducted a review of his conduct.

Mori was cleared of wrongdoing, and he has followed the standard city procedure of sending matters in which he has a potential conflict to the city’s Board of Referred Powers for action. The Board of Referred Powers is a panel of five City Council members that acts in the place of a commission or other body whose members have a potential conflict of interest.

Rados said his company, Rados International, was asked by the Los Angeles Fire Department to bid on the fireboat design contract before he became a commissioner.

Although the port is paying for the new fireboat, the Fire Department is responsible for overseeing its construction. Rados’ bid was the lowest, and the second-lowest bidder has since gone out of business. Rados, the company chairman, said is not directly involved in the bidding.