Panel Delays Action on Ethics Rules Exemptions

The Fair Political Practices Commission on Wednesday postponed action until January on a staff recommendation to exempt public officials in small cities from certain conflict-of-interest regulations.

Discussion of the issue, prompted by a dispute in Signal Hill, was delayed when officials from Southern California cities could not reach Sacramento after the city’s airport was closed because of fog.

Public officials whose principal residence is 300 feet to 2,500 feet from a development are restricted from voting on the project unless it affects the value of their homes the same way it affects other nearby property. The commission staff has proposed exempting officials in cities with populations less than 25,000, where council members are elected on an at-large basis and the city is 10 square miles or less.