Councilmen Seek Review of Ethics Law

On the heels of the resignations of two longtime Police Commissioners, Los Angeles City Councilmen Robert Farrell and Hal Bernson on Tuesday called for a review of the financial disclosure requirements mandated by the city’s new ethics law.

Commission President Herbert F. Boeckmann and Vice President Reva B. Tooley said their resignations Monday were prompted by the requirements, which they called “an invasion of privacy.”

“If the issue of the forms and the disclosure are this critical, then I think we should look at it,” Farrell said.

He expressed concern that the regulations may deter people from taking volunteer city commission posts.

Bernson suggested that the police and fire commissions should be exempt from disclosure because the departments they oversee do not present potential conflicts of interest faced, for example, by planning commissioners.

“I hope in situations where you don’t have conflicts of interest, there will be some kind of revision of the ordinance,” Bernson said.

Any changes in the law, approved by voters in June, would require another election.

Boeckmann, a commissioner since 1984, brought up the disclosure issue at his last commission meeting Tuesday.

“My financial disclosure form for last year was 78 pages, but this year it is too much,” he said. “I have always believed in standing up for what I believe in. This time I will be stepping down for what I believe in.”

In his 1990 disclosure, Boeckmann’s investment portfolio included an auto dealership, real estate holdings, manufacturing and publishing companies and about $5,000 in stock in a South African gold mine.

Tooley was not at Tuesday’s meeting and could not be reached for comment. In her 1990 disclosure, she listed various real estate holdings. Her husband, William, is a developer.

Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said Tuesday that Boeckmann’s skill as a businessman and Tooley’s background as a journalist were invaluable to the commission.

“It’s ironic that the (ethics law) would result in two fine individuals like this leaving the commission, when I think the public intent of the law was to look at political leaders,” he said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Melanie Lomax was appointed vice president to replace Tooley. The commission will decide March 21 on a new president.

Also on Tuesday, the City Council approved a motion to determine why the ethics law requires low-level city employees to file complete economic interest forms, while commissioners for the Community Redevelopment Agency are not required to file at all.