City Council Panel to Study Creating Panel on Ethics

A San Diego City Council committee Wednesday agreed to consider creation of an ethics commission to enforce rules about conflict of interest, campaign spending and lobbying.

The council’s Rules committee directed City Atty. John Witt’s office to draft an ordinance outlining the makeup and workings of such a commission for discussion by the committee in September.

The creation of the commission is a longtime goal of Mayor Maureen O’Connor, who in her 1990 State of the City address announced that she would not seek reelection in 1992 in order to concentrate on reforming city government.

Council members Wes Pratt and Judy McCarty supported O’Connor in the 3-1 vote, with Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer opposed. Pratt, however, made it clear that the commission could require extensive review and change before he would be willing to pass it on to the full City Council for a vote.

Under a plan outlined by Witt’s office, the commission could take over receipt and review of documents on campaign contributions, lobbying and elections now overseen by Witt’s office and City Clerk Charles Abdelnour’s office. In addition, the commission could perform some of the enforcement duties left to the state Fair Political Practices Commission and Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller’s staff.