Council Backs Expansion of Ethics Code : City Hall: Enforcement would cover 100 high-level officials. Bradley spokesman says the move unfairly targets mayor’s office.

Aiming to close a gaping loophole in Los Angeles’ ethics law, the City Council on Friday unanimously approved a measure to expand the enforcement provisions of the Ethics Commission to cover more than 100 high-level officials.

The measure received 10 votes and is scheduled for a second reading by the full council next Friday, but is assured of passing because only eight votes are needed for final approval.

“These top executive officers are key decision-makers at City Hall, yet they are at this point unaccountable,” said Ruth Holton, a lobbyist for Common Cause. “They run government, although the public never sees them. So they should be covered by the ethics law.”

The law was pitched to voters two years ago as the nation’s toughest municipal ethics code, but its penalty provisions do not cover any city employee below the rank of elected official, commission member or department head.

Among those excluded from ethics enforcement have been an array of powerful City Hall figures including Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani, who runs day-to-day operations in the mayor’s office, and City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie.

“This would close a major loophole because it would impact most of the people in high positions,” said Ben Bycel, the commission’s executive director, “including at least two positions in each council office.”

But a spokesman for Mayor Tom Bradley argued that the proposal unfairly targets the mayor’s office, which stands to have 19 decision-making positions brought under penalty provisions of the law.

“The mayor is more than happy to submit his staff to the scrutiny demanded by the ordinance,” Bradley spokesman Bill Chandler said, “but he is disappointed the council is taking this self-serving action of exempting most of its own staff.

“Each council office would only find two of its staff members affected by this change,” Chandler added. “Therefore, the current draft of the ordinance does slant the impact to target the mayor’s office.”

The proposal would apply enforcement provisions to at least two staff members in each council office who have been designated by the council member as “high-level” officials.

Ron Deaton, the city’s assistant chief legislative analyst, said the proposal would impose penalties on 30 council staff members and four legislative analysts, compared to 19 positions in the mayor’s office.

Bradley proposed the ethics reform measure, Proposition H, after he came under fire for his own alleged ethical improprieties. The measure was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 1990.

Assistant City Atty. Anthony Alperin has said the exemptions stem from concerns by city union representations that the new rules might violate labor contracts and need to be negotiated.

Consequently, the council chose to exempt all employees--union members or not--and apply the ethics measure only to elected officials, commissioners and department heads, Alperin said.

“I don’t think any council member will dare oppose this ordinance,” said Councilman Joel Wachs, who authored the measure, “because it would fly in the face of what voters want--clean, honest government.”