Dana Colleagues Call for Contract-Voting Reform

Colleagues of Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana said Wednesday that state law should be broadened to explicitly bar Dana’s aides--and those of other officeholders--from voting on contract awards to campaign contributors.

The calls for reform followed a Times report that Dana’s aides voted 29 times during 1991-1992 to award $45.8 million in contract increases to the supervisor’s top political donor.

Most of the votes were cast by Dana’s chief of staff, Donald R. Knabe, who also managed Dana’s 1992 reelection campaign. The contract change orders paid for work by Tutor-Saliba Corp., the largest Metro Rail subway builder. Tutor-Saliba contributed $28,000 to Dana’s reelection campaign in 1991-1992.

California conflict-of-interest law prohibits elected officeholders who serve on boards and commissions from voting on non-competitively bid contracts involving campaign donors who have given more than $250 in the preceding year. A spokeswoman for the state Fair Political Practices Commission said it is unclear whether the law applies to substitutes for elected officials.

John Spillane, a lawyer with the county district attorney’s office, said he would review the matter “to determine whether there’s a violation” and whether to open an investigation. Spillane is assistant chief of the district attorney’s special investigation unit.

Dana and Knabe have said they acted properly and that Tutor-Saliba did not receive any special treatment. Knabe and a spokesman for Dana did not return calls Wednesday seeking further comment.

Six officials who serve with Dana on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission said they would like to see the law tightened.

“To me, if you’re working for the person who is getting the benefits of the donation, you are indirectly, if not directly, receiving a benefit,” said Commissioner Judy Hathaway Francis. “I believe it’s a conflict.”

County Supervisor Ed Edelman, who also serves with Dana on the Transportation Commission, said he thinks the law should be tightened to “see if we can clear up any appearance” of wrongdoing. Edelman said that over the years he and his substitute to the commission, private lawyer Marvin L. Holen, have tried to avoid casting any votes involving Edelman’s campaign backers.

Said Holen: “Both Ed and myself consider my vote the same as his vote. . . . How could it possibly be different?”

Others on the 11-member commission who said they want the law tightened are newly elected county Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke; Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nick Patsaouras, who is a substitute for Supervisor Michael Antonovich, and Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre.

Alatorre said, “If I was conflicted, then I would probably not allow for an alternate of mine to vote.”

Burke said her policy is “not to vote on anything where there’s any possibility (for a conflict of interest) and for my alternate not to vote.”

Neil Peterson, executive director of the commission, said a change of the state law should be “looked at.” Peterson also noted that, as of next February, the commission’s ethics code will prohibit substitutes, such as Knabe, from voting on any contract award of $5 million or higher. The new ethics code does not address the issue of alternates voting on matters affecting their bosses’ campaign contributors.

Knabe did not attend Wednesday’s commission meeting at the Hall of Administration. According to a receptionist, he monitored it by intercom from Dana’s office.

Times staff writer Claire Spiegel contributed to this report.