Supervisors Limit Aides’ Power to Award Contracts : Ethics: The action follows news stories about votes by a Dana appointee favoring his top political contributor.

Without debate, Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday voted to bar their appointees from awarding contracts that have not been competitively bid to major campaign contributors.

The action followed a Dec. 16 Times article disclosing that aides to Supervisor Deane Dana voted 29 times in 1991 and 1992 to grant Metro Rail contract hikes worth $45.8 million to Dana’s top political backer.

California conflict-of-interest law prohibits county supervisors who serve on separate boards and commissions from voting on permits, licenses and no-bid contracts affecting campaign contributors who have given $250 or more to the officeholder’s campaign in the preceding year.

Under the new ethics standard approved on Tuesday, the supervisors’ appointees will face the same prohibitions as the elected officials. The provision, introduced by Supervisor Gloria Molina, passed without discussion from Dana or any of the other supervisors.

“We didn’t have any problems with it,” said Dana chief of staff Donald R. Knabe, who in the past two years has served as the supervisor’s campaign manager and substitute on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

Knabe has said that he followed “standard operating procedure” in voting repeatedly to award the contract hikes, called change orders, to Tutor-Saliba Corp. The contractor was Dana’s biggest campaign backer during 1991-1992 and has won more competitively bid subway construction contracts than any other company.

Dana has said there was no wrongdoing involved in the votes by Knabe and another aide.

Two weeks ago, Molina quietly submitted the ethics provision for the supervisors’ consideration.

“We are pleased that it passed, but somewhat surprised,” said press aide Robert Alaniz. “We never had any indication it would pass without discussion.”

Molina’s measure also called for the state Legislature to widen the law to apply to appointees statewide who serve on boards and commissions. Similarly, an executive with the independent lobby Common Cause said late last month that if the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office decides not to prosecute Dana or his aides, the group will urge the Legislature to broaden the law.