City Weighs Ban on Gifts to Officials, Employees : Politics: Redondo Beach ordinance would aim to curb the influence of special interests on local government. Two council members oppose plan.

The Redondo Beach City Council will begin work on a proposed gift-ban ordinance Tuesday that supporters hope will be one of the toughest laws of its kind in the state.

At least two of Redondo’s five council members favor a ban that would prohibit elected officials and city employees from accepting any gift--even a cup of coffee--from individuals and groups doing business with the city.

“We’ve got to stop the perception that government is out of the control of the people and in the control of special interests,” said Councilman Robert Pinzler, who proposed the ban last month.

Said Councilman Stevan Colin: “Hopefully, this will be the example for everybody else to follow.”

Pinzler and Colin want to model the gift ban on a recently enacted ordinance in Orange County that has been described as the strictest such law in the state. The Orange County Board of Supervisors imposed the ban after Supervisor Don R. Roth was convicted of failing to report several thousand dollars in gifts and voting on matters affecting the donors. Roth resigned from office in February.

Two Redondo Beach council members, Joseph Dawidziak and Marilyn White, oppose the ban, saying state law makes it unnecessary. The fifth council member, Greg Hill, said he has not made up his mind. Mayor Brad Parton, who takes part in council votes only to break a tie, could not be reached for comment.

Council members are scheduled to begin debating Tuesday what should be included in the gift-ban ordinance, which would be voted on at a later date.

For the two council members advocating a total ban, the Orange County prohibition, tough as it is, may not be tough enough. The Orange County measure applies only to elected officials and top county bureaucrats. Pinzler and Colin want the ban to cover all city employees. And while the Orange County law allows county employees to accept up to $50 a year in meals from a single source, the two Redondo council members would prefer to eliminate even that exception.

“All you need to do is pay your own way,” Colin said. “If you adopt a policy of paying for what you get, it’s really simple.”

Both Colin and Pinzler said the gift ban is long overdue in Redondo Beach.

“It’s not the present council, but there are legendary stories supposedly in the city about this stuff that goes back years ago,” Pinzler said.

Colin was more specific. He accused former Councilman Terry Ward, who ran against Pinzler in the last election, of accepting free boat rides from Western Waste Co., which has a contract to collect trash for the city.

“I was getting calls from people during the last election saying ‘Guess who was taking a cruise of the harbor today? Terry Ward and his wife,’ ” Colin said. “People don’t think that’s much of an influence on them, but it really is, especially when they’re not paying for the boat ride. It’s a subtle way of influencing decisions.”

Ward, who previously accused Colin and Pinzler of waging a sleazy campaign against him, called Colin’s charge ludicrous.

“I go on boat rides all the time,” said Ward. “How much is a boat ride worth? Is that a gift? Come on. I didn’t get any extra trash picked up. I don’t think I got any better service from the trash people than anybody else because I went on a boat ride.”

State law requires city council members to report any gift they receive that is worth more than $250. Council members are also required to disqualify themselves from voting on any issue in which they have an economic interest.

Pinzler says the state standards are too lax. The proposed gift ban, he said, would help restore public confidence in city politics.

Not everyone agrees. Councilwoman Marilyn White said the proposed gift ban is like “putting four stoplights in a one-intersection town. You don’t need it.”

Rather than instill confidence in voters, the ban would erect a barrier between council members and the public, she said.

“Say I’m out knocking on doors campaigning,” White said. “I know a lot of people in the area. One says ‘Come on in, I’ll fix us lunch.’ What do I do when I’m finished? Do I stand up and drop $5? That’s insulting.”

Similar questions were raised by City Atty. Jerry Goddard last month. In a June 9 memo to the City Council, he cautioned council members against enacting an excessively broad ban. If the new law contains a broad definition of what constitutes “doing business with the city,” he suggested, women’s clubs might not be able to send leftover bake sale cookies to the local fire house.

“It’s not that I think there’s anything wrong with these rules,” Goddard said later. “I just think you must think them through so you understand the implications.”