Bill Targets Conflicts in Voting on MTA Bids
The state Legislature has approved a bill barring any surrogates serving on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority from influencing the awarding of non-competitively bid contracts to campaign contributors.
The bill was introduced in response to a Times article in December reporting that two senior aides to county Supervisor Deane Dana had voted to award $45.8 million in contract increases to Dana’s top campaign contributor, a Metro Rail subway builder.
“If there’s anything wrong with this bill, it would be that we’re closing the barn door after the animals have escaped,” said state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), who carried the legislation approved Thursday night.
California law prohibits elected officials who serve on separate boards and commissions from voting on permits, licenses and non-competitively bid contracts that affect campaign donors who have given more than $250 within the previous year. If signed into law, Hayden’s bill would extend that prohibition to appointees of the officeholders who cast votes as their substitutes.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Pete Wilson said the governor would decide within the next five weeks whether to sign the bill.
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