GOVERNMENT WATCH : Work Ethic
The state agency that investigates political corruption says it will not deal with the Los Angeles agency that investigates political corruption. What it comes down to is that the state Fair Political Practices Commission doesn’t like the way the Los Angeles Ethics Commission’s executive director does his job. The state insists it will not work with the city commission as long as that body is led by Benjamin Bycel.
Hold on. The last time we checked, the state Fair Political Practices Commission was still a public agency. It can’t refuse to deal with a local ethics commission just because, goodness gracious, somebody rubs somebody the wrong way.
Bycel is indeed a hard-charging lawyer who did not take the job at the Ethics Commission to make friends, either in Los Angeles or Sacramento. City powers made sure he and the commission got a warm welcome by placing their offices not in a convenient City Hall location but in the underground L.A. Mall.
The understaffed Ethics Commission doggedly worked with the FPPC to secure a record fine--$895,000--after the Ethics Commission uncovered a money-laundering scheme that touched several big names in City Hall. Results. That’s what the city Ethics Commission has been fighting for, against tremendous odds. Frankly, the long-established FPPC could learn a thing or two about aggressive investigations from the local commission.
The FPPC and the Ethics Commission must work cooperatively on behalf of their employer, the public. As for the petty personal asides, get over it.
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