Councilman Bernson to Pay $3,000 in Fines to Ethics Commission

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson has agreed to pay $3,000 in fines to the city Ethics Commission for accepting free legal services worth more than $1,000 from the law firm of City Hall lobbyist Neil Papiano, officials said Monday.

Bernson said he signed a stipulated settlement with the Ethics Commission that indicates he did not know at the time that Papiano’s services constituted a political contribution.

“I reluctantly paid it with the understanding that I did not knowingly violate the law,” Bernson said. “If it wasn’t for the cost, I would have contested it. This has cost me about $30,000 in attorney fees.”

The commission also imposed a $4,000 fine on Papiano’s law firm, Iverson, Yoakum, Papiano & Hatch. The firm represented Bernson when the Ethics Commission was investigating the councilman in 1997 for using his officeholder accounts to buy season tickets to the Hollywood Bowl.

Papiano and his firm negotiated with the Ethics Commission, and Bernson eventually paid $1,500 in fines after the panel alleged that he acted improperly. Bernson contended at the time that he did not break any rules because he took constituents to concerts and discussed city business.

The Ethics Committee found that the value of legal services provided to Bernson by Papiano’s firm exceeded the city’s $1,000 limit on contributions by $4,700.

The stipulated agreement, released Monday, said Papiano’s law firm “merely intended to provide legal services to the councilman, and the councilman has indicated he thought he was receiving volunteer legal services from the firm.”

LeeAnn Pelham, the panel’s acting executive director, refused comment. The agreement has yet to be approved by the Ethics Commission, which meets next Monday.

Bernson said Papiano could legally make inquiries about a case as an individual. But, he added, the Ethics Commission officials believed the case crossed the line when an attorney with Papiano’s law firm appeared before an Ethics Commission hearing on the Hollywood Bowl case.

Papiano is best known for his celebrity clientele, who have included Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Collins and Ed McMahon. He also is a City Hall insider, counting among his close friends Bernson and City Council President John Ferraro.

Bernson and Papiano have had a long and sometimes controversial association.

Last year, The Times reported that Bernson paid Papiano $140,000 for a half-interest in an ocean-view Encinitas condominium with an assessed value of $387,000.

Papiano represented Nederlander-Greek Inc., the operators of the Greek Theater, in lobbying the City Council for a lease extension of the city-owned venue. After The Times reported the condo deal, Bernson announced he would not vote on the lease extension to avoid the “appearance of impropriety.”

Although he denied that he received favorable treatment in the condo deal, once the transaction was reported, Bernson asked Ferraro to temporarily replace him on a council committee that was considering the lease extension.

In 1992, Bernson, Papiano and another couple jointly purchased an ocean-view condominium in Encinitas, near San Diego, for $350,000. At the time, Bernson owned a 7% interest and said he used the condo once a month. In a required filing with the Ethics Commission last year, Bernson disclosed that he bought Papiano’s 50% stake in the property for $140,000.

The San Diego County assessor’s office set the value of the property for tax purposes at $387,049 as of Jan. 1, 1999. Half of that would be $193,524, about $50,000 more than Bernson paid for his 50% interest. Bernson said last year that the assessor overvalued the property. But the councilman’s own economic interest statement filed with the Ethics Commission for 1998 estimated the three-bedroom condominium was worth $360,000 at that time.

Papiano also served as Bernson’s attorney in a high-profile lawsuit in 1992, the same year the two jointly purchased the condominium.