Head of City’s Ethics Panel to Leave Post

The executive director of the City Ethics Commission has announced she will leave her post to take a job with the Annenberg School of Communications at USC.

Rebecca Avila, who championed the commission’s effort to disclose campaign finance reportson the Internet, is set to take her new post in October. Meanwhile, Deputy Director LeeAnn Pelham will serve as the agency’s interim executive director while a nationwide search is conducted.

The Ethics Commission was established as a semi-independent government agency by voters in 1990 as part of a comprehensive package of government reforms. The agency administers and enforces the city’s ethics, lobbying and campaign finance laws.