New Push Made for Secession Disclosure

The Los Angeles Ethics Commission renewed its call Friday for new rules requiring disclosure of lobbying and fund-raising efforts by those involved in the drive to break up Los Angeles.

The commission recommended in December that those circulating petitions for San Fernando Valley cityhood be required to disclose who contributes to their cause, as well as the lobbyists they hire.

Valley VOTE has said it spent $500,000 to qualify petitions that triggered the study of cityhood, but has refused to release a complete list of donors. The group said only that the top donors in 1998 where the Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Police Commissioner Bert Boeckmann, and Studio City attorney David Fleming, who has been nominated for a seat on the ethics commission by Mayor James K. Hahn.

In a letter released Friday, the Ethics Commission’s president and its executive director accused the Local Agency Formation Commission of stalling on the issue of disclosure. And they called on LAFCO to schedule a public hearing this month.

“We continue to strongly believe that by providing the public with meaningful disclosure of these activities, LAFCO would be taking significant positive steps toward ensuring full public awareness of and confidence in all . . . government decisions LAFCO is empowered to make,” wrote commission President Miriam Krinsky and Executive Director LeeAnn Pelham.

Larry Calemine, executive director of LAFCO, said commissioners will consider the call for disclosure soon. But he said a committee already has rejected the proposal.

Calemine said he supports a requirement that future applicants reveal their lobbyists, but not that they be required to disclose their contributors.

LAFCO is studying cityhood proposals for the San Fernando Valley and the harbor area, which may be placed on the November 2002 ballot, as well as for the Hollywood area.

Calemine said Friday that the state already requires disclosure of contributors to cityhood campaigns once they reach the ballot. He said he opposes further disclosure.

“People who would contribute under a guise of anonymity because they work for the city might not want to have [their identities] disclosed because of fear of retaliation,” Calemine said.

Valley VOTE has identified attorneys and consultants it has hired, but the group’s chairman, Richard Close, refused Friday to disclose how much they are being paid or who is footing the bill.