Council Hearings Urged on Airport Pacts

Two Los Angeles City Council members called Friday for hearings to address allegations of improper contracting practices by the Los Angeles airport department in the wake of a warning by City Controller Laura Chick of “potential illegal acts.”

Councilwomen Wendy Greuel and Cindy Miscikowski also called on the city attorney to draft a law that would bar city commissioners from fundraising for political campaigns.

Their motion also calls for prohibiting commissioners from evaluating or recommending contracts in the early stages of the bidding process.

“Cronyism and pay-to-play politics should have no role in city government,” Gruel said in a statement, referring to a practice in which officials use their positions to solicit campaign funds from contractors who have business before them.

The council members were reacting to an audit of the airport department released Monday by Chick, who said it “paints a picture of an environment ... that is ripe for abuse, conflict of interest and fraud.”

The audit found that the agency does not have a formal process for evaluating and selecting bids on lucrative airport contracts. Auditors criticized the agency for not keeping adequate records documenting why it had picked one business over another. The auditors also said that, when commissioners participated in interviews with companies that submitted proposals for airport contracts, there was typically little documentation to show why a decision had been made.

Mayor James K. Hahn, who defended the city’s airport commissioners after Chick’s audit, said through a spokeswoman Friday that he believes in transparent government and has directed his staff members to work closely with the council and the controller’s office to ensure that everyone is following the law.

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Times staff writer Jennifer Oldham contributed to this report.