Hahn Urges Ethics Rules

Acknowledging a public perception that city contracts have been linked to campaign contributions, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn issued an executive order Friday to set clearer ethical standards for city commissioners and mandate that contracts be awarded in an open and competitive process.

Hahn cannot enact the ethics changes on his own because the agencies are independent under the city charter, but the commissions are likely to follow his request because the mayor appoints their members.

The four-page directive asks the harbor, airport, and water and power departments to adopt many of the recommendations of a blue-ribbon commission the mayor set up after federal and county grand juries launched investigations into city contracting.

“I will accept nothing less than assuring that public funds are being spent in the best interest of Los Angeles residents,” Hahn said at a City Hall news conference where he was joined by members of the panel making the recommendations.

Among the 18 requests in the executive order, Hahn asked the three city commissions to explore whether to establish a position of executive director of the commission to help the panels do their jobs, especially in considering contracts and leases. The three departments handle a combined $1.3 billion in contracts annually.

The mayor’s call for tougher ethical standards came a day after a prominent lawyer alleged that the head of the Water and Power Commission played host at a fundraising breakfast for Hahn -- a political activity that is now illegal under city law.

Hahn and DWP Commission President Dominick Rubalcava both denied that Rubalcava had any role in the fundraiser.

Fred Gaines, the lawyer who said he saw Rubalcava act as host at the event, filed a formal complaint Friday with the city Ethics Commission and said ethics investigators were opening a probe into Thursday’s fundraiser at the Pacific Dining Car.

Hahn’s executive order drew criticism from his mayoral opponents, who have attacked his ethical standards.

State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley) and former Assembly speaker Bob Hertzberg called Hahn’s actions “too little, too late,” saying he could have demanded the changes two years ago.

Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, another candidate, said many of the rules Hahn is asking commissioners to abide by have already been adopted by the City Council as law. “The mayor shouldn’t need a task force, nine months and a $400,000 study to advise him how to act ethically,” Villaraigosa said.

Hahn, in turn, noted that it has been almost a year since he proposed banning political contributions from developers and contractors to city officials, but the council has not acted.

“That would end this perception once and for all that contracts either are awarded or not awarded because of campaign contributions that are made or not made,” Hahn said.

Representatives of the three agencies said Friday they generally supported the rules requested by Hahn, though Rubalcava pointed out that many of the proposals were already required by the city charter.

The executive order asks the three proprietary departments to adopt a code of ethics that includes laws approved by the City Council, including a ban on commissioners’ raising funds from city contractors. It also asks the departments to require commissioners for the first time to undergo training in ethics laws.

Hahn also asked the commissioners to sign a statement in which they agreed to abide by ethics laws.

“It might be helpful,” Rubalcava said.

The mayor’s order also calls for the three commissions to hold public hearings at least four times a year to discuss ethics issues, including additions to their code of ethics.

Hahn’s proposal to explore the creation of an executive director for each commission could require additional funding.

Rubalcava said an executive director slot probably would require a salary of more than $100,000, but he said no additional support staff would be needed. “I don’t know if we need one at the DWP because of our policies and practices, but I would be open to it if people think it’s necessary,” he said.

Hahn and the blue-ribbon panel cited the executive director of the Police Commission as a possible model. That position and a secretary cost about $340,000 a year.

The mayor’s executive order asks that the competitive bidding process be meticulously followed and that contracts be awarded in the open with documentation to explain reasons for the award.

“We were troubled to learn that sometimes million-dollar contracts and leases are issued behind closed doors, in executive session, with no explanations or reasons given,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, who headed the blue-ribbon panel and is a law professor at Duke University.

Chemerinsky, a former USC law professor, said “undesirable practices” developed in the three agencies “keep the taxpayers from getting the best value for their dollars.”

Hahn also endorsed a shift in purchasing policies to reflect the “best value” available, rather than the lowest price.

On Friday, Hahn addressed the accusation that a commissioner had held a fundraiser for him, saying, “City commissioner Rubalcava was in the restaurant that morning -- stopped by to say hello -- but he wasn’t involved in the fundraiser.”

A Hahn representative said the event was put on by businessman Gerard Orozco.

Rubalcava also denied that he was host of the fundraiser or introduced Hahn. He said he was supposed to meet a friend, and when the friend didn’t show, he wandered over to where the mayor was.

The commissioner said the mayor asked him about a water-pipe leak that affected West Los Angeles and he briefed Hahn.

After he finished, he said, Hahn asked him to sit down at an empty seat. “So I sat down and that was it,” Rubalcava said. “Even if it was a fundraiser, I could have been there legally.”