2 lobbyists to pay fines for ethics violations

Two City Hall lobbyists who are former presidents of city commissions have agreed to pay fines for violating city ethics rules, according to documents released Thursday by the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

Dominick Rubalcava, who was president of the city Water and Power Commission during the administration of Mayor James K. Hahn, was fined $3,000 for failing to register as a City Hall lobbyist, pay registration fees and file quarterly activity reports.

Steven Afriat, a lobbyist who was president of the city Animal Regulation Commission in the administration of Mayor Richard Riordan, was fined $3,400 for failing to properly report an independent expenditure in a 2003 City Council campaign and for not providing a script or recording by the campaign to the Ethics Commission. Afriat is in charge of a political fundraising committee called Los Angeles Taxpayers for Good Government, which was also named in the settlement.

Rubalcava, whose lobbyist clients include Highwood Properties Inc. and taxi group Administrative Services Co-op, said he did not intentionally skirt the law requiring registration of lobbyists.

“That was a year after I had my big motorcycle accident, and some of the paperwork that needed to get done didn’t get done,” Rubalcava said. “It was my responsibility, so that’s why I settled it.”

The violations occurred in 2003 and 2004 when he was a Hahn appointee to the Water and Power Commission.

Hahn’s successor, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, removed all lobbyists from city commissions as one of his first acts in office, to end concerns that the dual roles posed conflicts of interest.

The Ethics Commission became aware of Rubalcava’s problem when he appeared as a lobbyist before the city Board of Taxicab Commissioners in 2003 on behalf of Administrative Services Co-Op at a time when he was not registered as a lobbyist but was being paid $5,000 a month by the taxi co-op.

“The public has a right to know who is lobbying city officials and employees on behalf of private interests in exchange for compensation,” said a statement by the commission staff accompanying the settlement agreement. “Lobbyist registrations and disclosure reports are a vital and necessary source of this information; therefore these are serious violations.”

The charge against Afriat is that he had a controlling interest in Los Angeles Taxpayers for Good Government that allowed him to authorize the political committee to make an independent expenditure of $2,400 in 2003 to benefit the campaign of Deron Williams in the City Council 10th District race. Afriat was not on the city commission at the time of the violation.

The independent expenditure was not reported to the Ethics Commission for two days, a violation of the requirement that it be reported within 24 hours. He also did not properly file scripts of prerecorded campaign telephone calls with the Ethics Commission.

Afriat, whose lobbyist clients include Five Star Parking and the city of Santa Clarita, could not be reached for comment.

Half a dozen L.A. business leaders who contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the political fundraising committee in 2003 have told The Times that ethics investigators last year were asking whether money was collected by the committee to support a police bond measure but was spent on other races. The settlement does not address that issue.

Donors interviewed by ethics officials include representatives of L.A. Sports Venues LLC, a subsidiary of the Denver-based firm that has ownership interests in the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team and the Los Angeles Kings hockey team. The group has contributed $22,500 to the committee since 2003.

“We did make a contribution with the understanding that it would support public safety bond initiatives,” said Michael Roth, a representative of the firm. “We subsequently found out that the money ended up being spent on other campaigns. At that time we withdrew our support from the committee.”

Bob Stern, who co-wrote the state Political Reform Act and has advised the Ethics Commission in drafting its laws, said nothing prohibits a campaign from raising cash for one cause and spending it on another, as long as the committee’s organizing papers allow both, which appears to be the case with Afriat’s committee.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com