L.A. on the Record: Settling in to Getty House

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Julia Wick, with lots of help from Dakota Smith and Rachel Uranga.

At some point in recent months, Mayor Karen Bass moved into Getty House, making her the fourth Los Angeles mayor to live in the Windsor Square mansion. She also began quietly fundraising for the Getty House Foundation, the nonprofit dedicated to upkeep and events at the official mayoral residence, with a series of small dinners held at the mayoral manse.

“The Mayor is working with the Getty House Foundation to host strategic convenings to address the number one issue our City is facing, which is homelessness,” Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl said via text message Friday afternoon. “The funds raised on an ongoing basis will go toward the cost of staff necessary to activate and operate this public resource.”

Situated among palm trees and sprawling estates a block north of Wilshire Boulevard, the Tudor Revival residence was built in 1921 and donated to the city as an official mayoral residence by Getty Oil Co. during then-Mayor Tom Bradley’s first term.

Official mayoral residences are a relatively unusual concept, and L.A. is one of only a handful of major cities where the mayor beds down in a city-owned property. Most Angelenos also have no idea Getty House exists, which is (sadly) perhaps fitting for a grand symbol of Los Angeles civic life.

It’s too soon to say exactly how Bass will put her stamp on the place and its programming. But it’s worth noting that the Getty House Foundation made it onto Bass’ calendar almost immediately after she took office: Bass sat down with the Getty House Foundation board for a noon meeting on her second day in office, according to an official schedule.

She began moving in over the winter holiday and, like prior mayors, has been hosting a steady stream of civic and social events. That list includes a series of convenings with mayors from other Los Angeles County cities, a reception for visiting members of the Congressional Black Caucus, gatherings of faith leaders and a screening of the Skid Row documentary “The Dirty Divide.”

The invitation for an open house meet-and-greet for Windsor Square neighbors listed Yvette Lechuga, Bass’ stepdaughter, as a co-host. During Garcetti’s tenure, his wife, Amy Wakeland, worked closely with Getty House Foundation leading events.

The idea for L.A.’s official mayoral residence was born out of our scrappy metropolis’ inferiority complex, and perennial insistence that we were just as worthy a city as New York, thank you very much. At least that was how Emmett C. McGaughey, the advertising executive and ex-FBI agent who helped spearhead the effort, framed it to our paper in 1977, at the time of Getty House’s dedication and shortly before Bradley moved in.

“We were talking about Gracie Mansion, which was in the news at the time,” McGaughey told The Times, describing how the idea emerged at a party in 1966. “We wondered why we shouldn’t have a residence for our mayor too. We thought Los Angeles was just as good and important as New York, if not better, and we still do.”

After Bradley left office, Richard Riordan declined to move into Getty House, preferring his own luxe Brentwood domicile. But he, along with his then-girlfriend and eventual wife, Nancy Daly, launched the Getty House Foundation and a massive restoration effort.

(Pre-restoration, things seem to have been a bit brutal: the wall paint was variously described as “puce,” “yellowish beige” and “avocado green” in the press. And after 16 years en suite, Ethel Bradley quipped, “the sooner the better” when asked about her departure.)

Like Riordan, former Mayor James Hahn also forewent residence at 605 S. Irving Drive, but both Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Eric Garcetti moved in and Bass followed.

Recent city ethics filings show that since taking office, Bass has raised at least $65,000 for the Getty House nonprofit, with funds rolling in from a number of civic players. (Funds donated to a nonprofit at an elected official’s request qualify as “behested payments.”)

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11, the Southern California Pipe Trades District Council 16, Urban Associates Inc., law firm Bush Gottlieb and Delta Airlines all donated $5,000 to Getty House Foundation at Bass’ behest. The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1277 and Fox Corp. both made $10,000 donations and contractor United Building Co. donated $20,000, according to filings.

Behested donations are perfectly legal and often support noble causes. But as my colleague Dakota Smith wrote in a story a few years ago about the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, critics have long argued that they can create the appearance of a pay-to-play system, with donors looking to curry favor with politicians by supporting their pet causes.

Seidl said Friday that the mayor is currently working with Getty House Foundation “to revise internal policies related to contributions from lobbyists and developers.” Seidl also said Bass plans to disclose all contributions monthly — a system that would shine quite a bit more light on money coming in since state rules only require that behested donations over $5,000 be disclosed.

He did not immediately respond when asked whether a similar policy would be implemented for the Mayor’s Fund.

The Mayor’s Fund, which Garcetti built into a behemoth, was the primary focus of the former mayor’s behested efforts, but it’s still early to ascertain how much focus Bass plans to put toward the nonprofit, or on private fundraising more generally.

In the meantime, behested donations are certainly worth tracking, alongside the tangle of city business that prominent givers often intersect with. Especially with a new mayor in town, and a donor class eager for opportunities to be front and center in her line of sight.

Of the eight donors to Getty House Foundation under Bass, all but three were the subject of city lobbying efforts during the first quarter of 2023.

State of play

— MAYFAIR MOVES: Mayor Karen Bass’ homelessness team is looking to purchase the Westlake neighborhood’s 294-room Mayfair Hotel, the latest big expenditure planned as part of her Inside Safe program. The building has been listed for nearly $70 million in recent months and served for two years as interim homeless housing before closing its doors last summer.

— HE’S RUNNING: Chief Deputy Controller Rick Cole is running for a seat on the Pasadena City Council in 2024 — a position he previously held from 1983 to 1995, according to Cole. The political veteran said he plans to keep his controller’s office position if he wins and has Controller Kenneth Mejia‘s permission to seek outside employment. (Pasadena City Council meets once a week on Monday afternoons, per its website.)

— TRANSITIONS: Friday was Veronica Gutierrez‘s last day in the mayor’s office as interim deputy chief of staff. Gutierrez came out of retirement to help set up the office, and her role was always intended to be temporary. Another deputy chief of staff hire will be announced in the coming weeks, per Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl.

And in non-city news, Raphael Sonenshein — who has served as the executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles since 2012 — will join the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation as its first executive director in June.

— LABOR AGREEMENT: Members of United Teachers Los Angeles overwhelmingly approved a new contract with L.A. Unified that will raise the average teacher salary to $106,000, a 21% wage increase over three years.

— SCHOOL SAFETY: City Council took another step toward installing speed humps near every public school in Los Angeles, the Daily News’ Linh Tat reports. The city’s Department of Transportation will report back on feasibility.

— CD 6 UPDATE: City Council District 6 candidate Imelda Padilla was endorsed by the union representing Los Angeles City firefighters. Padilla was also endorsed by Rose Grigoryan, who finished fourth in the District 6 primary. Marisa Alcaraz, Padilla’s rival, has been endorsed by City Council President Paul Krekorian.

— SENTENCING: Former high-level Los Angeles city attorney’s office lawyer Thomas Peters was sentenced Tuesday to nine months of home detention for taking part in an extortion scheme tied to the Department of Water and Power’s 2013 billing debacle. He is the third former city employee to be sentenced in the corruption case.

— MORE HUIZAR FALLOUT: A Chinese real estate company was fined $4 million Friday for the lavish bribes that its owner paid former Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar as it sought approval to build a downtown skyscraper.

— TELL ME ABOUT THE NEXT GETTY HOUSE PARTY YOU ATTEND: We always welcome tips from our readers. And/or general thoughts on what you think we should be covering, critiques about what we’re missing and unrelated book recommendations. Please reach out, on or off the record. Email me here.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s homelessness initiative was at an encampment on San Vicente Boulevard in L.A.’s Beverly Grove neighborhood this week and moved about two dozen people indoors as of Friday morning, according to the mayor’s office.
• On the docket for next week: Thursday is the day the City Council is scheduled to vote on Bass’ budget.