As the local government careens from one corruption scandal to the next, the city and county of Los Angeles each power continues this election season with ballot measures to try to crack down on unethical behavior by public officials.
The city wants to bolster the almost 35-year-old Ethics Commission with ER Charter Amendmentwhich would give the watchdog a minimum annual budget of $7 million.
The district, meanwhile, wants to create the first ethical commission with Measurement of G.
The county ethics commission, along with the ethics compliance office, will come without a budget. But according to a county analysis Thursday reviewed by The Times, the ethics reforms in Measure G could cost as much as $21.9 million annually, with employee salaries and benefits costing the most.
If voters approve Measure G on November 5, a task force will be set up to determine the shape of the ethics commission – for example, how many members should be.
The cost estimates have left supporters and detractors with sticker shock.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Rob Quan, an organizer with Unrig LA, which advocates for measures to eliminate corruption in cities and counties. “I’m confused by this.”
“We’re not in the right place,” said Quan, who previously told county supervisors that he thought ethics reform in Measure G was “half-baked.”
“If the city can do $7 million, why does it cost more than the county?” said political science professor Fernando Guerra, director of the Los Angeles Study Center. at Loyola Marymount University.
But Guerra, who wrote the arguments in favor of Measure G, said he still thinks the ethics reform package doesn’t make sense for the district with its $49 billion budget.
“Despite the amount, the price is very low for you,” Guerra added. “It’s a drop in the bucket.”
The five county supervisors are divided on Measure G, which in addition to creating an ethics commission would nearly double the size of the Board of Supervisors and bring in an elected executive who would serve as mayor.
Supervisors Hilda Solis, Janice Hahn and Lindsey Horvath pushed for the measure, arguing it would make the district more responsive to its 10 million constituents. Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Holly Mitchell said it was misguided, with a very vague price tag.
Everyone, however, said they could get on board with the idea of an ethics commission. Last month, the board voted unanimously to ask the county attorney to look at what it would cost to implement ethics reform — regardless of whether Measure G passes.
The initial report, back last week, put annual costs between $16.8 million with 73 employees and $21.9 million with 93 employees.
“Wow, that’s a big staff,” said David Tristan, head of the city’s ethics commission, which has a $6.3 million budget and employs 45 people. “I’d love to have that budget.”
About 13% of the annual cost will go to services and supplies, while the rest will pay staff, according to the district report.
The report does not include the cost of setting up the commission. The auditor’s office previously said that the one-time cost to implement all the proposals in Measure G – which will include expanding the Board – will be about $8 million.
The Yes on Measure G campaign called the district’s report rushed and simplistic, “meant to deter voters before a critical election.”
“Measure G is history and it’s no secret that special interests and longtime bureaucrats are afraid of accountability and real reform,” said campaign chairman Morgan Miller.
The majority of supervisors said they still want to move forward.
“The cost estimates given in this report seem high and I wonder how they landed on this number,” Hahn said. “But we can’t do this.”
Barger and Mitchell, who oppose Measure G, also said they see a need for an ethics commission, although Barger called the cost range “about our county’s fiscal forecast” and Mitchell said he would look for a place to make “efficient cost adjustments. .”
For those who have been skeptical that the commission will do much to root out corruption, the higher fees are proof that it is a bad idea.
“What can be cut? Firefighters? Child welfare workers? The sheriff’s budget? I don’t see them proposing to cut salaries,” said former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter. “If they have a lot of money in the county budget, they should all be fired, for crying out loud.”
Galanter, who held office from 1987 to 2003, strongly opposed the city’s ethics commission when it was created in 1990, adamant that it would not engage in corruption.
After the corruption-related convictions of two former city council members, a former vice mayor and a former city commissioner, Galanter said he was scared. He suspects the same will be true for the district’s efforts.
“What a tremendous waste of time and money this ethics thing is,” Galanter said. “It doesn’t produce ethical elected officials. What’s the point?”
If Measurement of G through, the district must create an independent ethics commission and ethics compliance office in 2026. The commission will be responsible for investigating misconduct by district employees and updating district rules on conflicts of interest and lobbying, among other duties. The ethics compliance office, headed by an ethics compliance officer, will provide support to the commission.
Language in the ballot measure prohibits the district from raising taxes to pay for the change.
Horvath, who spearheaded the move, said there is enough money in the county budget to pay for the reforms, because the county can tap staff who have done similar ethical work in the offices of the executive, Registrar-Recorder and Auditor Controller. office.
“There is nothing more important than protecting against corruption,” he said. “Staffing and funding are in place with the current government.”
Sean McMorris, who specializes in ethics and liability issues for the advocacy group California Common Cause, said the price doesn’t bother him. Strong ethics commissions are expensive, he said, so only big cities usually create them.
He was more concerned about the form the commission would take. Many details about the ethics commission must be worked out if voters approve the measure, he said.
“It’s just like, wait and see,” he said. “It makes me nervous.”
