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Mayor Garcia Proposes "Ethics Comm'n" Whose Members He'd Choose, Council Would Approve, To Administer And Implement Campaign Finance, Lobbying, Conflicts of Interest And Gov'tal Ethics, Could Adopt, Amend, Rescind Rules & Regs With Council Approval


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(June 11. 2018, 9:05 p.m.) -- Mayor Robert Garcia has proposed that the City Council schedule a special citywide November 2018 election -- with an initial cost estimate of from $470,000-$650,000 -- for up to five City Charter amendments.

One of the proposed Charter Amendments (covered in this article; other articles here and here) proposes to create an "Ethics Commission" whose members would be picked by the Mayor and approved by the Council.

It stems from a Nov. 7, 2017 Council agenda item, brought by Councilman Al Austin, joined by Councilmembers Suzie Price, Daryl Supernaw and Dee Andrews, that asked the Mayor to convene a meeting of the Charter Amendment Committee (comprised of the full Council) within 60-90 and ask the City Clerk and City Attorney "to develop framework options for the Committee to consider" (carried 7-0, Uranga, Andrews absent.)

The Council-specified 60-90 day deadline came and went four to five months ago (until after incumbents were re-elected and Measure M had passed) and the item now scheduled for June 12 discussion doesn't meet the Council voted terms. Instead of "framework options" for Council and public discussion, there's only one draft visible on the Garcia-agendized item.

[Scroll down for further]


The Garcia-advanced draft would let the Mayor choose an unspecified number of LB residents. subject to Council approval, to comprise an Ethics Commission described in the draft text as follows:

[June 12, 2018 draft text]

Section ___ - ORGANIZATION.

(a) The Ethics Commission shall be composed of residents of the City of Long Beach. Each member shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by the City Council. No member of the Commission, during his or her term, shall
(1) currently hold elective office in the City of Long Beach, including the Long Beach Unified School District Board or the Long Beach Community College Board of Trustees;
(2) be an employee of the City;
(3) employ or be employed as a person required to register as a lobbyist with the City of Long Beach.

(b) The term of each member shall be for four (4) years. No person shall serve more than two (2) full terms. Serving any portion of an unexpired term shall not count as serving a full term.

(c) Vacancies. Appointments to fill vacancies on the Commission shall be made within 60 days by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by the City Council. Appointments to fill vacancies shall be for the unexpired term of the member whom the appointee succeeds. A vacancy or vacancies shall not impair the right of the remaining members to exercise the powers of the Commission.

(e) Quorum. A majority of members plus one shall constitute a quorum, and the affirmative vote of at least a majority of members shall be required to take any action.

2 Section __ - POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE ETHICS COMMISSION.

The Ethics Commission shall have responsibility for the impartial and effective administration and implementation of the provisions of the Charter, statutes and ordinances concerning campaign financing, lobbying, conflicts of interest and governmental ethics. The City Ethics Commission shall have the following duties and responsibilities:

(a) to provide assistance to agencies and public officials in administering the provisions of the Charter and other laws relating to campaign finance, conflicts of interest and governmental ethics;
(b) to make recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council concerning campaign finance reform, lobbying, governmental ethics and conflicts of interest and to report to the Council concerning the effectiveness of these laws; (d) to advocate understanding of the Charter, City ordinances and the roles of elected and other public officials, City institutions and the City electoral process;
(e) to develop an educational program to familiarize newly elected and appointed officers and employees, candidates for elective office and their campaign treasurers, and lobbyists with City, state and federal ethics laws and the importance of ethics to the public’s confidence in municipal government;
(f) such other duties as may be established by this Charter or the City Council.

Section ___ – RULES AND REGULATIONS.

The Commission may adopt, amend and rescind rules and regulations, subject to City Council approval, to carry out the purposes and provisions of the Charter and ordinances of the City relating to campaign finance, conflicts of interest, lobbying, and governmental ethics and to govern procedures of the Commission.

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Mayor Garcia's agendizing memo for the item states in pertinent part: "FISCAL IMPACT [all caps in original]: Discussion of proposed amendments has no fiscal impact."

Responding to LBREPORT.com's inquiry, City Clerk Monique de la Garza said the estimated cost for putting one measure on the November ballot would be roughly $470,000, and that sum would increase by $45,000 for each additional measure. That would cost LB taxpayers $650,000 if the Council calls a November 2018 special election for all five of the Charter Amendments sought by Garcia and Doud

City Clerk de la Garza says the estimate she received from the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk for putting one citywide measure [Measure M] on the June 5, 2018 ballot was approximately $525,000.

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Amnesia File

A few months after taking office, Mayor Bob Foster proposed a package of Charter Amendments, one of which was creation of an Ethics Commission. On January 7 and 9, 2007, the Council (sitting as the Charter Amendment Committee) discussed the items, asked the City Attorney to prepare a draft of the measures, discussed the item further January 16, 2007 and on Jan. 23 approved putting it on the May 1, 2007 ballot.

The Ethics Commission proposed under the Foster administration asked voters to approve 5-member Commission (one from each Council district) nominated and chosen by the votes of citywide electeds: the Mayor, City Attorney, City Auditor and City Prosecutor...with the Mayor given two votes in the selection process (instead of one for the others.)

The measure on the May 1, 2007 ballot was as follows:

ARTICLE XIB . ETHICS COMMISSION

Sec. 1161 . Membership and Terms of the Ethics Commission

The Ethics Commission shall be composed of five (5) members who reside in the City of Lonq Beach . The City Attorney, City Auditor, City Prosecutor shall each appoint one (1) member, and the Mayor shall appoint two (2) members of the Commission . The term of the Commission shall be three (3) nears, and no person shall serve more than one (1) term . Serving any portion of an unexpired term shall not be counted as service of one (1) term .

Sec. 1162. Duties of the Ethics Commission

The Ethics Commission shall meet a minimum of two (2) times per calendar near, and shall make recommendations to the City Council on ordinances, procedures, training and other matters relating to the City's Code of Ethics, as set forth in Section 1163 of this Charter. In addition, the Ethics Commission shall submit an annual report to the City Council relating to its activities .

Sec. 1163 . Code of Ethics

The Ethics Commission shall recommend, and the City Council shall adopt and maintain a Code of Ethics to provide guidance to City officers and employees in their conduct while discharging their public responsibilities. This Code of Ethics shall include, but not be limited to, ordinances relating to the following areas of regulation:

(a) Limitations on and requirements for reporting of campaign contributions and postelection contributions to candidates for elected City Offices .
(b) Reporting and registration requirements for local qovernment lobbyists who act to influence any governmental action of the City of Long Beach.
(c) Limitations on the acceptance of gifts by City officers and employees including elected officers and members of Boards and Commissions .
(d) Limitations on the acceptance of honoraria by City officers including elected officials, Council appointees and members of Boards and Commissions.
(e) Regulations regardinq disqualification of former City officers and employees in matters connected with former City duties or official responsibilities.
(f) Regulations regardinq conflict of interest rules for employees, appointed and elected officials.

No amendments or changes shall be adopted which in any way lessen the ethical standard in regulations except by a two-thirds vote of the City Council.

The Council bundled the Ethics Commission with a proposed Independent Salary Commission (to set Councilmembers salary) and a Redistricting Commission (Proposition B). It was on the same ballot as a Term Limits-weakening proposal that would have allowed the Mayor/Council three terms (12 years) instead of two terms (8 years), eerily similar to what Mayor Garcia is proposing now.

On May 1, 2007, LB voters rejected the Ethics Commission/Salary Commission/Redistricting Commission by a nearly 2 to 1 margin. and rejected the Term Limits-weakening proposal (Proposition C) by a more than 2 to 1 margins...but approved a term-limits bypass procedure (Proposition D) by just under 2 to 1 that allowed an incumbent who finished first or second in an April initial election to have his/her name printed on the ballot in a June runoff.

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