City Ethics Panel OKs Fines for Villaraigosa

The Los Angeles Ethics Commission approved $5,100 in fines Tuesday against City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa for campaign finance law violations by his 2001 mayoral campaign.

The commission acted only after some panel members questioned whether such public fines are warranted for inadvertent errors involving small amounts.

Villaraigosa admitted that his mayoral campaign mistakenly accepted six contributions that exceeded the $1,000 contribution limit, but said that the error was unintentional and represented a small amount compared to the $7 million his campaign raised.

LeeAnn Pelham, the commission’s executive director, said she could have recommended fining the councilman as much as $30,000, but settled on smaller penalties because his campaign cooperated with the investigation and there was no evidence the violations were intentional.

“Ensuring that campaigns are held responsible when they fail to comply with the laws is vital to reinforcing accountability in government,” Pelham said.

Commission Chairman Gil Garcetti wondered, however, whether fines should be imposed when inadvertent errors involve a fraction of 1% of the money raised by a candidate.

In a separate matter, the Ethics Commission recommended Tuesday that city commissioners be required to disclose their participation in political fundraising when it reaches $15,000 for City Council races and $35,000 in citywide contests.

Under the guidelines, city commissioners would have to identify the candidate who benefited from the fundraising, but not provide donors’ identities.

The panel delayed consideration of a ban on fundraising by commissioners.

UCLA political scientist Xandra Kayden told the commission that a ban is warranted to address the public perception that there is a “pay-for-play” system at City Hall, where businesses must contribute to have access to decision-makers or win contracts.

“The implication of pay-to-play [is] if you don’t make a contribution and come to these small fundraisers, you won’t get your phone calls returned or you won’t get business,” Kayden said.

The policy was proposed after The Times reported that city commissioners appointed by Mayor James K. Hahn have been raising money for the mayor.