Home » Jazz News » Opinion

107

Villaraigosa's Vanishing Veracity

Source:

Sign in to view read count
His executive directive No. 1 in 2005 vowed to halt even the appearance of sleaze and conflicts. The lofty-sounding 2005 directive from Antonio Villaraigosa read:

Avoid actual and perceived conflicts of interest at all times during my service to the city of Los Angeles ... Take full responsibility for learning and complying with all laws and rules governing the standards of conduct for public officials, including gift restrictions, disclosure requirements and campaign finance limitations.

Those 49 words were contained in the ethics pledge that the fresh-faced new mayor, who campaigned, in part on a vow to clean up Los Angeles City Hall, required his dozens of political commissioners to sign.

Whatever comes of the controversy over more than $50,000 in free tickets, meals and other perks Villaraigosa quietly accepted to sports, cultural and other local events, from the Dodgers, Lakers, Academy Awards and other groups, it is clear that within months of his May 2005 victory over James Hahn, Villaraigosa abruptly abandoned his Executive Directive No. 1 when it came to his own conduct.

At first, Villaraigosa took few free tickets. But in November 2005, he listened intently to ethics advice from Chris Modrzejewski, a lobbyist for billionaire Phil Anschutz's AEG who advised the mayor's aide on how to get free Lakers tickets. “For the mayor to accept [game] tickets he must have an 'official' role," the lobbyist said in an e-mail. He suggested that Villaraigosa create “a certificate to the Lakers organization for their work in the community."

From that moment, the mayor was addicted to box seats and front-row bling. He took only six tickets that year. But over the next five years, Villaraigosa accepted and even angled for 79 free tickets, and failed to report all but one of them as political gifts, ignoring a state ethics law that requires he report all gifts of more than $50 and city ethics laws that he not accept any annual gifts valued at more $100 with anyone doing business with the city.

The Weekly has determined that the mayor slowed his freebie pace only during 2007, when he ducked the public eye due to a scandal over his affair with TV anchor Mirthala Salinas; the affair ruined his marriage.

Sarah Hamilton, Villaraigosa's spokeswoman, did not answer the Weekly's question about whether the mayor tried to learn from his lawyers if the AEG lobbyist's advice was ethical or legal. The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission says, however, that for five years the mayor never tried to discern the legality of his behavior from them.

After being called out by KTTV Fox 11 News in late May, Villaraigosa attempted to claim that whenever Villaraigosa goes out in public he is on “official business." The argument is based on an Ethics Commission opinion written in 2004 to Hahn that described Hahn as the city's “ambassador."

If Villaraigosa's logic prevails, he could overturn long-standing city rules against influence-peddling and freebies and upend the very ethics standards he vowed to protect in 2005.

According to Roman Porter, executive director of the state Fair Political Practices Commission, Villaraigosa never asked the FPPC if his acceptance of extensive free tickets and failure to report them were within state law. But more importantly, Porter says, showing one's face in public puts no California politician above anticorruption laws: “The state rules require a public official to perform a duty on behalf of the [city]. Merely being a public official is not enough to use this exception."

Now, the FPPC is investigating the mayor's actions.

There is compelling evidence that Villaraigosa knew this, and that he understood that his actions failed to comport with his vow to uphold high ethical standards.

Continue Reading...

For more information contact .

Comments

Tags

View events near Los Angeles
Jazz Near Los Angeles
Events Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...

News

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.