This story was originally published by the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation.
A proposal for a new seven-member Los Angeles County Ethics Commission comes before the Board of Supervisors for discussion and a possible vote on May 19. If adopted, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath’s motion would require two steps: setting up a commission later this year, and putting a measure on the Nov. 3 ballot to lock in features giving the new body significant independence from the elected officials they will be scrutinizing.
Independence is a key component and has been a major sticking point for the Governance Reform Task Force that wrote and sent the board the plan that lays out how Ethics Commission members, staff and attorneys are to be funded, selected, supervised and removed.
Much of that plan would violate the current county charter, which requires the Board of Supervisors to make all commission appointments, the chief executive officer (and beginning in December 2028, the elected executive) to hire all staff, and the county counsel to hire all attorneys. The November charter amendment would make exceptions to those appointment rules. The commission would be able to hire and fire its own chief ethics compliance officer, who would hire and supervise the rest of the staff. The compliance officer would also be able to hire an independent attorney.
Without the amendment, the Ethics Commission would not meet the Measure G “independent” requirement, according to the Task Force. If it is not put on the November ballot, or if it does not pass, it will not meet the Measure G “by 2026” deadline.
Continue reading at the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation