Officials’ Special Accounts Studied

Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs spent $16,170 on airline tickets and hotels. Councilman Hal Bernson forked over $13,697 for meals--including a $244 dinner to discuss “ethics” at the Tam O’Shanter with Art Snyder, who awaits sentencing on political corruption charges.

James K. Hahn, the city attorney, spent $180 on Christmas candy for 200-plus friends, while Council President John Ferraro sent $1,375 worth of pumpkin bread to supporters and reporters.

And Councilman Nate Holden used his “officeholder account” to pay off a $119 parking ticket.

Providing a rare glimpse into one of City Hall’s favorite perks, the officeholder account, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission on Monday released a study showing how 18 local officials--15 council members, the mayor, the controller and Hahn--spent more than $1.1 million from their accounts over the 21 months ending Sept. 30.

Bankrolled mainly by lobbyists and longtime political activists--many of whom routinely blanket City Hall with the maximum $1,000 per person annual contribution--the funds consist of money raised between elections and are intended to be used for expenses connected to holding office, particularly helping or communicating with constituents. They are not allowed to be used to build political capital for the next election.

Still, about 20% of the money, $232,815, went to political consultants and accountants, while $154,499 paid for mailings and stamps, and $201,681 was passed on to other political causes or local charities.

Then there are other means of communication. Like saying it with flowers: Officials shelled out $7,772.90 for floral arrangements between Jan. 1, 1995, and Sept. 30, 1996. That’s an average of $20 per person, per month.

They racked up $14,366.98 in phone bills--in addition to the office and cellular phones the city already provides. Officials also spent $118,422 of the officeholder funds raising more money to fill the special accounts.

Elected officials defend the accounts as an essential cost of public life, and said it is better to have private supporters pay for these activities than tap the taxpayers. But reformers say they are a dangerous example of the influence of big money in local politics.

“It’s not taxpayers’ money, that’s the good thing. The bad thing is it’s just another way that well-funded special interests find to buy influence among officeholders,” said Tony Miller, a board member of California Common Cause. “If these are really legitimate expenditures, necessary for carrying out their job, I think taxpayers would be less offended if they used taxpayer dollars rather than rely upon special interests to pay for these perks.”

Long criticized by government watchdogs as unmonitored slush funds, the officeholder accounts were among the targets of Proposition 208, the statewide campaign initiative voters passed overwhelmingly in November. But one week after Proposition 208’s officeholder limits of $10,000 a year took effect, the Los Angeles City Council is poised today to place a measure on the local ballot in April asking voters to override Proposition 208 and return the limit to $75,000 a year.

“It’s an obvious slap in the face to voters calling for a reduction of money in politics. I’m offended that the City Council would even try,” said Craig Holman, project director of the Center for Governmental Studies and--like Miller--a prime backer of Proposition 208. “I see no particular advantage or benefit or utility to officeholder accounts--other than to perpetuate lobbyists’ influence and incumbency advantage.”

In taking the first steps Friday toward putting the $75,000 limit on the ballot, City Council members argued that it costs more than $10,000 a year to communicate with constituents in the sprawling council districts, each of which has about 250,000 residents.

But the Ethics Commission study shows that only one of the council members, Rudy Svorinich Jr., and Riordan spent more than $10,000 on literature and postage. Most spent under $10,000 on mailings during the entire 21-month period, with Councilman Marvin Braude using only $709 for that purpose, and Bernson and Councilman Richard Alarcon each spending about $1,000, or $47 a month.

“What struck me, more than anything, was the variation among the officeholders. There was no correlation by geography or economic class and how they spent their money,” said Ethics Commission Executive Director Rebecca Avila. “It seems to reflect each officeholder’s view of how they like to communicate with constituents--some like to do it one on one over a meal, and others like to do it with large numbers through mail.”

Los Angeles’ officeholder accounts were born in 1990 along with the Ethics Commission, when voters decided to limit campaign fund-raising to a specific window before and after elections. Politicians said they needed a way to pay for various expenses that came with the job--one took a firetruck into the district each Christmas and handed out gifts--so the city allowed lawmakers to raise up to $25,000 each year to spend how they liked.

During the mayoral campaign of 1993, however, there were allegations that candidate Mike Woo, as a council member, had misused the money for backdoor campaign fund-raising. The commission was poised to abolish the accounts, but after several lawmakers pleaded their case, it decided instead to hoist the limit to $75,000 a year and impose stricter rules on how the money could be spent.

The Municipal Code demands that the money be spent “for expenses associated with holding the office . . . related to assisting, or serving, or communicating with constituents . . . in connection with the official duties of the elected city officer and not in connection with a future election to elective city office.”

That leaves politicians wide discretion.

Holden, for example, said he used the money to pay for a parking ticket because he was “probably on duty.” Bernson, who faces a potential $5,000 fine for using his officeholder account to buy $1,140 worth of tickets and parking at the Hollywood Bowl, spent $4,200 on legal advice about the conflict with the Ethics Commission.

Wachs spent $7,502 for a trip to Europe to study planning issues, including a $1,240 bill at the Conrad Brussels Hotel. Wachs’ chief of staff, Greg Nelson, said his boss joins the annual USC field trips on planning to “help him learn things that make him better able to do his job.” Wachs is not a member of the planning committee. He also used his officeholder account to send Nelson on a $2,551 trip to St. Paul, Minn.

“If you go to the district with me, they’re demanding information,” said Holden, who sponsored the motion attempting to undo the $10,000 limit in Proposition 208. “It’s not just the mailings. They always come to the elected officials. You’ve got to be upfront and provide for the constituents. I don’t have the money.”

Even the seemingly admirable expenditures, such as the $145,296 local officials gave to charity in 1995 and 1996, can be problematic, experts said. Buying space in local charities’ ad books can, ultimately, amount to building political capital and name recognition, they explained, giving incumbents an advantage over potential challengers who cannot raise or spend money campaigning until election time.

“It’s hard to make a very strong argument for it. It’s easy to argue against it,” said Xandra Kayden, a political scientist at UCLA who wrote the city’s ethics rules. “My guess is they’ll lose. I don’t see anyone voting for it. It’s hard to explain why it’s of value to them. It would be a substantial change in the way business is done to do away with them.”

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Breakdown of Expenditures

Elected officials in Los Angeles spent more than $1 million on expenses connected to holding office over a recent 21-month period, according to a study of how local officials utilized so-called officeholder accounts.

Council member: Hernandez

Prof. Services; Consultants: $5,779

Literature/ Postage: $8,951

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $20,311

Fund-raising: $14,317

Operations/ Overhead: $8,397

Other: $9,673

Political Contributions: $6,792

Meals: $682

Advertising: $5,400

Travel: $399

Gifts: $0

*

Council member: Wachs

Prof. Services; Consultants: $1,119

Literature/ Postage: $9,082

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $8,900

Fund-raising: $3,802

Operations/ Overhead: $11,319

Other: $1,588

Political Contributions: $12,000

Meals: $7,499

Advertising: $12,128

Travel: $18,170

Gifts: $3,660

*

Council member: Chick

Prof. Services; Consultants: $8,764

Literature/ Postage: $14,351

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $4,925

Fund-raising: $11,574

Operations/ Overhead: $20,500

Other: $440

Political Contributions: $850

Meals: $2,292

Advertising: $250

Travel: $907

Gifts: $1,820

*

Council member: Ferraro

Prof. Services; Consultants: $1,158

Literature/ Postage: $1,976

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $14,863

Fund-raising: $4,900

Operations/ Overhead: $8,656

Other: $1,908

Political Contributions: $10,450

Meals: $10,831

Advertising: $8,025

Travel: $0

Gifts: $3,335

*

Council member: Feuer

Prof. Services; Consultants: $33,808

Literature/ Postage: $4,875

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $1,795

Fund-raising: $1,805

Operations/ Overhead: $10,851

Other: $195

Political Contributions: $0

Meals: $976

Advertising: $2,075

Travel: $450

Gifts: $0

*

Council member: Galanter

Prof. Services; Consultants: $17,227

Literature/ Postage: $2,285

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $5,550

Fund-raising: $1,695

Operations/ Overhead: $0

Other: $2,511

Political Contributions: $400

Meals: $135

Advertising: $2,113

Travel: $0

Gifts: $0

*

Council member: Alarcon

Prof. Services; Consultants: $13,363

Literature/ Postage: $1,006

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $22,964

Fund-raising: $12,332

Operations/ Overhead: $7,700

Other: $3,900

Political Contributions: $7,000

Meals: $1,430

Advertising: $1,500

Travel: $2,601

Gifts: $1,271

*

Council member: Ridley-Thomas

Prof. Services; Consultants: $12,948

Literature/ Postage: $12,769

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $300

Fund-raising: $10,261

Operations/ Overhead: $8,520

Other: $26,887

Political Contributions: $2,672

Meals: $2,812

Advertising: $4,531

Travel: $4,268

Gifts: $0

*

Council member: Walters

Prof. Services; Consultants: $0

Literature/ Postage: $7,218

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $19,219

Fund-raising: $715

Operations/ Overhead: $2,931

Other: $4,509

Political Contributions: $1,588

Meals: $650

Advertising: $0

Travel: $0

Gifts: $0

*

Council member: Holden

Prof. Services; Consultants: $4,397

Literature/ Postage: $10,696

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $7,920

Fund-raising: $1,875

Operations/ Overhead: $3,149

Other: $5,545

Political Contributions: $270

Meals: $4,949

Advertising: $2,530

Travel: $0

Gifts: $0

*

Council member: Braude

Prof. Services; Consultants: $12,211

Literature/ Postage: $789

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $7,197

Fund-raising: $0

Operations/ Overhead: $431

Other: $1,213

Political Contributions: $0

Meals: $1,166

Advertising: $75

Travel: $0

Gifts: $0

*

Council member: Bernson

Prof. Services; Consultants: $21,907

Literature/ Postage: $1,064

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $4,650

Fund-raising: $0

Operations/ Overhead: $1,691

Other: $2,998

Political Contributions: $1,661

Meals: $13,697

Advertising: $794

Travel: $154

Gifts: $3,443

*

Council member: Goldberg

Prof. Services; Consultants: $14,125

Literature/ Postage: $13,062

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $10,726

Fund-raising: $3,851

Operations/ Overhead: $15,002

Other: $15,887

Political Contributions: $0

Meals: $1,189

Advertising: $0

Travel: $1,386

Gifts: $0

*

Council member: Alatorre

Prof. Services; Consultants: $11,689

Literature/ Postage: $0

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $7,167

Fund-raising: $22,653

Operations/ Overhead: $4,635

Other: $8,803

Political Contributions: $0

Meals: $1,564

Advertising: $8,137

Travel: $353

Gifts: $200

*

Council member: Svorinich

Prof. Services; Consultants: $12,036

Literature/ Postage: $45,424

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $600

Fund-raising: $28,356

Operations/ Overhead: $7,372

Other: $4,193

Political Contributions: $0

Meals: $0

Advertising: $1,375

Travel: $0

Gifts: $0

*

Other Officials: Riordan

Prof. Services; Consultants: $51,415

Literature/ Postage: $20,953

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $0

Fund-raising: $0

Operations/ Overhead: $728

Other: $11,099

Political Contributions: $10,931

Meals: $877

Advertising: $0

Travel: $0

Gifts: $0

*

Other Officials: Hahn

Prof. Services; Consultants: $6,329

Literature/ Postage: $0

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $7,509

Fund-raising: $0

Operations/ Overhead: $1,908

Other: $133

Political Contributions: $375

Meals: $0

Advertising: $2,172

Travel: $1,847

Gifts: $915

*

Other Officials: Tuttle

Prof. Services; Consultants: $4,540

Literature/ Postage: $0

Civic, Charitable Contrib.: $700

Fund-raising: $486

Operations/ Overhead: $405

Other: $0

Political Contributions: $1,576

Meals: $412

Advertising: $0

Travel: $0

Gifts: $0

*

TOTAL:

Prof. Services; Consultants: $232,815

Literature/ Postage: $154,499

Civic, Charitable Contrib. $145,296

Fund-raising: $118,422

Operations/ Overhead: $114,195

Other: $101,482

Political Contributions: $56,385

Meals: $51,163

Advertising: $51,105

Travel: $28,535

Gifts: $14,644

Source: Los Angeles County Ethics Commission study of officeholder expenditures from Jan. 1,1995, through Sept. 30,1996