Two Los Angeles City Council members Friday introduced a motion seeking to make it a requirement for board and commission appointees to disclose their personal financial interests prior to their confirmation in an effort to identify potential conflicts.
Council members Monica Rodriguez and Paul Krekorian’s motion would instruct the City Attorney’s Office and the Ethics Commission to present an ordinance that would require nominees to boards and commissions to file their financial disclosure statements as a condition of their confirmation by the City Council.
They also seek to require nominees to complete city ethics training during their pre-confirmation process.
City departments and bureaus are managed by general managers, but some are also headed by an advisory or controlling board of commission. Members of these boards and commissions are typically appointed by the mayor, and confirmed by the City Council.
Currently, nominees are required to file a Form 700, a statement of economic interest, and a Form 60, a restricted source financial disclosure statement, during the pre-confirmation process and when assuming office. Nominees are given 21 days to file the forms, however, the documents are not a required condition for their confirmation.
Several nominees have been confirmed by the City Council without giving the public a “clear understanding” of any potential conflicts, according to the motion. In some cases, this could be attributed to the council confirming nominees within 21 days — at which point some nominees may have not filed their forms.
The council members seek to make it a requirement for nominees to file their forms and make it a condition needed for confirmation in an effort to promote greater transparency. They also want nominees to complete their ethics training sooner so they are more familiar with ethics rules, and give them a better understanding of the duties and responsibilities they will be assuming when becoming a board member and commissioner.
The motion will now be considered at the council’s Ad Hoc Committee on City Governance Reform.