Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian has nominated government reform expert Robert Stern to serve on the Ethics Commission, and the City Council will vote on the motion at its next meeting.
Stern, a nationally recognized expert in the fields of campaign finance and government, was the first general counsel of the California Fair Political Practices Commission — the agency in charge of administering California’s campaign disclosure, ethics and lobbying laws. He previously served as a president of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws, an organization of local, state and federal agencies in the U.S. and Canada that regulate campaign finance, ethics, lobby and election laws.
“Bob Stern is one of the greatest champions of government reform in the history of California,” Krekorian said in a statement. “No one could be more qualified to serve on our city’s Ethics Commission, or better equipped to help us restore the people’s trust in our City government.”
The City Council will vote on the nomination next Tuesday.
For nearly 30 years, Stern served as president of the Center for Governmental Studies, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1983 to provide policy research and to recommend improvements to political and government processes in California.
He is also the co-author of numerous books, including the center’s “Democracy by Initiative: Shaping California’s Fourth Branch of Government.” In 2022, reform advocacy group Common Cause named him its “Democracy Hero of the Year.”
Established by L.A. voters in 1990, the Ethics Commission serves to preserve the public trust and foster public confidence in city government and elections. Individuals appointed the five-member board are nominated each by the mayor, city attorney, the controller, president of the City Council and the president pro tempore of the council. Each nomination must be confirmed by a majority of the council.