Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez and Councilmen David Ryu, Paul Krekorian and Mike Bonin recently introduced a motion to root out corruption in City Hall by expanding the type of conflicts requiring city officials to recuse themselves from taking action or casting votes.

The council members’ motion, which highlights a policy used by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, seeks a higher standard of recusals and conflict-of-interest rules.

“Our goal as a City Council is to restore public trust in city government,” said Martinez, 6th District. “There are two ways to do that. One, all public officials must act with integrity. Two, the city’s rules, laws and procedures must be effective and transparent. The first requires personal commitment. [This] motion is in pursuit of the second. I look forward to hearing the Ethics Commission recommendations as we work to restore the public’s trust in our city government.”  

“This recusal model could be implemented quickly and have an immediate chilling effect on the pay-to-play politics that are far too common in City Hall,” added Ryu, 4th District. “This motion would make clear to every real estate developer and moneyed interest that votes cannot be bought. This is just one of many reforms we are pushing forward to combat corruption in City Hall.”

Krekorian also cited the Metro recusal model, one of the strictest in the state. It requires members to withhold from voting on any item that could affect an individual or organization that has given them a campaign contribution. Metro staff reviews each members’ history of received contributions and cross-references them against items up for a vote in committee or at board meetings. If any potential conflict-of-interest arises, that member is required to recuse themselves.

“Serving on the Metro board, I’ve seen how effective a very strong conflict of interest policy can be in ensuring the public’s confidence in an agency’s integrity,” said Krekorian, 2nd District.