LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass today continued her efforts to make Los Angeles City Hall more ethical by announcing new rules for City staff working in the Mayor’s Office. The Mayor also voiced her support for new steps taken by both the Mayor’s Fund of Los Angeles and the Getty House Foundation to restrict the types of donations accepted.
“We must move to restore trust and faith in City Hall and ensure that City Hall is working for the people of Los Angeles,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “These reforms are a good step towards those goals.”
Read the two ethics memos released today for Mayor’s Office staff here and here. Earlier this month, the Mayor’s Fund of Los Angeles and the Getty House Foundation adopted stricter restrictions on charitable donations from registered city lobbyists and city developers. These are the most strict ethics reforms ever implemented by either organization.
“I thank the leadership of the Mayor’s Fund Los Angeles and Getty House Foundation for taking this important action to ensure they are operating with top ethical conduct,” said Mayor Bass. “That’s what the people of Los Angeles deserve.”
Mayor Bass continues to lead on efforts of ethical reform:
Appointment of Ruth Kwon as Deputy Counsel and Ethics Officer to the Mayor: In May, Mayor Bass appointed Ruth Kwon to serve as the Deputy Counsel to the Mayor and the first-ever Ethics Officer for the Mayor of Los Angeles. As the Mayor’s Ethics Officer, Ms. Kwon assists the Mayor to develop policies relating to ethics, transparency and other initiatives for this Office and the City as a whole. Ms. Kwon has more than 18 years of legal experience, 13 years of which involved advising and representing public entities and their officials, having served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles and as a Deputy City Attorney for the City Attorney’s Office.
Collaboration with Norm Eisen, White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform for the Obama Administration: Ambassador Eisen and Mayor Bass are working together with other peer U.S. and international cities as part of the Brookings Institution’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Leadership Cities Network to share learnings and best practices in promoting ethics and integrity at the municipal level. As part of that research, the Ambassador has continued to provide the Mayor and her staff with his feedback on ways to make institutions like City Hall more ethically sound – including during visits in February and May.
Vetting of Commissioners and Prospective Mayor’s Office Employees: Mayor Bass has directed her counsel’s office to implement a more robust vetting process than ever before. Mayor Bass believes that the people working in City Hall should be held to the highest standards.