LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass today continued to advance ethical conduct in City Hall by cosponsoring a first-of-its-kind ethics symposium in Los Angeles with more than 50 governmental ethics and oversight leaders from across Southern California coming together to share best practices.
The symposium featured a keynote address by Ambassador Norm Eisen (Ret.), who served as Special Counsel and Special Assistant to President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011, highlighting transparency efforts and techniques to lead ethically in public service. Three panels featured ethics and compliance officers, inspectors general and appointed ethics officials discussing how to promote ethics and uphold the public’s trust in local government.
“As we continue to move to restore trust and faith in City Hall and ensure that City Hall is working for the people of Los Angeles, we must push forward in our work to lead transparently and ethically in Los Angeles and across the country,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “I am proud to be the first Mayor to have an Ethics Officer as a member of my senior staff to help us move in the right direction and to organize people from across the country as we continue to learn how to best serve the people of Los Angeles. Thank you Ambassador Eisen for your continued support and mentorship in the world of ethics and transparency and to the ethics teams at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and LA Metro for collaborating with us on an event solely dedicated to governmental ethics.”
The ethics symposium was co-led by Mayor Bass’ Ethics Officer, Ruth Kwon. During her campaign for Mayor, Mayor Bass vowed to bring in an ethics officer to oversee ethics and transparency in her administration and work with Ambassador Norm Eisen to enhance ethical standards and transparency in City Hall. Last year, 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.
"When I had the privilege of serving as President Obama's ethics czar, I learned first-hand that the elements of a successful program of government integrity are clear tone at the top and strong ethics rules that everyone understands, all backed up by transparency of government operations,” said Ambassador Norm Eisen. “Mayor Bass's ethics program exemplifies these principles, and I look forward to the continued successes led by the Mayor and those who support her ethics programs, including David Michaelson, counsel to the Mayor and Ruth Kwon, ethics officer.”
Last year, Mayor Bass announced new ethics reforms as part of her continued efforts to make Los Angeles City Hall more ethical. The Mayor’s Fund of Los Angeles and the Getty House Foundation also 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. Read the two ethics memos released last year by the Mayor for Mayor’s Office staff here and here.