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Health & Fitness

City Council Preview - May 6. Part 2

Yesterday we saw two promising trends – (1) the city was spending our money on one of our businesses, instead of sending our cash to other cities like they normally do, and (2) the staff wrote an excellent report filled with lots of data, good analyses, and sound conclusions. These are two rare events that hopefully hold out promise for a better year.

Today we have even better news. Thanks to the efforts of Mayor Pro Team Adam Nick, the City Council is going to consider a change to our code of ethics as well as a change to our finance laws. Both of these come under the guise of “discussion” items and both relate to existing practices at the City of Irvine.

 

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CAMPAIGN FINANCE (Item 19)

I’ve written over 100 articles about the corrupting influence of vested interests plying our City Council members with thousands of dollars of “campaign contributions” and then getting in return, votes to proceed with their special projects. What otherwise would be known as bribery and paybacks, and prosecuted by law enforcement, gets to flourish by dint of a loophole in the campaign finance laws. I’ve been researching this area since 2008, and not a single elected official, with the exception of Mayor Pro Tem Adam Nick, has refused to accept campaign contributions from vested interests. The current “King” appears to be Scott Voigts, though his BFF Mayor Robinson is coming up on the outside rail and probably going to surpass him in the not too distant future. Councilwoman McCullough will deny that she ever accepted anything from anybody, but the facts are clear - she’s taken at least $10,000 from “vested interests” and delivered the votes they were looking for.

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What’s wrong with taking money from vested interests and then voting to give them what they are asking for? Apart from the fact that in most other circumstances it’s against the law, the moral issue should be clear. Indeed, this practice is specifically forbidden by the City’s Code of Ethics –

“2.3 Safeguard ability to make independent, objective, fair and impartial judgments by scrupulously avoiding financial and social relationships and transactions that may compromise, or give the appearance of compromising, objectivity, independence, and honesty.”

“2.4 Carefully consider if exceeding or appearing to exceed authority of office for personal and/or financial gain. When in doubt, avoid actions that create, in the mind of a reasonable observer, the appearance of impropriety, ethical lapses, legal violations, or actions inconsistent with the Leadership Principles.”

But this code hasn’t stopped anyone from doing it. A Code of Ethics with no teeth is no code at all. And a Code of Ethics that must rely on the self-report of the people doing the misdeeds surely is a Code that cannot be sustained. After all, the City Council from the City of Bell never thought they were violating any laws either, and never questioned the morality of their behavior. In a nest of vipers, the vipers rarely strike each other.

But rather than deal with our own situation, the Council will “discuss” “The City of Irvine Campaign Financing Law”. This law was developed over a period of more than 30 years. It imposes a maximum limitation on the amount of campaign contributions that may be received from a single source during an election campaign. The original limits were $300 per individual and they are adjusted by the consumer price index.

Although Mayor Pro Tem Nick is to be commended for getting a discussion of campaign finance on the table, from my POV, this is a pretty useless piece of legislation. Putting a monetary limit only requires that the corrupting influences be a little more creative. Instead of Baker Ranch or Brookfield Homes writing one big check, they will find several individuals to write many smaller checks, to stay under the limit. In fact, some organizations do this now. The Irvine Campaign Finance law is about as effective as the new Lake Forest term limits ordinance, which says that a Council member has to take off 2 years in every 26 years.

To be effective, the campaign finance law should address the conflict of interests between people and companies and Council members. It’s that simple. To make it easy to understand, even for Councilwoman McCullough, here is my recommendation -

“No member of a Council or Commission who has received any benefit (i.e., contribution or gift) from an individual, company, or organized group shall vote on any issue that benefits that individual, company, or organized group. This requirement also applies if the family members of a Council or Commission member received any benefit, or if they are employed by that individual, company, or organized group.

A Council or Commission member who received any benefit (i.e., contribution or gift) from an individual, company, or organized group shall refuse to participate in the vote on that issue, or may return the money and then participate in the discussion and vote. This requirement also applies if the family members of a Council or Commission member received any benefit, or if they are employed by that individual, company, or organized group. ”

Now that’s an ordinance that will put an end to much of the misbehavior that has been rampant in the past few years.

 

ETHICS (Item 20)

The “Irvine City Council Ethical Public Service Ordinance” (aka Measure H) was passed by the voters in June 2008. It prohibits elected officials, their assistants, and appointed Commissioners from engaging in compensated employment or service for the purpose of lobbying for any private individual or organization before any local public agency in Orange County. In addition, it prevents them from having a personal investment or monetary interest in City contracts.

Enforcement comes from reporting the mis-behavior to the City Attorney, who then investigates and ultimately writes a report.

Compared to Lake Forest, at least Irvine has a specified method of reporting the suspected violations, but there are no teeth in the Irvine code. OTOH, the Lake Forest code of ethics is a far more reaching code (see above), and all it really needs is some teeth. Here’s a suggestion –

“Any breach of the Code of Ethics shall be reported to the City Attorney by any concerned person. The City Attorney will investigate and prepare a written report within 30 days of receipt of the complaint. At this stage, the name of the person complaining shall be withheld unless the person gives permission for the name to be released.

If the City Attorney concludes there is sufficient evidence to suggest the violation happened, he/she within 15 days shall call a special executive meeting of the Council, excluding the suspected violator, and present the evidence.

The original complainant(s) may provide evidence at this meeting, but may not remain during the discussion or any other testimony.

The suspected violator may provide evidence at this meeting, but may not remain during the discussion or any other testimony..

If the majority of the Council votes to sustain the evidence, the Council or Commission member shall be fined $2500 if this is a first offense. The amount of the fine will double for each count and for each offense. These funds may not come from the members' campaign committee.

The violation shall be made known at the next City Council meeting and shall appear on the City’s website in the section devoted to Ethics. The notice shall include the name of the violator, the date of the finding, and a brief description of the allegation.”

 

Kudos to Mayor Pro Tem for bringing up these two issues, (campaign finance and ethics) but the answer will not be found in the City of Irvine. The true answer can be found here in Lake Forest, and moving forward, let every other City look to Lake Forest for leadership in the area of good government.

 

REMINDERS

Traffic Education Forum

Wednesday May 7 – Foothill Ranch Library, 6:00 pm to 7:40 pm


Planning Commission

Thursday May 8 – 7:00 pm, City Hall

 

Secrets and Strategies to Business Success

Friday May 98:30 am to 1:30 pm, City Hall

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