By ERIC HE
LOS ANGELES — In a step toward reforming Los Angeles’ lobbying ordinance for the first time in decades, the City Council’s ad hoc committee on governance reform recommended approval of an ethics commission report that would place stricter rules on people or organizations looking to impact city policy.
The city’s Municipal Lobbying Ordinance has not been comprehensively updated since its adoption in 1994, with two prior recommendations by the ethics commission expiring after the council did not take action on them.
But the racist audio leaked last October involving three council members — two now former members — spurred the creation of the special council committee, which took up the ethics commission’s May 2022 recommendations on Monday.
The committee, chaired by Council President Paul Krekorian, signed off on the recommendations with several amendments. Krekorian noted that lobbying reform was just one of several proposals that were left “to die in the darkness by never being referred out of the rules committee.”
That committee had formerly been chaired by Nury Martinez, the former council president who resigned in October for taking part in the racist conversation. Former Councilman Gil Cedillo and current Councilman Kevin de León also took part.
Krekorian, who did not mention Martinez by name, promised to take up the topics “one-by-one” for discussion.
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“We’re at least going to make every effort to bring them to the light of day,” Krekorian said.
The commission recommended setting a compensation limit of $5,000 received in a calendar year before someone must register as a lobbyist. Of the 10 largest cities in the country, only Los Angeles does not have a lobbyist registration threshold that is based on compensation.
Currently, the city defines a lobbyist as anyone who engages in lobbying activity for 30 or more hours…
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