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Council Wants Santa Monica Government Ethics Code

Santa Monica Real Estate Company, Roque and Mark

Pacific Park, Santa Monica Pier

Harding Larmore Kutcher & Kozal, LLP  law firm
Harding, Larmore
Kutcher & Kozal, LLP

By Jonathan Friedman
Staff Writer

July 20, 2015 -- Santa Monica officials and candidates as well as those who do business with the City could soon be forced to meet the standards of an official ethics code. 

The council voted 6 to 0 on Tuesday for City staff to come back with proposals for a “a comprehensive City of Santa Monica ethics code."

This action, which was proposed by Council member Sue Himmelrich and Mayor Kevin McKeown, comes one month after an activist group called the Santa Monica Transparency Project accused former City Manager Rod Gould of violating the City's conflict-of-interest law.

The group, which is tied to slow-growth activists who have never been a fan of Gould, alleged he violated the law by taking a job with a firm that has done business with the City.

City Attorney Marsha Moutrie responded to the group in a letter that her office would not pursue an investigation for various reasons, including that it was not clear the law applied to staff, and not just elected officials.

Himmelrich said that a “model ethics code” from the nonprofit organization City Ethics could be used as a template. It includes a clause prohibiting former employees from taking a job, within two years of leaving the government, with a party under contract with the municipality.

Councilmember Gleam Davis, who is a lawyer, said that under California law “it’s very hard to impose restrictions on people who’ve left their employment.”

Himmelrich, who is also a lawyer, said that the model code as well as related codes include enforcement as a last resort.

“It’s meant to help people understand what they ought to do and not catch them at what they shouldn’t do,” she said.

Councilmember Pam O’Connor said ethics codes and investigations based on them can turn into “gotcha” situations.

She said the Los Angeles County Metro Board she was a member of for more than a decade has an ethics officer who “is there to help people do a good job."

O’Connor added, “Because most people, most employees, most folks who are on boards and commissions, all of us, we want to do the right thing. And the goal is to help people know what that path forward is.”

She said she did not expect the City to hire an ethics officer, but that she wanted a Santa Monica ethics code to be used for the same purpose as the Metro one. 

O'Connor also recommended the Southern California Council of Government’s code as a good model.


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