Op-Ed: How to reform L.A. City Hall to avoid future corruption and scandal (via latimesopinion)
Many Latinos have worked hard to move past colorism and racism. Anyone who isn’t doing that work should not hold office.
Eliminating staggered terms for those sitting on the City Council might also force a sense of collective accountability on councilmembers if they think their reelection chances are connected to the council’s performance as a whole. Currently, only half the City Council gets elected in any one election cycle. More than 100 years ago, urban reformers promoted staggered terms to ensure institutional memory on city councils composed of part-time, volunteer officials.
Corruption scandals that involve bribes, conspiracy and kickbacks speak to the need to strengthen the L.A. City Ethics Commission to operate with true independence from the elected officials it monitors. The commission is, and these should be approved. Both Detroit and New Orleans created inspectors general to investigate wrongdoing in the wake of financial scandals involving their former Mayors Kwame Kilpatrick and Ray Nagin, respectively, both of whom did jail time. L.A. should do the same.
Additionally, campaign finance reform can prevent corruption among city officials. Developers are big-time players in city politics, providing funding for city campaigns. So long as elected officials need their money — even in systems like L.A.’s that allow public matching funds — the temptation to do zoning and other regulatory favors for moneyed special interests will always be there.