LA County Board

12. Establishing an Independent Ethics Commission\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisors Barger and Horvath: Instruct\nCounty Counsel to report back to the Board in writing in 30 days on the\ncreation of a proposed Independent Ethics Commission, Office of Ethics\nCompliance, and the position of Ethics Compliance Officer, with the report to\ninclude a review of other jurisdictions in the areas described below, but not be\nlimited to, membership, subject-matter expertise, subject areas of review, and\nfunding of the Ethics Commission, Office of Ethics Compliance, and Ethics\nCompliance Officer:\nA proposed Independent Ethics Commission containing five members\ncomprised of subject matter experts appointed by neutral appointing\nauthorities (e.g., the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, current\nmembers of academia - government ethics experts, and campaign\nfinance legal experts), with the Commission to have oversight authority\nover ethical conduct by County officials, financial disclosures, conflicts\nof interest, post-government employment, government contracts,\nlobbying, land use developer conflicts, and campaign finance laws\n(including Senate Bill 1439 compliance), and should also be tasked with\nregularly reviewing the County Code and provide ongoing\nrecommendations to the Board on updates and enhancements to\nmaintain ethical integrity throughout the County; and\nA proposed Office of Ethics Compliance to support the work of the Ethics\nCommission and guide ethical compliance throughout the County,\nensuring that all relevant policies and best practices are appropriately\ncommunicated and followed, the Office of Ethics Compliance shall also\nbe tasked with overseeing a publicly available data portal related to\ngovernmental ethics, including lobbying information and campaign\ncontributions and expenditures, including the position of an Ethics\nCompliance Officer selected by a majority of the members of the Ethics\nCommission and be provided adequate staffing and resources based on\nsimilar compliance offices in other jurisdictions; and\nInstruct County Counsel to revise County Code, Title 2 - Administration, Section\n2.175.030, to increase the cooling off period for County officials to lobby the\nCounty from one year to two years after leaving County service, and place on\nthe Board’s agenda for introduction at the Board meeting of September 10,\n2024. (24-2963)