Tag Archives: LAMC 49.7.38

City Ethics Commission Declines to File Civil Action Against Sokol and Lambert For Campaign Contributions

Sokol, Lambert, Bonin, others.
Sokol, Lambert, Bonin, others.
Perhaps you recall that Venice Beach BID proponents Carl Lambert and Mark Sokol famously made a lot of campaign contributions to various City politicians, many of whom were responsible for voting on the BID. It’s plausible that this violates LA City ethics laws, and my colleages and I filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission on the matter. The law gives the commission 40 days to decide if they will proceed. Yesterday, 38 days after the complaint was filed, the Ethics Commission announced that it did not intend to pursue a civil action. So that happened. You can read their email after the break, but it doesn’t, and this seems proper, say much.
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Complaint Against Mark Sokol And Carl Lambert For Illegal Campaign Contributions Filed With Los Angeles City Ethics Commission; Get Your Copy Here

Heather Holt, long-suffering executive director of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.
Heather Holt, long-suffering executive director of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.
A couple weeks ago I published an open letter to various City politicians asking them to return shady contributions to their campaigns by shady Venice Beach Business Improvement District proponents Carl Lambert and Mark Sokol. There’s been no discernable response so far, but it’s important to remember that at least as far as I can tell the politicians didn’t actually break the law by accepting the contributions. In fact it was Sokol and Lambert who broke it by making the contributions.

The relevant laws are Section 470(c)(12)(A)(i) of the City Charter,1 which says:

The following persons shall not make a campaign contribution to any elected City official, candidate for elected City office, or City committee controlled by an elected City official or candidate: A person who bids on or submits a proposal or other response to a contract solicitation that has an anticipated value of at least $100,000 and requires approval by the City Council.

Continue reading Complaint Against Mark Sokol And Carl Lambert For Illegal Campaign Contributions Filed With Los Angeles City Ethics Commission; Get Your Copy Here

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