The last pick for L.A.’s Ethics Commission was rejected. Here’s a new nominee

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Dakota Smith, with help from Julia Wick.

Most appointments to city commissions don’t attract too much fuss.

But last month the L.A. City Council torpedoed City Controller Kenneth Mejia‘s nomination to the city’s ethics commission. A backlash ensued, bringing fresh attention to the nomination process.

Now, another City Hall politician is pitching a nominee for the five-member ethics commission.

Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson nominated Alex Johnson this week to serve on the panel. Johnson works at Bryson Gillette, a high-profile public relations and consulting firm that also has done campaign work.

Filings with the city show that Bryson Gillette has handled more than $2 million worth of work for various campaigns since May 2020, including an independent expenditure committee Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Johnson declined to comment. His resume, which is publicly available on the city’s website, says that he joined Bryson Gillette in January. He oversees clients in the philanthropic, government, non-profit and corporate fields. His resume doesn’t mention any work on political campaigns.

His held top positions at the California Wellness Foundation, Californians for Safety and Justice and Children’s Defense Fund-California. He also worked as an aide to then-L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and was president of the Los Angeles County Board of Education.

He ran unsuccessfully in 2014 for a seat on the Los Angeles Board of Education.

Harris-Dawson said he’s known Johnson for more than two decades and that he has the “highest ethical standards.”

City Ethics Commission nominee Alex Johnson at a 2019 meeting of the county Board of Education.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Harris-Dawson said he’s heard from a couple of council members who said they want to know more about the nominee.

Harris-Dawson said it’s his understanding that Johnson doesn’t work on campaigns and hasn’t done so since joining Bryson Gillette. He also said he expects that conflicts will come up, but that he expects that they would for any qualified nominee.

When it came to Mejia’s nominee, the council voted 14-0 to reject Jamie York, president of the Reseda Neighborhood Council.

At least two council members, Paul Krekorian and Katy Yaroslavsky, said that they were concerned about York’s past work as a fundraiser. The ethics commission proposes policy and issues penalties for campaign finance violations.

York said in an interview this week her belief is that state and city laws around conflict of interest rules would make it “impossible” for Johnson to do the “majority of work that the commission engages in.”

“It doesn’t matter if Mr. Johnson isn’t participating in L.A. City or LAUSD campaigns,” said York, who was speaking in her capacity as an individual, not a neighborhood council member. “[His] employer has a direct financial interest in much of the policy work that the ethics commission does.”

Bob Stern, who helped draft the city’s ethics and public campaign finance laws, thought York’s interpretation was too broad and offered a different take.

Johnson’s firm “may be affected in the same way as other firms by ethics commission decisions, but that shouldn’t disqualify that person,” Stern said.

Meanwhile, the commission still isn’t able to do work because the group lacks enough have enough members to hold a meeting. Krekorian said last month that he will announce his nominee soon.

State of play

— DIGITAL BOARDS ADVANCE: The city planning commission on Thursday approved a plan for 80 digital billboards on properties owned by Metro, the region’s transit agency. Metro board members Mayor Karen Bass and City Council President Paul Krekorian support the blinking boards. Revenue from the new digital signs would be split 50-50 between Metro and the city under the plan, which now will be considered by city councilmembers. At least 15 neighborhood councils have come out against Metro’s plan, with many saying the new signs would create visual blight.

— EXPANSION PLANS: The L.A. City Council is seeking to expand the size of the 15-member body, which would have to be approved by voters. Some council members are leaning toward 2032 as the implementation date for the larger council size, so the city would be spared from having to oversee an extra redistricting process. Pushing back the implementation date could also potentially help incumbents running for re-election.

— STUDIO CITY BROUHAHA: Nearly all of the Studio City Neighborhood Council resigned last month after the group unanimously voted to appoint a convicted sex offender to fill a vacancy on their board. Here’s a look at how it all played out.

— ZOO CHALLENGED: Two groups sued the city this week, hoping to force the city to come up with a new renovation plan for the L.A. Zoo. The council earlier this year backed a plan to add a new visitor center and a condor-themed exhibit. Environmental groups are worried the development will hurt wildlife habitat in Griffith Park.

— OLD SHERIFF, NEW RACE: Controversial former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced plans to challenge county Supervisor Janice Hahn in the March 2024 primary. Before he lost his re-election bid to now-Sheriff Robert Luna in November, Villanueva regularly clashed with the supervisors.

— ELSEWHERE IN COUNTY LAND: The field of candidates looking to unseat Dist. Atty. George Gascón in 2024 grew more crowded in recent weeks. Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Siddall — a leader of a union that has often antagonized Gascón — and veteran , L.A. County Superior Court Judge Craig Mitchell both announced their candidacies late last month. And former federal prosecutor Jeff Chemerinsky (son of Berkeley School of Law dean Erwin Chemerinsky) entered the race this week.

Chemerinsky’s team includes quite a few familiar faces: Jeff Millman and Bill Carrick (Eric Garcetti‘s spokesperson and top strategist in 2013, respectively) are both on the campaign, as are Caruso campaign veteran/former Council District 7 aide Lex Olbrei and Bass campaign fundraiser Stephanie Daily Smith, per the candidate.

Quick hits

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s program to combat homelessness went to Aetna Street in Van Nuys. More than 40 people agreed to go indoors as part of the operation.
• On the docket for next week: The council will take up Bass’ nomination of Laura Rubio-Cornejo as permanent general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Also, L.A. Forward will hold a forum for the City Council District 4 race on Wednesday and one for the District 14 race on Thursday. The group previously held a forum for District 10, which you can watch here.