{"id":896723,"date":"2026-06-27T15:32:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/896723\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T15:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:32:19","slug":"as-an-l-a-councilmember-fights-his-ethics-fine-the-city-gets-hit-with-new-legal-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/896723\/","title":{"rendered":"As an L.A. councilmember fights his ethics fine, the city gets hit with new legal bills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record \u2014 our City Hall newsletter. It\u2019s Noah Goldberg and David Zahniser, with an assist from Melissa Gomez and Connor Sheets, giving you the latest on city and county government. <\/p>\n

The city of Los Angeles will shell out $120,000 for outside lawyers to fight a lawsuit filed by a councilmember challenging an ethics fine.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the City Council voted unanimously to hire the law firm Hecker Fink LLP to represent the city\u2019s Ethics Commission as it defends its decision to fine Councilmember John Lee<\/b> $138,000 for allegedly violating city gift laws during a notorious 2017 trip to Las Vegas. Lee recused himself from the vote.<\/p>\n

The city attorney\u2019s office has said it can\u2019t represent the Ethics Commission in Lee\u2019s lawsuit because of a conflict of interest.<\/p>\n

Lee was chief of staff to then-Councilmember Mitchell Englander<\/b> when the two were plied with meals and alcohol, as well as hotel stays and gambling chips, by people seeking business with the city. <\/p>\n

Lee, who represents the northwest San Fernando Valley, has claimed that he made a good faith effort to pay his own way. At a nearly $2,500 dinner that included Kobe beef, Maine lobster, Peking duck and sea bass, the only thing he ate<\/a> was a spoonful of bird\u2019s nest soup, he said at a hearing in his ethics case.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Englander pleaded guilty<\/a> to a single count of providing false information to the FBI and was sentenced to 14 months<\/a> in prison. Three years later, he agreed to pay<\/a> $79,830 to settle an Ethics Commission case focused on his own gift law violations.<\/p>\n

The commission levied the fine<\/a> against Lee in December, finding that he committed two counts of violating the city\u2019s law against accepting gifts above a certain value, three counts of violating a law requiring that such gifts be disclosed to the public and five counts of misusing his city position.<\/p>\n

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David Tristan<\/b>, the Ethics Commission\u2019s executive director, had asked the council to provide at least $120,000 to defend against Lee\u2019s lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Lee declined to comment on the vote. In his lawsuit, he claimed that the statute of limitations had expired on the matters that were investigated by the Ethics Commission. He also accused the commission of overvaluing the share of gifts he partook in.<\/p>\n

Lee is seeking to get the fine overturned.<\/p>\n

More churn in the Karen Bass campaign<\/p>\n

Turns out the shakeup in Mayor Karen Bass<\/b>\u2019 campaign did not end with the departure of Douglas Herman<\/b>, her top strategist.<\/p>\n

Herman told The Times on Wednesday<\/a> that he stepped down due to \u201cstrategic differences\u201d over the Nov. 3 runoff campaign against City Councilmember Nithya Raman<\/b>. Bass\u2019 team said on the same day that they had replaced him with Julie Ch\u00e1vez Rodriguez<\/b>, who was campaign manager<\/a> for the Joe Biden<\/b> and Kamala Harris<\/b> presidential campaigns in 2024.<\/p>\n

A day later, political consultant Larry Grisolano <\/b>confirmed that he too is no longer with the Bass reelection effort. His company, Thematic Campaigns, had been providing media and digital strategy.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Berkeley-based research consultant Mike Rice <\/b>told The Times that his firm, VR Research, had also left the Bass campaign, effective Wednesday. He declined to comment further.<\/p>\n

Bass campaign spokesperson Alex Stack <\/b>declined to discuss the departures. Asked if the campaign is in disarray, he said no, adding that Ch\u00e1vez Rodriguez\u2019s hiring \u201cis a really big get for us.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting a lot of positive feedback,\u201d Stack said.<\/p>\n

Still waiting on eviction defense contracts<\/p>\n

In March, it appeared that a battle between City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto <\/b>and the nonprofit running L.A.\u2019s eviction defense program was over<\/a>. <\/p>\n

At the time, Feldstein Soto said she had concerns over awarding funds to the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, which has sued the city successfully over homelessness issues on multiple occasions. Feldstein Soto argued that contracts should not be awarded without rigorous reports and invoice review from Legal Aid and other nonprofits.<\/p>\n

The City Council awarded the contracts anyway, funding the initial portion of a three-year, $177-million deal for Legal Aid and three other nonprofits to provide eviction defense, short-term rental assistance, tenant outreach and more as part of the city\u2019s Stay Housed L.A. program.<\/p>\n

But months later, Feldstein Soto\u2019s office still hasn\u2019t executed the contracts, frustrating tenants rights advocates and the nonprofits, which are struggling to pay their staff without the funds from the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been really in a state of purgatory for over a year,\u201d said Mike Dennis<\/b>, senior director of housing justice at the Liberty Hill Foundation, which does tenant outreach as part of the city\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

Dennis said the failure to execute the contracts has created planning and operational uncertainty for the community-based organizations that Liberty Hill works with. Soon, some of them may face serious issues. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re quickly approaching a point where the organizations are not going to keep being able to pay staff and absorb those costs,\u201d he said. \u201cThe longer this goes on, the more likely we are to see contractions in the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Councilmember Ysabel Jurado<\/b> put forward a motion asking the city attorney to explain why the contracts have not been executed. Jurado said the delay has left $17 million in funds unused.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, the selected contractors struggle to maintain staffing without this funding, placing services for those at risk of homelessness in jeopardy,\u201d she wrote in the June 2 motion.<\/p>\n

Feldstein Soto argued in a June 15 response that Legal Aid has failed to agree to the \u201caccountability and reporting requirements\u201d needed to execute the contracts. She said those requirements were designed to make sure that taxpayer funds are spent properly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis office will continue to work with proposed contractors until the concerns are sufficiently addressed,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

State of play<\/p>\n

\u2014 UNHAPPY MEMORIES: <\/b>Bass was out of town when the Boyle Heights warehouse fire erupted, which is giving voters a fresh reminder of her absence<\/a> at the start of the Palisades fire. The situation could have an impact on her reelection campaign against Raman.<\/p>\n

\u2014 HEADING TO THE BALLOT: <\/b>A half-cent sales tax hike that would generate $345 million annually for the Los Angeles Fire Department will go before voters<\/a> in the Nov. 3 election. The measure has been spearheaded by the city\u2019s firefighter union, which gathered the signatures to qualify it for the ballot.<\/p>\n

\u2014 D.A. DENIED: <\/b>A judge has rejected<\/a> Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman\u2019s<\/b> request to freeze payments<\/a> in the $4-billion sex abuse settlement approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The ruling boots Hochman from his brief stint in a civil courtroom as he moves forward with his criminal investigation<\/a> into lawyers, recruiters and medical practitioners who may have submitted fraudulent claims.<\/p>\n

\u2014 SOCIALIST SURGE: <\/b>L.A.\u2019s democratic socialists are looking to expand their power at City Hall yet again, setting their sights on the races for mayor and city attorney. Raman and city attorney hopeful Marissa Roy<\/b>, both members of the L.A. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, are heading into the runoff after strong showings in the June 2 primary.<\/a> (DSA-LA endorsed Roy but not Raman in the primary.)<\/p>\n

\u2014 A BLOWOUT ELECTION: <\/b>Property owners across the city voted overwhelmingly<\/a> against increasing the assessment they pay to maintain streetlights. City leaders had hoped to use the funds \u2014 an additional $80 million a year \u2014 to speed up repairs and upgrade the city\u2019s 225,000 streetlights.<\/p>\n

\u2014 CLEARING THE LAND:<\/b> Overgrown lots razed by the Eaton and Palisades fires pose an increasing wildfire threat to surrounding properties. The county Board of Supervisors recently passed<\/a> a motion calling on county departments to develop a plan to clear vegetation in Altadena and Sunset Mesa.<\/p>\n

QUICK HITS<\/p>\n