In an election season in which city politicians have increasingly come under attack for a perceived closeness with deep-pocketed developers, five council members on Tuesday sought to dispel that image by proposing a ban on political contributions from donors seeking approval for their real estate projects.
The city’s ethics laws already forbid those seeking public contracts from donating to elected officials and candidates. A motion introduced by council members David Ryu, Joe Buscaino, Paul Krekorian, Paul Koretz and Mike Bonin now seeks to also bar campaign finance donations from developers trying to get projects greenlighted.
Ryu said in a statement that he wants to “restore Angelenos’ faith in the city’s ability to fairly review and approve major development projects.”
This means avoiding “even the appearance of a conflict,” he said.
The proposal comes as city officials face mounting pressure at the ballot box from voters wary of developer influence at City Hall. The March ballot features Measure S, which calls for a two-year moratorium on certain major developments around the city until changes are made to how projects are reviewed and approved. City Council challengers have also lobbed attacks at incumbents for receiving contributions from developers.
Investigative reports by the Los Angeles Times have also brought greater scrutiny to the donations developers make to City Council members and Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Ryu, one of the lead authors of the motion, rode into office in 2015 on a wave of anti-developer sentiment. The motion is part of a string of steps he’s taken that include vowing not to accept developer donations, implementing measures such as listing his meetings with developers on his website, and pledging transparency about those dealings, according to Ryu aide Estevan Montemayor.
The proposed ban on developer donations, which was signed by three council members seeking re-election — Buscaino, Koretz and Bonin — quickly drew skepticism.
Jesse Creed, who is trying to unseat Koretz in the 5th District race, called the incumbent’s involvement with the motion “one of the most cynical re-election ploys I’ve ever seen,” in a video posted on Facebook.
Creed, who has pledged to reject developer donations, said this was an example of another “flip-flop” by Koretz, who recently withdrew his support for a 20-story residential building on La Cienega Boulevard following a Times story and criticism from Creed.
Garcetti said he is “open” to the proposed restrictions, sayin “I’m not opposed to it if it could be done.”
“I think it’s a very difficult thing to do logistically, but for me, the most important thing is to look at developments on their merits, never on any contributions,” he said.
“There’s people who are sisters and brothers and sub- sub-contractors,” he said. “You can’t always know who is connected with the development, but as much as you can try to do that, I’m absolutely in support of it.”
The council motion also calls creating a definition for who is considered a “developer,” and therefore subject to the restrictions.
Some also came to the defense of developers, saying reports of their wide influence at City Hall have been exaggerations.
Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry Commerce Association, said the ban was an “over-reaction” and that there have been a “few bad actors.”
“We’re in an interesting time in the city where building market-rate housing is being looked at as a negative thing,” even though there is a “housing crisis and housing prices are high.”
“You know, people don’t want change,” he said. “No one wants more people living near them … I’ve seen people fight senior housing … affordable housing, because they don’t want it in their neighborhood.”
It is not clear when the issue might be considered by a City Council committee. Previous motions by Ryu to change the development approval process have yet to be scheduled, according to Montemayor, Ryu’s aide.
Those motions include a ban on ex parte or private meetings between developers and planning commissioners, who are appointed by the mayor.
Ryu and three others also introduced a proposal Tuesday to increase matching funds that are intended to encourage more contributions from smaller donors.
The city Ethics Commission had already submitted a similar plan a year ago, but the motion could help “break the logjam,” according to Sylvia Moore, the Southern California organizer for California Common Cause.
Moore said the group has long pushed for increasing the matching fund amounts, which she said “would allow a more diverse set of candidates” to get involved in elections, and “to give them a fighting chance.”
