On a 3-2 vote Monday night, West Hollywood’s City Council directed the city’s Ethics Reform Task Force to research if other cities have policies regarding elected and appointed officials serving on the boards of nonprofit organizations.
The item appeared to be directed at Mayor John Duran and Councilmember John Heilman, both of whom have been on nonprofit boards, but Councilmember Lauren Meister, who initiated the item, said it was not.
Meister explained it was merely about investigating policies of other cities, not about precluding elected officials from serving on boards.
“It wasn’t to say that you couldn’t do that [serve on a nonprofit board], it was to see what other cities are doing and how they maybe handle different situations, if there’s a best practices,” said Meister.
Both Duran and Heilman voted against the item. Duran is currently chair of the board of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles and on the board of the Van Ness Recovery House, while Heilman has previously served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California. The Gay Men’s Chorus is the recipient of major donations from city vendors and real estate developers.
Councilmember John D’Amico suggested the city return to its 1994 policy whereby groups were ineligible to receive grants or funds from the city if a City Councilmember was also on its board of directors. That policy was rescinded in 2008 in favor of Councilmembers recusing themselves from votes related to nonprofits on whose boards they serve.
Duran noted that the few times items have come up related to groups with which he was involved, he has always disclosed the connection and recused himself. Meanwhile, Heilman said the city has likely benefitted from Council members, past and present, serving on various community organizations and nonprofits.
Duran noted a much more obvious conflict of interest can arise when spouses or family members of Council members are paid employees of a nonprofit which is getting money from the city.
The item also directs the Ethics Reform Task Force to create a code of ethics for city consultants and contractors. Meister explained she is concerned about transparency, noting, for example, that sometimes the city hires a company to help draft a Request for Proposals (RFP), but later that company ends up submitting a proposal to the same RFP it helped draft.
Heilman felt the item was going beyond what the city should be doing. “I don’t think it is our job to create a code of ethics for them. I think it is our job to regulate them,” he said.
Interesting our two longest serving council members voted against this?
Mr Heilman who been on council for Decades and Mr Duran for 18 plus years. Begs the question why would ethics be something they wouldn’t support?
This is not about whether or not an officeholder sits on a non-profit board, it is about how they conduct their affairs, and perhaps, maybe, inter-related fundraising and business relationships, such as special favors to a business which might give a nice donation to an officeholder’s favorite charity, which might also be a charity on whose board the officeholder sits. Oh my, I just got dizzy writing that sentence.
Mr Heilman: The job of the Ethics Reform Task Force is to do exactly what council-member Meister suggests.
This current city council isnt even trying to hide their corruption. Hopefully it will catch up with them someday.