APPOINTMENT RAISES CONFLICT QUESTIONS.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's appointees to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority include the head of the ACLU of Southern California, which has sued the city numerous times over homeless issues.

The appointment of Ramona Ripston, made last week and referred to the City Council on Tuesday, prompted some council members to call for the city attorney to look at potential conflicts of interest stemming from the lawsuits.

``I would be concerned there would be perceived or real conflicts of interest,'' said Councilman Bernard Parks, who as a former chief of police was involved in some of the litigation.

The mayor, himself a former local ACLU leader, does not believe there is a conflict that would keep Ripston from serving, his spokeswoman Diana Rubio said.

``Mayor Villaraigosa chose her because she's informed and involved in the city and has long expressed concern for the homeless,'' she said. ``The mayor believes being informed about issues is a positive attribute.''

Another mayoral appointee, Douglas Mirell, was a plaintiff's attorney along with the ACLU in a 2000 case in which a federal judge limited the stopping of homeless people without probable cause by Los Angeles police.

The American Civil Liberties Union has one outstanding homeless case against the city, Ripston said, that concerns an ordinance making it a crime for people to sleep on the street. The organization lost the case but is appealing.

The litigation has been related to city policy, Ripston said, while the Homeless Services Authority, a joint city-county agency, provides funding and guidance to homeless service providers.

``I just think there absolutely is no conflict and I'm surprised that they think there is,'' she said.

Councilwoman Jan Perry has been criticized by the ACLU for supporting police sweeps aimed at homeless people downtown, the subject of some past litigation.

Perry, who said such police action is sometimes necessary to bring services to the mentally ill, said that the money handled by the Homeless Services Authority is ``inextricably intertwined with policy'' on homelessness.

Perry said she will seek a city attorney review of potential conflicts for both Ripston and Mirell.

Councilman Eric Garcetti, who chairs the Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee, which will consider the nominations, said he will ``keep an eye'' on such conflict of interest reviews but that he considers Ripston to be an excellent appointee.

``Some of the best, most qualified people for city posts have engaged in yesterday's battles,'' he said. ``We have to see if today's is a conflict, but we don't want people who are so sanitary that they've never been involved in the issues they're confronting.''

Villaraigosa also tapped for the panel well-known former First AME Church pastor Cecil L. ``Chip'' Murray and University of Southern California administrator and former City Ethics Commission leader Rebecca Avila.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com