COUNCIL STANDS BY ETHICS RULE\Money launderers banned from city contracts.Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer The Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. on Tuesday agreed to forbid those found guilty of money laundering The process of taking the proceeds of criminal activity and making them appear legal.Laundering allows criminals to transform illegally obtained gain into seemingly legitimate funds. from doing business with the city for up to four years. "This reflects a basic fundamental issue of ethics," Councilman Mike Feuer said. "This is a very common sense principle - that if you commit the most egregious e·gre·gious adj. Conspicuously bad or offensive. See Synonyms at flagrant. [From Latin ethics violations that we prohibit in this city, money laundering, there will be a period you can't do business with the city of Los Angeles
Feuer's measure, which will be drafted into legal language and returned to the council, was prompted by a series of eight money-laundering cases settled by the city Ethics Commission In the United States, an Ethics Commission is a commission established by State law to discourage dishonest practices by their public employees and elected officials. Almost all American states have such a commission. over the past two years, including the largest in state history. Under the proposal, the Ethics Commission could impose a contract ban of one to four years upon anyone convicted of hiding where contributions come from. The measure also would allow the City Council to waive To intentionally or voluntarily relinquish a known right or engage in conduct warranting an inference that a right has been surrendered. For example, an individual is said to waive the right to bring a tort action when he or she renounces the remedy provided by law for such any ban. Councilman Nate Holden Nathaniel "Nate" R. Holden (1929-) served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1987 to 2002. He previously served a term on the California State Senate and was Assistant Chief Deputy to then Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. said the measure would be unfair to smaller companies or individuals without a lot of money. "We could have someone with a $1 billion contract and I can't see the city doing anything but biting its tongue and giving the contract," Holden said. "Someone who's poor couldn't fight us and we could be holier-than-thou with them. I can't see where the council would give them the same type of consideration." Among the major money-laundering cases handled by the Ethics Commission included a $890,000 fine against the Evergreen America Inc. shipping company for contributions to city and state officials and $200,000 against L.A. Marathon Inc. Elizabeth Lamb, local government affairs director for Common Cause, praised the council for imposing additional penalties. "Any ordinance that holds contributors and elected officials accountable is positive," Lamb said. "Fines are not as potent or as significant as this. It makes the point that fines are not enough." CAPTION(S): PHOTO Mike Feuer Calls measure 'common sense' |
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