PANEL ACCUSES BERNSON WITH ETHICS VIOLATION : COUNCILMAN DEFENDS TICKET PURCHASE.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

The director of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission accused City Councilman Hal Bernson on Thursday of violating ethics laws by using $1,140 from his political officeholder account to buy tickets to the Hollywood Bowl.

The commission will meet Jan. 9 to set an administrative hearing on the accusation, which is the first enforcement action by the commission against an elected official.

If Bernson is proved during the hearing to have violated the law, he faces a fine of up to $5,000, according to Rebecca Avila, executive director of the agency.

Avila said in a statement that ``there is probable cause to believe that Councilman Hal Bernson violated city law regulating officeholder account funds by spending $1,140 of officeholder funds to purchase luxury box seat tickets and parking to the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.''

Avila said a law that took effect Jan. 1, 1995, requires expenditures from officeholder accounts to be used for governmental purposes and banned uses that personally benefit the officeholder.

``This expenditure was made for the private use of Councilman Bernson and not governmental use,'' said the six-page accusation, issued after hearing officer Pamela Albers held a probable cause hearing on the matter.

Bernson denied that he broke the law and accused the Ethics Commission of singling him out for a practice that he believes is common among elected officials.

``I believe this is selective prosecution,'' Bernson said. ``We disagree with them on this. I do believe we are correct.''

The Ethics Commission investigation found that Bernson has been buying season tickets for a luxury box since 1983 and in 1995 purchased the seats with officeholder funds for a 10-concert series.

On the same day Bernson bought the seats, the Los Angeles Philharmonic received $3,080 for the remaining seats in the same box from the account of former mayoral adviser Ted Stein and his wife, Ellen, who is a member of the city Public Works board.

The Steins are not accused of any wrongdoing.

Bernson confirmed that before the ethics law changed, he had for years used his officeholder account to buy season tickets to the Hollywood Bowl.

When the law changed, Bernson said he asked an expert in campaign finance law, attorney Cary Davidson, whether he could continue buying the tickets.

``I asked him whether it was legal to continue and he said it was,'' Bernson said. ``Once they challenged us, we ceased doing it because we don't want to violate the law.''

Bernson said he argued in the closed-door probable cause hearing that his actions were legal for two reasons.

He said officeholder accounts can be used to make charitable donations and the Los Angeles Philharmonic is a nonprofit organization.

``It is legal and acceptable to contribute to a nonprofit corporation,'' he asserted.

The Ethics Commission accusation challenges that contention.

``This expenditure was not a charitable contribution because consideration, in the form of box seats and parking, was received in exchange for the payment to the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl,'' the accusation said.

Bernson said he also believes the expenditure was legal because he used the tickets to discuss city business in a relaxed setting.

``The people we took on two occasions were people we have legitimate city issues to discuss with, so it qualifies under the law that way,'' Bernson said.

However, the committee's accusation says that the ethics law requires the officeholder to disclose the governmental purpose related to the entertainment expense and the name of each person participating in the entertainment reimbursed by officeholder funds.

``Councilman Bernson has never submitted'' such a disclosure, the accusation says.

Avila said the Ethics Commission tried for 13 months to gain voluntary compliance from Bernson before deciding to pursue the accusation.

But Bernson has maintained the Ethics Commission is wrong in its reading of the law.

He said his use of philharmonic tickets to discuss city business with constituents is no different that the common practice of other elected officials who use officeholder accounts to buy dinners at which government business is discussed.

``That's a common practice,'' he said.

Bernson said he will wait to see what the Ethics Commission decides before determining what option he will take. Bernson could settle the case by paying a fine or fight the accusation in the administrative hearing.

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PHOTO Hal Bernson

Calls funding use legal