Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will pay a record fine of $21,000 to the state Fair Political Practices Commission and $20,849 to the city Ethics Commission. (John McCoy/L.A. Daily News)
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Friday he has agreed to pay $42,000 in fines to settle state and city ethics probes into his acceptance of unreported free tickets to sporting and other events.
He will pay a record fine of $21,000 to the state Fair Political Practices Commission and $20,849 to the city Ethics Commission.
In separate inquiries, the panels determined the mayor improperly accepted free tickets to 33 of the 3,000-plus events - sporting, cultural, civic and community - he attended between 2005 and 2010.
In 21 cases, he failed to report the events - including Lakers games, the Academy Awards, a Shakira concert, and the American Idol finale - as gifts.
In 12 cases, he accepted free tickets in excess of the $100 limit from restricted sources such as lobbyists or people doing business with the city, in violation of city Ethics Commission rules. Those included four tickets to the Grammys valued at $4,800 and four tickets to the Academy Awards valued at $4,400, in both cases donated by the organizers of the events.
The FPPC has the matter set for consideration at its April 11 meeting while the city Ethics Commission is set to consider it on April 12.
Villaraigosa
said he has changed office policy to review all future invitations he receives and clear them with Ethics officials beforehand."It is my responsibility to make sure I act in strict compliance with the applicable rules," Villaraigosa said in a statement.
Each of the panels imposed penalties below the maximum allowed because of his cooperation and lack of a history of past violations, the agencies said.
Aides to the mayor said he will create a legal defense fund to raise the money to pay the fines.
FPPC Executive Director Roman Porter said it was significant that his agency conducted a joint investigation with the city Ethics Commission.
"This was the result of a combined investigation with the Los Angeles Ethics Commission," Porter said. "If it is approved, it will be the largest ethics complaint ever paid to this agency."
In its report, the FPPC said "Villaraigosa's violation ... was unintentional, as he had a good faith belief that the tickets or passes he received were not 'gifts' within the meaning of the Act...and not reportable."
The mayor said he'd considered his attendance at the events as part of his job to promote the city. He also said that an advisory letter sent to his predecessor, James Hahn, said the tickets were not considered reportable gifts because it was the mayor's role to show support for events that bring business to the city.
Porter said it was the largest fine for this type of ethics violations at the state level, but below what has been paid for campaign finance violations. | Click here to see photo gallery.
Ethics expert Bob Stern, president of the Center for Government Studies, called it a significant finding.
"It's good news because the mayor cooperated and said he didn't intentionally violate any laws," Stern said. "When he found out later the rules are different, he chose not to fight them.
"It's important for him and the public to understand what the rules are what he is supposed to be doing."
Other events that the mayor failed to report as gifts were: the Latin Grammys after-party; the USC-UCLA football game at the Coliseum; the BET awards at the Shrine Auditorium; and Dodgers playoff tickets.
Other tickets that he accepted in excess of the $100 limit on restricted sources included: two tickets to a Spice Girls concert, valued at $239, donated by AEG, the owners of the Staples Center; six tickets for the ESPY valued at $600, donated by AEG; and two tickets to the Emmys, valued at $1,200, donated by the Academy of Television Arts and Science.
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