Fix The City, Inc., a public interest nonprofit, has retained The Sutton Law Firm to file a lawsuit to require Mike Feuer, candidate for City Attorney, John Shallman, his campaign consultant, and Jane Leiderman, Feuer’s campaign treasurer, to obey city campaign ethics laws. The suit was filed per Section 49.7.38 of the City Campaign Finance Ordinance and Section 470(o)(2) of the City Charter. At the heart of the suit is Feuer’s scheme to circumvent and eviscerate the City’s Ethics laws.
Fix The City was shocked by the Feuer/Shallman assertion that the City’s ethics laws have so little meaning that: "The reality is, you can make whatever deal you want" (statement by John Shallman, LA Times, March 2, 2013). We strongly disagree, and the court will decide.
“This goes way beyond the City Attorney’s race,” said James O’Sullivan, Vice President of Fix the City, Inc. “With 16% voter turnout, public confidence is at an all-time low. To restore public confidence, politicians have to follow the law. We are therefore putting all candidates on notice: follow city ethics laws. We are going to use the Charter’s mandated 40 day period for the City Ethics Commission to take action on reported Ethics violations. If Ethics fails to do its job, we will.” he concluded. If anyone has information on ethics violations, send Fix the City an email.
Feuer received $300,000 in public matching funds and pledged under penalty of perjury to obey the $1,259,000 expenditure limit. Had he reported Shallman’s consulting fee, Feuer would have greatly exceeded the spending cap.
“The whole purpose behind the city’s campaign finance law was to restore public trust in governmental and electoral institutions, to create a level playing field and to provide full transparency,” said O’Sullivan.
Specifically, the complaint lists numerous violations by Feuer, Shallman and Leiderman, including:
· Violation of the $1300 contribution limit (LA City Charter Section 470(c)(4), and City Campaign
· Finance Ordinance, Sec. 49.7.3.B.2.b);
· Violation of the expenditure limit ($1,259,000) (Sec. 49.7.3.B.2.h);
· Securing matching funds under false pretenses in violation of Sec. 49.7.22.A.
Fix The City notes that despite the Feuer campaign’s assertion that their scheme had been vetted by the Ethics Commission, there is no record of any advice or opinion according to the Ethics Commission. Further, Feuer’s expenditure records show zero dollars spent on legal advice.
Full details can be found in the complaint (Laura Lake, Ph.D. v. Michael N. Feuer, et al.).
Mike Feuer is a former LA Councilmember, 2001 City Attorney candidate, and former California Assemblyman. His wife, Gail Ruderman Feuer, is an LA Superior Court Judge.
About Fix The City, Inc.
Fix The City has been active for several years and was responsible for securing and analyzing response time data and then alerting the media and City Council over dangerously inaccurate emergency response times.
(More information can be found here.)
-cw
CityWatch
4-4-13