4 L.A. councilmen fined $13,300 for taking free tickets to Hollywood events

Four members of the Los Angeles City Council have agreed to pay a combined $13,300 in fines for receiving free tickets to various Hollywood award shows and dinners over the last four years, according to agreements reached with the city's Ethics Commission.

In separate deals that come up for a vote Tuesday, Councilmen Tony Cardenas, Eric Garcetti, Jose Huizar and Herb Wesson will admit they violated a city law that prohibits them from accepting gifts of more than $100 a year from "restricted sources" -- individuals and groups that have business pending before the city.

The financial penalties are the first to surface since state officials announced last week that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had agreed to pay state and city regulators a fine of nearly $42,000 over his acceptance of tickets to 34 separate events, including Los Angeles Lakers games, Los Angeles Dodgers games and concerts featuring such performers as Shakira and the Spice Girls.

That fine, issued in tandem with the Ethics Commission, was considered to be the largest of its kind for the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, according to that agency's executive director. The commission is scheduled to vote Monday on its share of the fine.

Of the four fines negotiated with L.A. council members, the largest will be received by Garcetti, who agreed to pay $4,800. He accepted free entry to the Governors Ball that accompanied the Academy Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards in 2007, the same year that his father was a member of the Ethics Commission. He also took tickets to the 2008 Academy Awards ceremony and Governors Ball -- but attempted to pay $700 of that ticket's value two years later, according to a report prepared on the fine.

Although Garcetti faced a maximum penalty of $15,000, Ethics Commission investigators offered a reduced amount, noting that the councilman said he misunderstood the city's gift laws as they related to award shows. He also believed he was paying the "full value" of the gifts at the time he received them, the Ethics Commission's report said.

Garcetti, who represents part of Hollywood, said in a statement that he thought the $1,800 he paid in 2007 covered not just the Academy Awards and Emmy Awards but the Governors balls that were held afterward.

"While I paid the full cost of the award show tickets, I messed up when it came to the dinners afterward," he said. "That's my mistake and I'm personally paying for the cost of these three dinners to clear it up."

The next largest fine was issued to Wesson, who reached an agreement to pay $3,900 over his receipt of four free tickets to each of the BET Awards shows held in 2007, 2008 and 2009 at the Shrine Auditorium.

Cardenas agreed to pay $2,500 over his acceptance of two free tickets to the 2008 Emmy Awards, gifts that have a value of $1,300 each, according to the Ethics Commission. Huizar's lawyers agreed to pay $2,100 for taking two Academy Awards tickets.

Fines also have been proposed for the donors of the tickets, including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has lobbied the city in recent years over a development project in Hollywood and a plan to lease nine parking garages. That organization has reached an agreement to pay a $13,250 penalty.

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is set to pay $7,900. Black Entertainment Television Networks, which stages the BET Awards, is scheduled to pay a $3,900 fine. Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns Staples Center and the Nokia Theatre, has agreed to pay the city $799.

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-- David Zahniser at Los Angeles City Hall

Left photo: Councilman Tony Cardenas. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Second from left photo: Councilman Eric Garcetti. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Second from right photo: Councilman Jose Huizar. Credit: Kirk McCoy / Los Angeles Times

Right photo: Councilman Herb Wesson. Credit: Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Slang]

They violated the law. They should be removed from office and placed in jail.

[Boo Boo]

CORRUPTION...what is it going to take to stop this?
TAX...TAX...TAX the politicians want YOU to PAY MORE TAXES to fund their social activities as if pensions,free cars,monthly account for food etc, free health care etc etc.
ERIC GARCETTI should know better than this.
I'm sick & tired of reading about these corrupt politicians in my daily news.
The politicians know that the citizens don't pay attention and rely on the Los Angeles Times to police their illegal activities.
We should have a tax that creates a department run by the public that watches over the politicians.
Remember last year politician Mark Ridley Thomas ) was ready to spend one million dollars of our tax money to remodel his office.
If you forgot here is a link : (http://www.examiner.com/la-county-political-buzz-in-los-angeles/l-a-county-supervisor-mark-ridley-thomas-700-000-office-makeover-what-no-lipo-with-that

[FYBER]

Question:
What does this statement mean?: Four members of the Los Angeles City Council have "agreed to pay"

Is this statement correct, or are they forced to pay as any other citizen who committed a crime might be forced to pay?

It just sounds very unappealing to a regular citizen to read "agreed to pay" instead of let's say "have to pay".

Anyone have any incite on the choice of wording here? I have seen this on many other articles when it comes to political figures.

Please explain.

[Margo Goldstein]

RE: Villaragosa, you'd think attending a Spice Girls concert would be punishment enough.

[donfitness]

Shoot. I thought it said, "Four councilmen FIRED" .

[Brian]

Well, considering that a Los Angeles City Councilperson makes a little over $171k per year, why don't they pay for their own tickets in the first place?

I would probably do the same thing, no one seems to care and people get caught doing stuff like this with a "slap on the hand" but they do more horrible things and no one does a thing about it.

[BQ]

I understand rules and laws, but seriously, what damage is done? Execs of big companies get freebies to major events all of the time. Don't we have more important things to worry about?

[Joe Erb]

I suppose they want us to believe they have never heard of, or understand, the saying; "There is no such thing as a free lunch."?

[LANATIVE]

Why isn't the LA Times investigative reporters looking into the graft and illegal activites of mayor tony and the city council? It would overshadow Bell's corruption! Instead, you waste your resources on blasting Public School Teachers.

[blackone]

Here's an important issue. I'd much rather read about ticket giveaways than the problems of hunger, and Americans sleeping under bridges and in parks while we transport actuall billions in CASH to countries that view us as Satan. It's far more improtant than trillions in stolen loot by the Wall Streeters, Corporatists and War Profiteers, and the continuing doling out of our treasury to foreigners by the Fed, our billion dollar a month wars, and our ongoing Fascist "shift".

Posted by: blackone | April 04, 2011 at 01:43 PM

[dagrif]

"they violated a city law that prohibits them from accepting gifts of more than $100 a year"

These elected officials have been charged with taking care business for the second largest city in the country and they are too ignorant to comprehend a simple sentence in the ethics guidelines. They break the law and then say they did not know or did not understand what they were doing. Shouldn't all the criminals in jail be allowed to use these same excuses when they get caught? Going back 2 years later to try to pay for something that he knew was wrong at the time he took the tickets, shows exactly what Garcetti and other politicians like him are all about; take all the handouts that you can, but get rid of all the handouts that might be given to those who are truly in need. Why do we keep letting them get away with this?

[Cosmo Kramer]

Corrupt from top to bottom!! Send them all packing!! Crooks Crooks Crooks!!!

[ColeslawPatriot]

Nothing but a slap on the wrist. Should've been a trip to the lockup.

[dee]

Los Angeles Elected Officials are more corrupt now then in the 1920's.

[jack ebner]

so freaking stupid, politicians are taking millions in campaign contributions from special interests, then doing their bidding, get million dollar consulting jobs from the industries they are regulating after they leave office if they play ball, family members getting jobs they are completely unqualified for, and the only thing we are busting them for is free tickets to an event. makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

[Astonished]

Oh, now that just made my day!! I say give them the same treatment Bell gave theirs and find someone who wants to do the job legally.

[self employed model]

Did these guys attend the functions alone! If they took a date/escort they should have to pay for their dates as well.

Some animals are more equal than others...

[RobietheCat]

If they are too inept to understand the "City's Gift Law" then they are obviously too inept to create new laws or to understand the complexity of governing a city.

They all need to resign.

These are not honorable people.

[Ex-Chicagoan]

Amateurs! They need to call the Chicago City Councilmen to find out how to do this without getting caught.

[Mcgibby]

How is it that a fine was punishment enough? Once you've discovered corruption in a government department, all of those involved should be terminated. Of course, that would be the normal train of thought anywhere else, but this is L.A., the land of corruption--corrupt politicians, corrupt culture, corrupt etc....sound about right for L.A.

[Steve]

"...he misunderstood the city's gift laws.."
Eric Garcetti
Wow, and he's educated

[Indian Joe]

What's bad is they say nothing until they get caught...

The Villaraigosa disease is spreading...

[Mcgibby]

BQ,

Yeah, it isn't as if these people directly impact the city or anything...no big deal. They're elected to represent citizens of Los Angeles, not special interest groups, and they certainly aren't elected to take care of their friends and cronies.

[Mike K]

Doesn't the Mayor and City Council know anything about the laws that apply to all elected officials in California about accepting freebies like these tickets to events? These requirements are nothing new and something that every elected official is required to know. In fact, such gifts are required for every politician to report on their annual 700 Form. Disappointing that the law has been ignored for so long.

[christopher]

They will just turn around and expense these costs to the city. Business as usual.