Los Angeles "D.A.'s office can try to oust Carson mayor from water board, attorney general says"

Terrific to speak with Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times for this piece.

Jessica Levinson, a clinical law professor at Loyola Law School who serves on the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, said the attorney general's office typically grants permission to allow such suits to proceed. The office "clearly found Robles' arguments to be less than compelling," Levinson said. 

"PAC shielded $2.3 million in donations by L.A. charter school backers"

Great to speak with Howard Blume of the Los Angeles Times for this one. 

Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have presumed that voters would have full knowledge of who was contributing to campaigns when it struck down many limits on the amount of donations, said Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor who specializes in election law and heads the L.A. City Ethics Commission.

"The purposes of the disclosure laws are to give the public information, which is much more useful the faster it comes," said Levinson. "The concern is that you can use an intermediary and, essentially, legally mask who is behind a donation.

"New Watchdog Overseeing ‘Pay to Play’ Politics in San Francisco"

Great to speak with Ted Goldberg for this piece on KQED.

Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor who is now the president of the L.A. commission, worked with Pelham years ago.

“She’s no shrinking violet,” Levinson said in an interview. “She’s going to do what she thinks is right, she’ll listen to the stakeholders, the commissioners, members of the reform community and the regulated community,” Levinson said. “I don’t think she’s going to come in there with a ‘it’s my way or the highway,’ but I do think she knows how to run an agency.”

"Airbnb has spent more than $200,000 on lobbying efforts in LA"

A pleasure to be on KPCC to discuss.

"Airbnb is spending... a not insignificant amount of money lobbying the city of L.A.," said Jessica Levinson, the president of the L.A. City Ethics Commission. She said the money pays for access to local lawmakers, which lobbyists jockey for.

"A lot of it is paying for people’s time, it’s paying for people’s connections, it’s paying for people’s expertise in knowing who to talk to, how to talk to them and when to approach them," said Levinson.

"Garcetti email flap shows fuzzy line between governing, campaigning"

Christine Mai-Duc reports on this one. 

“The basic rule is, whatever happens on the taxpayer dime should be serving your constituents,” says Jessica Levinson, president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

Distinguishing between a candidate and an official can be complicated, and so can navigating local, state and federal law

It’s hard to say definitely where the public official ends and the campaigner begins, Levinson says.

“It’s all a line drawn in the sand on a windy day.... Those lines can be difficult because elected officials are public servants, but they’re also political animals.”

To illustrate the problem, Levinson poses a scenario: Should a mayor’s security detail be allowed to accompany him, for instance, to a fundraising event? “If we decide as a public that it’s important to protect this person and keep them safe, then that would be true regardless of what the elected official is doing,” Levinson says. “But the taxpayers are then facilitating a political activity.”

"L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's endorsement of Hillary Clinton hits embarrassing snag"

Good to talk to Peter Jamison for this one. 

“I think that city and state law is pretty clear that you don’t use the taxpayer dime to send out campaign endorsements,” said city Ethics Commission President Jessica Levinson. “And the taxpayer dime includes both workers and infrastructure.”

Levinson declined to comment specifically on the mayor’s presidential endorsement, saying the incident could come before her panel for consideration of possible sanctions.

"Angelenos Never Much Cared About Local Politics"

My latest op-ed is up on Zocalo Public Square.

Compton mayor's charity tie-in to State of the City talk raises eyebrows

Good to speak with Angel Jennings for this important piece in the Los Angeles Times. 

Jessica Levinson, a clinical law professor at Loyola Law School and president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, said that charities that receive payment at politicians' behest should be scrutinized to ensure they are legitimate.

"You look for certain things, like is it closely associated with the politician or her family," she said. "In this case, yes it is.... The closer the nonprofit is to financially benefiting the politician, the more problematic it is."

L.A. wants more details about business groups that donate to city campaigns

More great reporting by Emily Alpert Reyes for this piece in the Los Angeles Times. 

At a meeting Wednesday, commissioners said they wanted city staffers to come up with ways to require corporations, limited liability companies and other "non-individual" campaign donors to publicly disclose more information about who controls them. The concern, said commission President Jessica Levinson, is that "it is really difficult to follow the money."

...

Levinson said such information was useful, but that it didn't address the broader question of whether such donations were sufficiently transparent to the public.

"Compton officials deny improperly inflating pay; D.A. investigation ongoing"

Good to talk to Marisa Gerber and Angel Jennings of the Los Angeles Times for this one.

Jessica Levinson, a clinical law professor at Loyola Law School who serves on the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, said Compton officials should work to change the city's charter if they want to pay themselves more.

"There are tons of laws that aren't indexed for inflation," Levinson said. "But that doesn't mean you just decide to work around them."

"Tense times in government offices after Ashley Madison email leak"

Nice to speak with Abby Sewell for this piece in the Los Angeles Times. 

"Work email is created and set up and funded by the employer — in this case, the government — and it's inappropriate to use government email for personal purposes," said Jessica Levinson, a law professor and member of the city ethics commission.

"Compton officials have been illegally inflating their pay, district attorney says"

Always a pleasure to speak with Angel Jennings of the Los Angeles Times. 

Jessica Levinson, a clinical law professor at Loyola Law School, said the D.A.’s letter raises question about the meetings’ merit.

“It makes the advisory board meetings frankly sound like scam meetings,” Levinson said. “The D.A.’s office is saying they don’t pass the smell test.”

"Ticketed and towed: Owner of minivan hopes his court victory inspires others"

Great to talk with Laura Nelson of the Los Angeles Times for this piece.

Requiring that local governments post signs for every law on the books could "open a Pandora's Box" that would reach far beyond the 72-hour parking restriction, said Jessica Levinson, an associate clinical professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

From watering a lawn on a restricted day to not signaling a left-hand turn, "there are things we do every day that are legal or illegal and don't have a sign to advertise them," Levinson said. The Court of Appeals could accept the overturned citation as new evidence, she said. "But honestly, a traffic court's decision having any bearing?" she said. "I guess I'm kind of dubious."

"L.A. hits the brakes on plan to allow Uber at LAX"

Good to talk with Alice Walton (aka @TheCityMaven) of the Los Angeles Times for this piece.

“In general, I think most campaign contributions and expenditures on lobbying are business judgments and the idea is that you spend money because you want to influence those who are making decisions that affect you, and that’s not necessarily evil,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School.

“Influence can also be a synonym for educate but I think that it kind of strains common sense to say campaign and lobbying money isn’t about trying to obtain favorable decisions,” she said.

"What America's largest local government agency reorg means for LA County residents"

Happy to be part of the discussion on KPCC's "AirTalk."

Land deal has been costly debacle for City of Industry

Great to talk with Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times for this one. 

"If elected officials steer work to companies in which they or their families have a financial interest, it could represent a misuse of public funds," said Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor who studies public corruption.

"The mayor should only be making decisions that benefit his constituents, not himself," she said. "It raises a lot of questions about the potential misuse of his position."

Who will replace Senator Barbara Boxer? Who won in Los Angeles last week?

I will be on NBC's "News Conference" on Sunday at 7:45 a.m. talking about elections in Los Angeles and who is likely to replace Senator Barbara Boxer. 

"'Dismal' Doesn't Even Begin To Describe LA's Voter Turnout"

Thanks to Huffington Post Politics for picking up my quote in Alice Walton's Los Angeles Times article. 

“People may think about legalizing marijuana or other kinds of social issues on a regular basis, but whether or not we should link up city and state elections is something very few voters devote brain space to,” Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson told the Times.

Who Is Making All the Decisions in LA Elections?

Great to be on "Which Way, L.A." with Warren Olney here.

Election Roundup on Press Play

Always wonderful to speak with Madeleine Brand.

Here is a link to the show.