Panel Begins Work on New Ethics Code

The first in a series of hearings to draw up a new city ethics code got off to a contentious start Thursday when Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter complained that a recent ethics commission report has fed “the public perception that politicians are scumbags.”

Galanter is the council’s most vocal opponent of a sweeping package of ethics reforms proposed last month by a commission appointed by Mayor Tom Bradley. She said Thursday that the commission report “suggests that anyone who has an outside interest has a conflict of interest. The whole tone of this debate really troubles me.”

Galanter is a member of a special council committee that is attempting to draft a new code to be submitted to the council by February. If the council does not act by then, Bradley’s commission intends to place its proposal on a ballot initiative.