Los Angeles Government Officials

The Ethics Commission voted Thursday to recommend two measures that would severely restrict the political activity of city commissioners, prohibiting them from being paid lobbyists and soliciting campaign contributions for city officials. Most city commissioners--who sit on panels overseeing everything from city harbors and airports to animal regulation--are appointed by the mayor.

Eight months after a court cleared one of its members of sexual harassment allegations, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to set up a special committee to investigate any complaints of harassment and discrimination targeting elected officials and top managers. Councilman Nate Holden was on vacation and missed the vote.

The longtime business partner of the former president of Los Angeles Business and Safety Commission severed their relationship Friday, one week after the commissioner quit his post because he is under criminal investigation for allegedly soliciting an underage prostitute and impersonating a police officer, and for conflict of interest. Mark S.

The Ethics Commission on Thursday approved in concept a plan to prohibit city commissioners from being paid to lobby other Los Angeles officials, part of a series of reforms considered in the wake of recent investigations of conflict of interest and other wrongdoing by a Riordan administration appointee. "Its purpose is, fundamentally, the restoration of public trust in government . . .

Students, parents and teachers at Canterbury Avenue Elementary School are fighting back after being hit for about the 10th time in less than six months by burglars and vandals. The last break-in occurred over Christmas break, school officials said, when four Apple computers were stolen and burglars also painted graffiti on school property.

After more than a month of contentious debate, including a dozen public meetings, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a new policy to govern complaints against elected and appointed officials of sexual harassment and discrimination The unanimous vote came after a heated argument and various attempts to weaken the proposal or to protect it from politics.

It had to happen. No sooner had the city attorney presented his top secret report on how to prevent leaks in Los Angeles government than the report itself leaked out. "If hypocrites could fly, this place would be an airport. It's a joke," said Councilman Joel Wachs. "Anything that's marked 'confidential,' the press always has it."

When you walk through Los Angeles City Hall, it looks like a diversity enthusiast's wildest dreams come true. Blacks, browns and whites together, sharing work on city commissions, in council offices. Even the lobbyists are multiethnic. Perfect for a city that has become one of the world's great conglomerations of races and cultures. But the world does not live by race alone.

He named a couple of new deputy mayors, added an education advisor--believed to be the first for any Los Angeles mayor--and put one of his most seasoned insiders in charge of dealing with the City Council. Mayor Richard Riordan's staff reshuffling late last month--the latest of periodic shake-ups during the businessman-turned-politician's 3 1/2 years in office--drew its share of skeptics and detractors.

Breaking his silence and touching off a potentially volatile debate at the highest levels of Los Angeles city government, Police Chief Willie L. Williams announced Tuesday that he intends to seek a second five-year term as chief. "It is with great pride and your support that I announce that I will soon be submitting my papers to receive a second term as chief of police," Williams told about 1,000 friends and supporters at the Los Angeles Convention Center.