By Sandy Wells
KABC News
A group of LA City Councilmembers are proposing that a new law be drafted to prohibit big developers from contributing to council members’ election campaigns while a major building project is under review. The proposal was unveiled Tuesday by City Council members David Ryu, Joe Buscaino, Paul Krekorian, Paul Koretz and Mike Bonin.
Jill Stewart, director of The Coalition to Preserve LA, says the process that often determines the landscapes of city neighborhoods for decades is rife with corruption.
“The City Council takes huge amounts of money from developers and then holds back room meetings, sometimes for a couple of years, before neighborhoods and communities and other officials find out the meetings are going on and there’s already a deal that’s been cut behind closed doors.”
Stewart says the reason for the proposed new law is due to two factors.
“Measure S and our campaign and our huge numbers of supporters is putting tremendous pressure on the City Council. We’re having rallies and meetings and discussions about how much dirt is flowing through City Hall…and the second reason is the L.A. Times has rolled out a series of stories about pay-to-play.”
The Council’s practices have made fortunes for developers, filled the coffers of councilmembers reelection campaigns while pushing middle and low income families out of their homes.
“(Developers) are making sometimes 50 million dollars from what we call zone changes – rule breaking, changing the zoning just for one developer.”
Stewart dismissed the Council’s proposed law as a “tiny little step that won’t do anything.”
For more information about the Yes on Measure S campaign, go to www.yesonmeasures.org
Stewart was a guest on 790 KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning Show.