For Immediate Release: February 21, 2024
Contact: Nancy Jackson (213) 978-1960
The Ethics Commission resolved three enforcement cases at its meeting today, by approving stipulated orders and imposing fines totaling $16,250.
Former City Council Aide Shawn Bayliss (Bayliss) was fined $3,750 for violating the City’s revolving door restrictions. Bayliss was the Director of Planning and Legislation for Council District 5 under former Councilmember Paul Koretz. Less than one year after leaving City service, Bayliss was hired as the Executive Director of the Bel-Air Association and was compensated for attempting to influence City action regarding a residential structure in the Bel-Air neighborhood.
Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) and its president Stuart Waldman (Waldman) admitted that they failed to comply with the City’s lobbying disclosure requirements. Waldman failed to register as a lobbyist for the year 2020, and both he and VICA failed to file disclosure reports for the first and second quarters of 2020. VICA was fined $5,000, and Waldman was fined $7,500.
The Commission also unanimously voted to disapprove two proposed stipulated settlements in enforcement cases involving Leslie Moonves, the former CEO of CBS Broadcasting, Inc., and Ian Metrose, a former CBS Vice President. The allegations involved the aiding and abetting of violations of laws protecting the confidentiality of a criminal report made of an alleged sex crime and the aiding and abetting of the misuse of a City position by a police official. The proposed penalty for Moonves was $11,250, and the proposed penalty for Metrose was $2,500.
“The rejection of the proposed settlements was based on the egregiousness of the alleged facts,” said President Jeffery Daar. “The Ethics Commission is committed to enforcing the City’s laws. These two cases underscore the need for the City Council to place a measure before the voters to strengthen the Ethics Commission’s independence as well as increase the maximum monetary penalties for violations of City ethics laws, which have not been changed in more than 30 years.”
Additional details regarding each case are provided through the meeting agenda. All penalties levied by the Ethics Commission are paid to the City’s general fund. Approved enforcement orders can be viewed and searched through the Ethics Commission’s Public Data Portal.
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The Ethics Commission was created by Los Angeles voters in 1990 to impartially administer and enforce the City’s governmental ethics, campaign financing, and lobbying laws.