Drastic Proposals to Disassemble the Dream Machine
<br>
Vernon, CA, the subject of several blog posts here (click <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/update-vernon-ultimate-company-town&q…; target="”_blank”">here</a>
for the latest), has been the object of criminal investigations, but
now local officials are starting to get creative in response to the
most creatively imagined city in the U.S.<br>
<br>
<b>Solution 1: Constitutional Amendment</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-11-10-vernon-housing-20101110,0…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Los Angeles <i>Times</i></a>, Los Angeles County
supervisors will, next week, be considering the proposal of an
amendment to the California constitution that would remove the Vernon
administration's most creative ploy: limiting housing to those
who work for the city, so that personal economic dependence and voting
go hand in hand (and there is no one to start a NIMBY movement against
polluting companies in town). However, according to the article, housing is no longer occupied only by
employees. Their replacements include family and friends of council
members and other city officials.<br>
<br>
That's pretty drastic, amending the constitution to undermine an
anti-democratic scheme, but nothing else seems to have worked. The
amendment would "direct that no more than 10% of the housing owned or
controlled by a charter city can be occupied by city employees or by
people whose connections to City Hall could constitute a conflict of
interest."<br>
<br>
That's got to be the first time government ethics and city housing
have come together in a law, not to mention a constitutional amendment.
But it would hard to apply such an amendment to friends of officials,
since "friend" is impossible to define. And wouldn't a constitutional action against
officials be a pretty complex way to change things in Vernon? And the
amendment would require approval by the state legislature and by state
voters. A lot of work to clean up one little town.<br>
<br>
<b>Solution 2: Competitive Bidding</b><br>
The county supervisors will also be considering a proposal for the
county or its Community Development Commission "to put the housing
units for a city like Vernon out for competitive bidding." The sponsor
of these proposals actually represents the area that includes Vernon,
so she is presumably reflecting the feelings of its neighbors. But
she's been in office since 1991, so one wonders where her thinking cap
has been all these years.<br>
<br>
<b>Solution 3: Disincorporation</b><br>
The district attorney wants to
disincorporate the city of Vernon. It certainly deserves this, but how
is it done? The answer is surprising. According to <a href="http://www.calafco.org/docs/Municipal_Disincorporation_in_California-Kn…; target="”_blank”">"Municipal
Disincorporation in California"</a> by John H. Knox and Chris
Hutchison, the state legislature has set up a process, but can change
the process whenever and however it likes. This is a reminder that, at
least legally, municipalities are creatures of the state and exist only
at the will of the state. One thing that derives from this is that,
even though many states want no part of it, ultimately they are
responsible for local government ethics.<br>
<br>
This definitely seems like a better method than a constitutional
amendment. The county can apply for a special legislative statute to
disincorporate Vernon, and why would the legislature not be willing to
go along? This would create an excellent precedent to keep other local
officials from taking conflict of interest to its logical extreme, as
has been done in Vernon.<br>
<br>
There is also some action on the criminal front. According to the
article, last month a grand jury indicted Vernon's former city
administrator on charges of conflict of interest and misappropriation
of public funds involving two contracts the city entered into with his
wife. It's a minor matter, but chipping away is something to do while waiting for the wrecking ball to arrive.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
---