L.A. council imposes disclosure rules for charter panel

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to approve a law aimed at boosting transparency at the Charter Reform Commission by requiring that members of that panel disclose any private talks they have with the city's elected officials.

- SANDRA MCDONALD

GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times: SWAN-Y DAY Visitors enjoy the sunshine and a ride on a swan boat in Echo Park. Warm weather continues this week.

The vote comes about two months before the commission, which began its work in July, is scheduled to finish its deliberations and deliver a list of recommendations to the council.

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who proposed the ordinance, said she has been trying since August to pass a measure requiring the disclosure of private conversations, known as "ex parte" communications.

That effort was greeted with "nearly six months of stonewalling," she said.

"While this is an important victory for oversight and transparency, government accountability shouldn't be this hard to secure," she said.

The ordinance, which also applies to communications between commissioners and elected officials' staff, is expected to go into effect in about a month.