Garcetti “hasn’t done a damn thing” to stop collusion between politicians and developers: Measure S campaign

Backers of Measure S are going after Mayor Eric Garcetti for not yet delivering on a pledge to ban private conversations between real estate developers and city planning officials.

Garcetti said in September that he planned to prohibit such ex parte communications, but has yet to issue an executive directive on the matter, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“It was a ploy,” Jill Stewart, campaign director for Yes on S, told the Times. “It got him some good press … and he hasn’t done a damn thing.”

Garcetti’s office maintains that the executive directive will be released soon. The process entails research, legal consultation and input from various stakeholders, according to spokesperson George Kivork.

Meanwhile, opponents of Measure S point out that the ballot measure itself doesn’t ban such meetings or prohibit developers from contributing to the political campaigns of city officials.

Backers counter that, by prohibiting general plan amendments and the practice of “spot-zoning,” developers will no longer have a reason to donate extensively to politicians.

Last year, the California Assembly voted down a proposal to ban ex-parte communication between California Coastal Commission officials and real estate players. Opponents of that proposal argued that the ban would hinder free speech.

The measure’s on Garcetti follows statements last week from the Mayor that Measure S had used his image and statements out of context in their campaign advertisements — in order to indicate that he supported the measure, which he does not. He said the mailers were a “dirty trick.” [LAT] — Cathaleen Chen