Reformers push Mayor Brandon Johnson to adopt Law Department changes
Would-be reformers are firing back against Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration, arguing ethics changes targeting the city's Law Department can move forward.
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg first proposed the changes last month in an effort to bolster her office's investigative independence. The mayor-controlled Law Department has long hindered investigations that 'may result in embarrassment or political consequences to City leaders,' she told aldermen.
A Johnson ally quickly stalled the reform package when it was introduced at the City Council. The mayor's corporation counsel, Mary Richardson-Lowry, also blasted it as a 'fundamental misunderstanding of the law.'
But a legal opinion the Better Government Association announced Tuesday determined Richardson-Lowry is wrong to argue such changes would be prohibited by state and city law.
'The answer is no, there are no such prohibitions of which I am aware or have been able to identify,' attorney Matt Topic of law firm Loevy & Loevy wrote in the non-binding opinion the BGA obtained from the firm.
The Law Department did not immediately respond to questions about the opinion Tuesday morning.
Witzburg's 14-page letter to aldermen that sparked the debate said the Law Department under Johnson and other mayors selectively impeded investigations by withholding records, slow-walking compliance with inspector general's office subpoenas and demanding top mayoral lawyers be allowed to attend confidential investigative interviews.
She asked aldermen to change city law to eliminate the Law Department's discretion over inspector general subpoena enforcement, block city attorneys from sitting in on investigative interviews and prevent the department from asserting attorney-client privilege to avoid sharing records.
After Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, proposed an ordinance last month aligned with Witzburg's recommendations, Richardson-Lowry argued the reforms 'would dismantle guardrails.' She told reporters the ordinance was 'legally deficient on its face' and added Witzburg had not asked her for a legal opinion.
'There has been no such request, but we will be issuing a full-throated legal opinion on the issues that she surfaced,' Richardson-Lowry said. 'And we will share it with the aldercore, who should be privy to why the thing that she's proposing fails on its face.'
Witzburg told the Tribune she did ask Richardson-Lowry for a legal opinion, but in response received legal analysis that she felt did not clearly respond to the proposed ordinance. The Law Department did not immediately share any such analysis when asked Tuesday.
The inspector general praised the BGA-commissioned legal opinion as 'helpful and clarifying.' She believes Johnson's opposition to the ordinance is a 'policy position,' she said. The mayor's administration may not prefer the changes she proposed, but that does not make them illegal, she argued.
'There are no legal barriers to these changes,' Witzburg said. 'There's a choice here for the city to make between the status quo and a better, more accountable government.'
The proposed changes held up in the City Council's Rules Committee would bring Chicago more in line with other major cities, BGA Vice President Bryan Zarou said. There is 'absolutely no legal impediment' blocking the ordinance, he added.
'If they are trying to make a political argument, then we are fine with it,' Zarou said. 'But if they are making a legal argument, it is not legally sound, unless they come up with something we haven't seen yet.'
Martin said he met with the Law Department earlier this month to start 'flushing out concerns' about the ordinance and will continue the discussions. He plans to move forward with a revised version of the ordinance, he said.
'I feel confident that we will be able to move forward with an ordinance that addresses any remaining legal concerns that the Law Department has,' Martin said. 'I think that the Law Department shared their concerns, some of which they characterized as legal and some of which they characterized as policy.'
The ongoing Law Department tiff is far from Johnson's first tense run-in with ethics reform groups and the inspector general. He pushed back against efforts to restrict lobbyist donations to mayoral candidates last year.
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Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
This Los Angeles city official testified for four days so Karen Bass wouldn't have to
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It's David Zahniser, with an assist from Noah Goldberg and Laura Nelson, giving you the latest on city and county government. If Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass manages to hold on to her power to oversee the city's homelessness programs, she may well have one person to thank: City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo. Szabo, a fixture in the administrations of the past three mayors, was effectively the city's star witness in its legal battle against the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, the nonprofit group that sued the city in 2020 over its handling of the homelessness crisis. During a seven-day hearing that concluded Wednesday, the alliance pressed U.S. Dist. Judge David O. Carter to take authority over homeless services away from Bass and the City Council and give it to a to-be-determined third party overseen by the court. On four of those seven days, Szabo sat in the witness chair, defending the city's decisions and occasionally offering cutting remarks about the city's critics. Above all, he insisted the city would meet its obligation to provide 12,915 additional homeless beds by June 2027, as required under a settlement agreement with the alliance. Szabo, who reports to both Bass and the council, is well known within City Hall for his work preparing the city budget, negotiating with city unions and providing policy recommendations on homelessness and other issues. During his time in Carter's courtroom, he was also a human shield, taking the brunt of the hostile questions and helping to ensure that Bass and others would not be called to testify. Throughout the proceedings, the city's lawyers lodged hundreds of objections to the alliance's questions, sometimes before they had been fully asked. Carter cautioned them that the rapid-fire interruptions could make things difficult for inexperienced witnesses. He also made clear that the group did not include Szabo. 'Mr. Szabo,' the judge said, 'certainly is used to the stress.' The alliance had placed not just Bass but also Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and Traci Park on its witness list, saying all three had made public statements criticizing the response system. Bass herself called the system 'broken' during her State of the City address in April, a fact highlighted by Matthew Umhofer, an attorney for the alliance. Those statements, Umhofer said, only reinforce the alliance's argument that the city's homelessness programs are beyond repair and must be placed into receivership. 'The city is not fixing that broken system,' he said during closing arguments. 'It's simply doubling down on that broken system.' 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Szabo acknowledged that LAHSA has faced issues with data collection. But he insisted that the city is closely tracking the beds required under its settlement with the alliance. 'We have taken steps to ensure that the data we are reporting is accurate,' he told the court. Carter, who has yet to rule in the case, did not sound as confident in the city's attention to detail. On Wednesday, he demanded that the city turn over records regarding its compliance with another agreement in the case — this one known as the 'roadmap.' The roadmap agreement, which expires June 30, required the city to produce 6,700 beds. In his order, Carter raised questions about whether city officials had double counted 'time-limited subsidies' — money used to help homeless people move into apartments and pay their rent — by applying them both to the roadmap requirements and to the obligations within the alliance settlement agreement. Szabo said city officials are collecting the records for the judge. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, whose district includes Hollywood, voiced confidence in Szabo. He also praised Bass for taking on the issue of homelessness, pointing out that LAHSA reported that the city had made progress last year. 'We're doing things that are showing results,' said Soto-Martínez, whose office has participated in 23 Inside Safe encampment operations. 'Is it perfect? No. But we're working through it.' — ICE RAID OUTRAGE: L.A.'s elected officials voiced their anger on Friday over a series of federal immigration sweeps in Westlake, Cypress Park and other parts of the city. L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said the individuals detained were 'hardworking Angelenos who contribute to our local economy and labor force every day.' Bass issued her own statement, saying: 'We will not stand for this.' 'As Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place,' she said. 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That's it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@ Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for June 7
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Chicago Tribune
7 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for June 7
Happy June, quotes readers! It was a tense and smoggy week in Chicago. Immigration advocates were alerted Wednesday of people being detained at a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office on the Near South Side. Organizers and several aldermen went to protest, and several of them clashed with federal agents. Now, City Council members plan to have a hearing to look into the Chicago Police Department's response to the demonstration. Local immigration advocates also plan to challenge President Donald Trump's travel ban that bars or restricts travelers from 19 countries. The U.S. president spoke with several world leaders this week. After a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Trump said the two countries will continue their trade talks. During their phone call Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the president that he would respond to Ukraine's recent drone attacks on a Russian airfield. And in a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump suggested that pursuing peace in eastern Europe is not the best path forward right now. Amidst all of this, the relationship between the president and his former close adviser Elon Musk came to a bitter end as the two exchanged harsh words on social media, and Trump threatened to cut Starlink and SpaceX's government contracts. The Trump administration is also investigating former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign pardons and other documents. Meanwhile in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson pushed aldermen to add a city grocery tax as the long-established state grocery levy expires. A jury found Crosetti Brand guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of Jayden Perkins, the 11-year-old killed in a brutal 2024 attack as he tried to protect his pregnant mother. And Chicago police determined that Officer Krystal Rivera, a mother and four-year veteran of the force, was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow cop during a confrontation with an armed suspect Thursday in the Chatham neighborhood. In Springfield, Illinois lawmakers voted to pass the state budget. The $55 billion spending plan was balanced with a combination of spending cuts and an estimated $800 million in tax increases, including hikes on tobacco products, vaping and online sportsbooks. The passage of the budget closed out a legislative session with mixed results for Gov. JB Pritzker. Jerry Reinsdorf is selling the Chicago White Sox — just not this year. On Thursday, the team announced Reinsdorf and billionaire Justin Ishbia reached a long-term investment agreement for Ishbia to obtain a controlling interest in the team by 2029 at the earliest. In other sports news, the Chicago Fire are privately financing a $650 million soccer stadium at The 78, the Chicago Sports Network is finally broadcasting on Comcast and the Chicago Sky are taking on the Indiana Fever this weekend in the first professional women's basketball game played at the United Center. But fans hoping to catch another matchup between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will have to wait: The 2024 WNBA rookie of the year is out for a quadriceps strain. Though the forecast looks nice, you may consider spending some time indoors this weekend. Smoke from Canadian wildfires is blanketing Chicago, with the city's air quality at times ranked the worst in the U.S. That's it for the news! Test your knowledge of who said what with the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz from June 1 to 7. Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
