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Former Los Angeles Councillor Kevin De Leon faces an ethical fine of $18,750 for voting for a city council decision that has financial gains and failed to disclose his income.
DeLeón, according to a report prepared by the Executive Division of the LA City Ethics Committee, “confirms four counts of one count that either made decisions that economic benefits are retained or that they did not disclose their income.
From 2020-21, Deleon said it supported three city council issues and USC that benefited the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. According to state law, elected officials must disclose each source of gross revenues of more than $500 received in the 12 months prior to taking office.
Less than 12 months after receiving income from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Deleon participated in three separate city decisions that influenced the foundation that he knew or had reason to know that he had financial benefits, the Ethics Committee Report states. However, according to an Ethics Committee report, de Leon did not disclose the $109,231 earnings he received from the foundation before he took office.
On November 25, 2020, he voted for the Foundation’s application for the Historical Designation of the King Edward Hotel, owned by the Foundation. On April 22, 2021, he voted for an item related to the city lease at the Foundation-owned Retan hotel. On May 4, 2021, he again voted for the city lease at the Retan Hotel.
De Leon’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the Times received a statement from a spokesman for De Leon: “The issue is focused on disclosure rather than personal interest. The item in question provided homeless housing during the pandemic and health services to vulnerable Angelenos,” the statement said. “They had passed unanimously, and were advised that Councilman De Leon should reject himself. He would have done so without hesitation – the outcome would have been the same.”
USC paid $155,000 as an independent contractor from July 2019 to June 2020.
Less than 12 months later, DeLeón joined in determining the city that would benefit USC, according to the Ethics Committee. In June 2021, DeLeón voted to approve the proposed budget for the Housing and Community Development Plan, including a $1 million allocation to the USC Keck School of Medicine.
In March 2020, Deleon was elected to represent the 14 Council Districts of LA City Council. In May 2020, while being a member-elect on the Council, Deleon signed a consulting agreement with the Healthy Housing Foundation, a division of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and began offering services as a strategic policy advisor.
The agreement stated that de Leon “advises and strengthens strategies on behalf of HHF’s programs and portfolios.”[e]According to the Ethics Committee, ngages between policymakers and regulators in all areas related to the HHF’s overall strategic goals.
De Leon took office in October 2020. He submitted his financial disclosures next month, but did not disclose the AIDS Healthcare Foundation or its sound housing foundation as a source of income. In December 2020, he submitted an amended financial format, but according to an Ethics Committee report, “we did not disclose income from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the true source of income received under the consulting agreement.
The fines committee said Deleon had worked with staff in deciding on the fines committee and had no previous enforcement history. However, the Ethics Committee said the violation in this case was serious and “the violation appears to indicate a pattern of behavior.”
A similar issue was highlighted in a 2023 story in which a meeting between urban chiefs and high-ranking mayoral staff was held in the summer of 2020, helping to address the issues facing the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. At the time, De Leon was elected, but had not yet been appointed.
A few months before the meeting, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation was pursuing a lawsuit alleging that the city had illegally refused funding for the affordable housing project the foundation had proposed. An email from the mayor’s then-directed chief of staff to a colleague said that De Leon “want to come up with a solution.”
Five city officials who attended the briefing or were involved in organizing it were unaware that Deleon was employed at the time as a consultant for the foundation.
Meanwhile, political ethics experts told the Times that his failure to disclose Deleon’s relationship with the foundation and his economic ties sparked concerns of a potential conflict of interest. They believed that his actions could create uncertainty about whose interest he served, or about the city or his then employer.
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