News Clips

"Community colleges spend taxpayer dollars and people need to know how those decisions are made through a transparent and open bidding process,” said Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause. "When a major contract is signed without a public bidding process, it can affect the public’s confidence in the district.”

“Most campaigns, to avoid the appearance of corruption, will disgorge immediately,” she said. “Something about the timing is questionable. (Once) it’s clear the source is of foreign origin, there is an ethical obligation for the candidate to return (the money).”

"Anti-corruption measures like these maintain the public's trust in our democracy," said Jack Blattner of government watchdog group California Common Cause, adding the proposed restrictions would "[ensure] that conflicts of interest do not arise through the appointment process."

Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, said that politicians should have been cautious and checked how much the tickets were worth, especially given the frenzy around the show.

The practice of allowing corporate interests and labor to make unlimited contributions to help legislators with legal problems is troubling to Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause.

Steinberg knows he needs public trust to make real progress on his ambitious to-do list on jobs, the homeless, youth services and much more. But confidence in government is not very high these days, and it hasn’t helped that ethics reform has dragged on this long. So far, the most significant accomplishment is that in November, voters approved a measure creating a citizens commission that will draw City Council districts, though that won’t happen until after the 2020 census.