Homelessness service officials outline new ethics procedures after LAist reporting

Leaders of L.A.’s homeless service agency heard an outline of ethics policy changes on Friday, just weeks after LAist reported a potential conflict of interest breach by the agency’s top official.

The ethics discussion was scheduled by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, before she left the agency’s governing commission a month ago. She called for the discussion following LAist's revelations that Va Lecia Adams Kellum, chief executive of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), signed a $2.1 million contract with her husband’s employer. That was despite Adams Kellum previously saying she had followed requirements that walled herself off from anything to do with the group.

A spokesperson told LAist that Adams Kellum “mistakenly” signed that and other agreements with her husband’s employer. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who like Horvath previously served on the commission, recently called Adams Kellum’s actions “sloppy work.”

At Friday’s meeting, LAHSA Commission Chair Wendy Greuel invited Adams Kellum’s subordinates to present the changes they say strengthen compliance with conflict of interest rules.

The new procedures

From left: The signature sections of two contract amendments (dated the same day) and a $2.1 million contract Va Lecia Adams Kellum signed between the government agency she leads and her husband’s employer. LAist obtained the documents through a public records request.

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Among changes outlined by Rachel Johnson, Adams Kellum’s chief of staff:

• Officials who have a conflict of interest on a contract will no longer be named on the signature line (see above)
• Training has been provided to staff who work with contracts
• A computer system will track conflicts of interest
• Annual ethics trainings will be required for about 300 employees who can influence contracts.

New commissioner Amy Perkins pressed officials to go further, by printing contracts that could present conflicts of interest on colored paper.

“So, like, from the beginning ... nothing looks similar. It's on purple paper with an alarm,” she said. Perkins is Horvath’s top homelessness staffer at the county and was appointed to the LAHSA commission by Horvath.

Adams Kellum was not present for the discussion. Early in the meeting she presented to the commission remotely on video. She did not participate in the subsequent hours of the meeting.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who serves on the commission and originally directed LAHSA to hire Adams Kellum as a consultant, attended the first part of Friday’s meeting. She left about two hours before the ethics item was discussed. Her spokesperson didn’t respond to a message asking why the mayor left early.

More transparency coming after delays

Officials also said at Friday’s meeting that about 300 LAHSA staffers will now have to disclose their financial interests on public forms required under state law. That follows a years-long delay by LAHSA management in following state requirements, which LAist reported in December.

LAHSA at the time was out of step with other local governments by not requiring any staff besides the CEO to file the disclosures, known as form 700s.

LAHSA officials now acknowledge that the law requires about 300 of its staffers to file the disclosures. They will be required to do so under changes set to go into effect for the next round of disclosures due April 1.

LAHSA leaders have not answered LAist’s questions on whether any of those 300 staffers will have to retroactively file form 700s for past years in which they met disclosure criteria.

Last fall, Adams Kellum’s administration hired a new chief executive strategist who, according to state business filings, co-owns a consulting business with the leader of one of LAHSA’s largest contracted service providers. The new LAHSA executive is among the agency’s administrators who haven’t been required by the agency to file the forms in recent years.

How to watchdog local government

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.

Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

• Read tips on how to get involved.
• The next scheduled meeting of the LAHSA commission Friday, March 28. You can check out the full calendar here.