Counsel for the Council

By proposing that the City Council committees investigating conflict-of-interest charges against Mayor Tom Bradley be empowered to take testimony under oath, Council President John Ferraro has acted decisively and in the public’s interest. When his motion, which also would enable the committees to hire special legal counsel and issue subpoenas, comes before the full council on Tuesday, it deserves the support of every member ready to place the people’s welfare ahead of his or her political comfort.

This week’s testimony before the council’s Finance and Revenue Committee already has produced disquieting revelations. Among the most troubling is the fact that someone in City Treasurer Leonard Rittenberg’s office altered documents indicating that the mayor gave instructions to deposit public money in a bank that employed him as a consultant.

The full significance of these facts remains unclear because the witnesses have told the committee and city auditors fragmentary and conflicting stories. It is the purpose of sworn testimony to sort out such conflicts.

Similarly, Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores’ suggestion that the council convene a single committee to explore all the questions arising from Bradley’s murky financial dealings is a sound one. The most efficient way to do that would be to combine both three-member committees with jurisdiction in this matter--Finance and Revenue and Government Operations--with Ferraro sitting as a seventh member. That body ought then to hire an experienced, distinguished, nonpartisan lawyer to direct a thorough investigation, including the public testimony of witnesses under oath.

Bradley and City Atty. James K. Hahn, who is conducting his own inquiry into this matter, have objected to the prospect of a vigorous council probe. Their reservations should not prevail. Hahn’s efforts cannot provide the credible and definite results required. In a situation touching on the basic integrity of city government, the people of Los Angeles need clear answers and not simply another set of unsettling questions.