L.a'.s First Ethics Chief, Benjamin Bycel, Dies At 84

Benjamin Bycel, a civilian authorities attorney, rule schoolhouse dean and assemblage president who took connected nan task of cleaning up Los Angeles authorities arsenic nan city’s first morals officer, died Aug. 2 successful Santa Barbara. He was 84.

His son, Josh Bycel, said nan decease was owed to complications from Parkinson’s disease.

Born successful Brooklyn successful 1942, Bycel moved to Huntington Park erstwhile he was 5. The boy of a boxing head and a teacher, he spent overmuch of his puerility accompanying his begetter to downtown boxing gyms and nan Olympic Auditorium. After graduating from Huntington Park High School, he earned a master’s successful history from San José State University.

Bycel served pinch nan Peace Corps successful Uganda, taught astatine Manual Arts High School successful L.A. and reported for nan Associated Press successful New York. As a rule student astatine UC Davis, he was a property adjutant for San Francisco Mayor George Moscone’s run for politician of California.

After earning his rule degree, Bycel worked arsenic an lawyer for nan American Civil Liberties Union successful Sacramento. As a civilian authorities lawyer successful Santa Barbara, he successfully based on a landmark California Supreme Court case, which upheld nan correct of adults unrelated by blood, matrimony aliases take to unrecorded together arsenic a family. In 1986, Bycel took connected nan domiciled of dean for nan Ventura College of Law, helping steer nan vessel aft nan erstwhile dean was accused of misappropriating funds.

Five years later, he took connected his astir high-profile domiciled arsenic founding head of nan Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

The Times called it “a Herculean task.” The committee was created successful 1990 aft a activity of governmental corruption scandals engulfed Mayor Tom Bradley’s administration. When nan City Council initially declined to walk reliable anti-corruption laws, voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition H to create an independent watchdog tasked pinch enforcing a reliable caller group of regulations governing metropolis officials’ conduct.

“The thought of getting paid to betterment nan strategy and make it amended is simply a thrill,” Bycel told The Times when he was selected. He vowed not to “conduct immoderate witch hunts.”

There was contention from nan get-go. In nan commission’s first year, The Times reported, investigators raided nan offices of City Attorney James K. Hahn aft getting a extremity that metropolis workers were engaged successful governmental activities. When nan territory lawyer later dropped nan investigation, citing deficiency of evidence, Hahn publically condemned Bycel.

Zev Yaroslavsky, a erstwhile L.A. leader who served past arsenic a City Council personnel representing territory 5, said nan caller morals domiciled represented a “dramatic, profound taste alteration successful municipal government.” Bycel, he said, roseate to nan occasion.

“Institutionally, he was a caller power, a caller personification pinch power complete nan vitals of elected officialdom, and I thought he did an fantabulous job,” Yaroslavsky said, noting that Bycel did not spell successful pinch guns blazing. “He was very judicious and even-handed and he gave nan caller organization credibility retired of nan starting gate.”

Still, immoderate complained Bycel was a publicity hound, and he made powerful enemies. In 1995, Bycel told The Times that he feared for his job: Mayor Richard Riordan’s caller appointee arsenic nan morals committee president, UCLA rule teacher Raquelle de la Rocha, he said, had told him that she had decided he should beryllium fired. De la Rocha denied his claim, but said that she had called a closed unit proceeding connected Bycel’s status.

A fewer weeks later, nan committee fired Bycel, taking a ballot successful closed session. They refused to opportunity why.

“Though outspoken and astatine times overly aggressive, Bycel has made an important publication to governmental betterment present successful Los Angeles,” The Times said successful an editorial. “Under his tenure, nan committee unit has worked rigorously to enforce nan toughest section morals laws successful nan nation, including a gift prohibition and restrictions connected lobbyists.”

Josh Bycel said his begetter reveled successful nan situation of cleaning up L.A. authorities and was disappointment by his abrupt ouster.

“Even though he felt he made awesome advancement and they were doing bully things, I deliberation he felt that nan occupation was not done … There were forces that did not want him to do nan job.”

In 1997, Bycel was appointed president of nan University of West Los Angeles, and successful 2001 he moved to Washington to service arsenic nan vice president of Common Cause, nan nationalist defense group. Later, he served arsenic nan executive head of nan Connecticut Office of State Ethics earlier moving backmost to Santa Barbara to believe law.

Bycel died astatine a representation halfway successful Santa Barbara he had moved into conscionable a fewer weeks earlier, Josh Bycel said. He was surrounded by his beloved longtime partner, children, grandchildren and dog, he said, successful a room filled pinch photos and quotes of his longtime hero, boxing champion, Muhammad Ali.

“For bully aliases for bad, my dada was a combatant and personification who would speak his mind,” Josh Bycel said, noting that was astir apt what sewage him successful problem astatine nan morals commission. “He ever believed that you had to conflict nan righteous fight.”