Photo illustration of Los Angeles City Hall and LAPMA campaign finance filings. (Base image by Patrick Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
IF THERE IS ANY LABOR union in Los Angeles city government that might be expected to run a tight ship, it would be the association that represents the executives and managers who fill the senior ranks of the municipal org chart. These are the folks who supervise the city’s airport staff, its building inspectors, auditors, accountants and a small army of administrative personnel — scores of the most senior employees who are neither appointed or elected. To the extent that L.A. has a deep state, this is the union that represents its highest echelon.
But the Los Angeles Professional Managers Association is in disarray — so much so that for the last two years, its campaign spending documents have been signed by a dead man. And, according to an L.A. Material review of public records, that is far from the only lapse: The union has made tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations that it has failed to report, in violation of campaign finance laws. Meanwhile, it is at war with its former parent union, the powerful SEIU Local 721, which has accused the managers union, known as LAPMA, of “financial irregularities” including deliberately underpaying dues by more than $3.7 million, according to court records.
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