Let’s play everybody’s favorite game, “Elected Officials in Jeopardy!”

For $750,000 and control of the board, the answer is: “The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, LA4LA Fund, and Getty House Foundation.”

Anybody?

The correct question is, “What are three ‘charities’ closely tied to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass?”

On Jan. 17, Bass appointed real estate developer and former police commissioner Steve Soboroff as “chief recovery officer” for fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades. Weeks later, the L.A. Times reported that Soboroff would receive compensation of $500,000 for 90 days of work, helped by real estate executive Randy Johnson at a salary of $250,000, to be paid by three unnamed “charities.” In the firestorm that followed, both men said they’d work for free.

Let’s look more closely at this.

But first a word from our sponsor, Behested Payments That Hardly Anyone Knows About.

“Do you have or seek contracts with the city of L.A.? Is your phone ringing? It could be the mayor, asking you to make an unlimited monetary contribution to her three charities for civic betterment! You just can’t say no to Behested Payments That Hardly Anyone Knows About!”

It happens to be the law in California that elected officials may request contributions for “charitable” or “governmental” purposes from companies that have business before them, from foundations whose donors are never made public, or even from foreign nations. This is completely legal as long as a report is filed for donations totaling $5,000 or more from any one source in a calendar year.

These are called “behested payments,” meaning they’re made “at the request, suggestion, or solicitation of, or made in cooperation, consultation, coordination or concert with the public official.”

In other states, this is called “extortion.” In California, it’s called “helping people.”

Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis helped decorate her new office with behested payments after her 2018 election, collecting more than $330,000, mostly from public employee unions, for the “Committee to Support the Office of Lt. Governor.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom helped his wife’s nonprofit, the “California Partners Project,” pay its bills with $3.1 million in behested payments from donors including the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the California Chamber of Commerce and the now-deceased Silicon Valley Bank.

During the COVID lockdown, former Mayor Eric Garcetti handed out pre-paid debit cards with $5 million he “behested” from the nation of Qatar.

Bass has “behested” $20,629,025 since her election in 2022, including more than $1.4 million for the Getty House Foundation, $3.6 million for the LA4LA Fund, and nearly $12.8 million for the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles.

According to tax filings, Getty House Foundation is “dedicated to civic education, community engagement and the preservation of the Getty House, the official residence of the Mayor,” while the Mayor’s Fund “brings together business, philanthropy, nonprofits and government to address Angelenos’ most critical needs.” The website of the LA4LA Fund says it was “formed to unlock affordable housing options in Los Angeles at scale and speed.”

On Jan. 23, the Wall Street Journal reported that Soboroff “hasn’t ruled out adding more affordable housing” to Pacific Palisades.

Are these the “philanthropic organizations” that were quietly going to pay Soboroff $500,000 for a three-month czar gig?

Who donated to these entities, and why?

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation gave $2.148 million to the LA4LA Fund in December 2023. Another $1 million came from the UTOPIA Foundation last February.

In the last year, five-figure donations to the Getty House Foundation were made by Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, Charter Communications, AT&T, Bank of America, PepsiCo, mall operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Amazon.

The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles collected a behested payment of $875,000 from L.A. Care Health Plan on Jan. 2 and $1 million each from Molina Healthcare of California and Kaiser Permanente in December. AltaMed contributed $200,000.

According to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, Kaiser and L.A. Care have current city contracts, some expiring later this year.

Also per the ethics office, “city laws limit gifts and political contributions from certain bidders, contractors, and subcontractors” to protect the “integrity of the City’s procurement processes” and prevent “undue influence.” But behested payments are neither gifts nor political contributions.

They’re a shakedown.

Write Susan@SusanShelley.com and follow her on X @Susan_Shelley