Civil rights attorney Thomas Saenz is joining the Villaraigosa administration as the mayor's chief ethics officer and legal advisor. The L.A. Business Journal says Saenz has been vice president of litigation at MALDEF. Also today, Villaraigosa issued ethics directives to his staff and urged the city council to pass a package of reforms that bar appointed commissioners from lobbying or meddling in city contracts. The council then passsed the new rules 12-zip.

Also at City Hall: The Times filled one of its open bureau slots with Richard Fausset. He'll be focusing on the new mayor. Fausset covered the recent campaign and had been on the Metro staff's "sense of place" team. [* 5:59 p.m. Update: Fausset's new assignment was just announced to the staff in a memo from Assistant Managing Editor Janet Clayton. It follows, with his background]:

From: Clayton, Janet
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 5:59 PM
Subject: richard fausset

Richard Fausset, an original member of the Sense of Place team, is moving to City Hall. Richard is a versatile reporter and writer. In the last year, he has jumped into daily breaking news, including the La Conchita mudslides and the local reaction to the South Asia tsumani disaster. He also has written stylish news features, including a profile of Crenshaw's Elegant Manor and the story of a young Korean-American man who sacrificed his personal ambitions in order to carry out his dead father's dream of running a convenience store. He'll be a strong addition in our coverage of the mayor and other big stories coming out of City Hall. He reports to John Hoeffel.

Richard has worked for the Times since 1999. He also has written and edited for several publications, including Gazette Newspapers in Bethesda, Md, The Columbia Missourian, The Cape Cod Times and the Daily Texan. He has traveled and studied extensively in Central America and Mexico and is proficient in Spanish. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a native of New Orleans.

Janet Clayton