An informal adviser to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, she handled her office communications for free while simultaneously working on a three-year contract with Los Angeles World Airports worth nearly $600,000.
Yusef Robb, director of the company tk/Communications, was a spokesperson and unpaid adviser to Bass from February to early June.
On June 19, Robb started working for Lineage Logistics, whose cold food storage facility in Boyle Heights burned for more than a week last month. He continued to serve as an unofficial and unpaid adviser to the mayor, though no longer as a spokesman, until The Times and other outlets reported on his work for Lineage on Saturday.
Robb said the airport contract was not related to his work for the mayor. But a legal expert said the deal raises questions about whether his pro-bono work was a gift to the mayor and whether working for the city and private clients creates conflicts of interest.
“This was done through a public, transparent and competitive bidding process,” Robb said in an email to The Times. “I provide communications and training support.”
The Bass administration said Robb's unpaid assistance was “for the benefit of the city. It is not a gift.”
In 2024, Robb signed the contract with Los Angeles World Airports, or LAWA, the city department that operates Los Angeles International Airport and Van Nuys Airport, for $450,000 over three years.
It won the contract, which included “executive media training” as well as “crisis communications,” compared to 10 other companies. It was updated in April to include additional work for $137,500.
A LAWA report in support of the contract update said that “LAWA's executive management has benefited from professional and successful media training, as well as support for LAWA's communications and crisis response.”
Because tk/Communications has subcontracted to at least two other companies, Robb said his company has earned no more than $315,000 during the three-year contract.
“There is no connection between the work Mr. Robb does for LAWA and the assistance he provides to Mayor Bass' office,” a spokesperson for Bass' office said. Bass is running for re-election against Councilman Nithya Raman.
The LAWA contract was Robb's second with the city during the Bass administration. The city paid a total of $75,000 in 2022 and 2023 to Robb's company to provide “various communications services related to the implementation of the administration,” according to a contract.
Tk/Communications has worked for government agencies as well as political campaigns and private companies, including the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the music and entertainment company AEG, according to the company's website.
“We develop powerful narratives and engagement to accelerate and amplify our clients' messages, whether they are based on an investment proposal or a political campaign,” the website states. “We write and tell stories that build deep connections and lasting relationships that deliver more than you asked for.”
Robb has worked in and around City Hall for decades. He was a press aide in Mayor Jim Hahn's administration and later worked for Eric Garcetti when Garcetti was a city council member and then mayor. He left Garcetti's office in 2015.
Robb said he has provided “unpaid help to all kinds of people and businesses, whether to promote criminal justice reform, organize community movements or simply find the right words.”
“I feel like it's important to help the city if I can,” he said.
Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor and former chairwoman of the city's Ethics Commission, said the airport contract shows how valuable Robb's work is, raising the question of whether she is giving Bass a gift by working for her for free.
Another concern for the public, Levinson said, is that Robb is working for Bass at the same time he has other clients and could potentially use his position at City Hall to promote the interests of those clients. His work for Bass also could make him more desirable to clients who believe he has the mayor's support, he said.
“What we are concerned about is undue influence, preferential access and secret deals that benefit certain people, as opposed to the public,” Levinson said. “We do not want public officials serving two masters.”
Still, Levinson said he doesn't believe Bass broke any laws by using Robb pro bono.
“This is an unusual setup,” he said. “That doesn't mean it's illegal.”
