One of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's appointees to a city pension board resigned today, one month after receiving a letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission asking him to identify income he had received from companies doing business with his agency.

Sean Harrigan, president of the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions board, said the SEC's inquiry into allegations of kickbacks at a New York state pension fund had created "a frenzy of media activity" that had placed him in "the eye of the storm."

"While I have done nothing wrong, I recognize that this entire matter has become a huge distraction for all parties involved in the business of operating an $11-billion public pension system," he said in a statement.

Villaraigosa spokesman Matt Szabo said the mayor and Harrigan agreed the resignation was "the best course of action."

The SEC had issued a similar letter to board member Elliott Broidy, another mayoral appointee on the nine-member board that oversees a $10.7-billion portfolio on behalf of retired police officers and firefighters. Both men had been asked to disclose their communications with three firms under scrutiny in the New York investigation.

Broidy was absent from today's meeting.

The resignation comes one week after another Villaraigosa pension board appointee, Kelly Candaele, was asked by the mayor to quit the Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System board after he participated in a campaign fundraiser for the city attorney bid of City Councilman Jack Weiss -- a violation of city law.

Candaele hosted the event with two key figures at Wetherly Capital, a Los Angeles firm also mentioned in the SEC letters. Wetherly, known as a placement agent, pitches investment opportunities to public pension boards.

Meanwhile, investigators with the City Ethics Commission have not concluded their investigation of Robert Aguallo, the former head of the agency where Candaele had served as a board member. Aguallo took a job with an investment fund shortly after it did business with his pension board.

Harrigan, 63, worked as a consultant to Wetherly for five months in 2006. The SEC asked him to disclose his communications with Wetherly, which has said it is fully cooperating in the inquiry.

Harrigan announced his resignation shortly after he and his colleagues voted to fire a consulting firm linked to the New York scandal. On a 7-0 vote, the pension board dismissed Dallas-based Aldus Equity, one of two firms that recommend private equity investments to the agency.

Fire and Police Pensions board member Sam Diannitto urged his colleagues to take the action, saying failure to do so would "give the image that this board condones 'pay to play.' "

"This board is tainted. It's tainted by this issue," he added.

Aldus was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with civil securities fraud for allegedly making improper payments to win business at the New York fund. A founding partner of Aldus, Saul Meyer, was arrested and charged last week by New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo with one count of criminal fraud.

Lawyers for Aldus and Meyer have denied the charges.

The Los Angeles board also voted to make its investment staff a temporary caretaker of the agency's private equity investment portfolio until a new firm can be hired. Before that vote took place, two board members -- Harrigan and Mike Carter -- questioned whether the work should go to the agency's other consultant, StepStone Group.

Harrigan was selected by Villaraigosa in August 2005 to serve at the pension agency. Seven months later, he formed Sean Harrigan LLC, picking up such clients as Wetherly Capital.

Before Harrigan joined the board, Wetherly had secured investments from Fire and Police Pensions for at least eight funds, according to company officials. On June 1, 2006, less than a year into his tenure, Harrigan voted to invest $10 million apiece in two Wetherly clients -- Nogales Investment Fund II and Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.

Less than three months later, Harrigan became a paid consultant to Wetherly, serving in that role for five months. Harrigan said he advised the firm on pension matters outside California.

The city's ethics laws bar commissioners from negotiating their employment with companies that have matters pending before them. Harrigan said that was not an issue, however, because he took the work with Wetherly on Aug. 15, 2006 -- roughly 10 weeks after he voted on the firm's clients.

"When I took the vote on both of those funds, I was not in discussions [with Wetherly] on any type of a consulting agreement," he said in an interview with The Times this week.

Harrigan said he waited one year before voting on any fund being represented by Wetherly at his agency. In 2008, he voted to invest in at least two Wetherly clients, allocating $25 million to Levine Leichtman and $30 million in Bond Cos., which develops and invests in real estate projects in California and elsewhere.