Bowing to a lack of public trust

S.J. CAHN

A proposed policy change in Costa Mesa City Hall seems to be getting

more ink than it deserves.

“Appointment policy may face changes,” a Pilot headline (or

hedeline, as we learned to write it at Missouri) screamed out

Wednesday, across the paper and above the fold.

In many ways, it is a story that will interest the die-hard City

Hall watchers greatly and leave most folks thinking, “Yeah, whatever

they want to do.” There might be more interest in whether the Supreme

Court decides to allow wine sales across state lines.

But I see it as a piece in the continuing erosion of our political

system.

How’s that for eye-catching overstatement?

The core concern causing this change is cronyism. At issue is how

the council appoints people to the planning and parks and recreation

commissions.

Up until two years ago, the whole council interviewed and approved

commission members. Then, in March 2003, the council decided to up

its powers, so to speak, and allow each member its own at-will

appointments. Pretty much ever since there’s been a low hum of

disapproval, which grew louder on Tuesday night when the council --

with new members Eric Bever, Linda Dixon and Katrina Foley aboard --

talked about it again.

A majority decided to go back to the past and have the entire

council vote on the appointments, much as Newport Beach does. They’ll

likely finalize that decision next week.

From what I’ve seen and heard, the rationale for this change was

summed up best by Councilman Allan Mansoor: “I think it’s easier for

us to make individual appointments, but I think we need to rise above

that and listen to what the public has to say. We need to put the

public’s interest and trust first.”

That’s an honorable sentiment, no doubt. But too often, I think,

putting the public’s interest and trust first results in ballot

measures, laws like Newport Beach’s controlled-growth Greenlight and

a neutering of sorts of our elected officials. The ultimate example

is term limits.

It isn’t so much officials putting the public’s trust first but

their bowing to a lack of public trust.

We elect our city councils, our state legislatures, our

representatives, our senators and our presidents because we trust

them to make decisions in our best interest, no?

More and more, the answer is no. Instead, we circumvent them with

ballot initiatives. We pressure them, apparently, into not exercising

what seems a thoroughly reasonable power -- the ability to put

someone of like mind and concern in positions of authority.

I would think voters would want their elected officials to have

such power, in fact. If you voted for Foley this year -- and more

people in Costa Mesa did than any other candidate -- doesn’t that

mean you agree with her positions on growth, spending, social

services, etc.? And don’t you want her to put a person with similar

beliefs -- although of course not lock-step, though perhaps some of

you do -- on the Planning Commission?

Again, increasingly, the answer seems to be no. It may be a result

of feelings, captured by a Gallup Poll out this week, among Americans

that elected officials are not particularly honest or ethical.

And, yes, newspaper reporters did fare even worse in that poll,

thanks for asking.

This trend, arguably, is starting to cause problems far more

profound than my shrill scream.

A report by the Public Policy Institute of California, released

last month, concludes that the 1990 passage of Proposition 140, which

limits state legislators to six years in the Assembly and eight in

the Senate, has done little to halt “political careerism.” At best,

it increased the already accelerating growth of female and minority

elected officials.

The troubles, though, are numerous. Fewer bills get close looks,

as does the state budget. There’s obviously less experience in

Sacramento, which can lead to fiscal irresponsibility and an

inability to fix the problem. (Anyone notice we’ve had some budget

crises lately?) There’s constant instability in the state capitol.

In other words, I say, the public mistrust in government and the

ways the public has gone about trying to mollify itself haven’t done

much good.

Ultimately, all these little nicks in our political system are a

problem because they are an easy way out, an easy solution. The hard

solution -- but the right one -- is and always has been simple: Vote

the bums out.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He may be reached at (714)

966-4607 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes.com.