Groups and individuals interested in forming a local campaign
ethics committee have a chance to get some free advice from county
staff this week on how to form a group to ensure politicians
campaigning in San Benito County keep it clean.
Hollister – Groups and individuals interested in forming a local campaign ethics committee have a chance to get some free advice from county staff this week on how to form a group to ensure politicians campaigning in San Benito County keep it clean.
County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson and a county attorney will hold a workshop Friday where they will have information regarding how to go about forming a campaign ethics committee. The workshop, which will be held in the Board of Supervisors chambers at 10:30am, will be informational only, Thompson said.
The county government will not be forming an ethics committee, she said.
First raised more than a year ago, the idea of forming an ethics committee has been the subject of on-again, off-again discussion for members of the Board of Supervisors – who say that any campaign oversight group must be a creation of the people. While supervisors have been generally supportive of the concept of a campaign ethics committee, they have made it clear they don’t want the county to have any hand in forming it because it could be construed as a conflict of interest – as the committee would also monitor supervisors’ campaigns for reelection. Also, supervisors do not want the county to share any liability should legal challenges be made against the decisions of the committee.
Despite widespread complaints about the county’s nasty and contentious political campaigns, there has been no great public push to establish an ethics committee. A July workshop on the subject was sparsely attended, and the few who spoke in favor of an ethics committee wanted the Board of Supervisors to do the work of forming it. In January, Thompson told supervisors that, since the summer workshop, she had not been contacted by any individuals or groups interested in putting together an independent ethics committee.
But even with the seeming lack of public interest, Board Chair Pat Loe said she wants to keep campaign ethics in the spotlight.
“I really think we have to keep it moving forward,” she said.
The idea of forming an ethics committee arose in August, 2004, a few months after a contentious race for the District 5 Board of Supervisors seat. Then-Supervisor-elect Jaime De La Cruz beat incumbent Bob Cruz and won the seat by 10 votes amid suspicion of election fraud and improper campaigning. Since that election, the ethics committee has been envisioned as an outlet for candidates to air concerns about political rivals who may use false or misleading information during their campaigns.
Both Loe and Supervisor Anthony Botelho have said that they see Santa Clara County’s Campaign Ethics Foundation – a nonprofit group not associated with the county government – as a possible model for a similar organization in San Benito.
Founded in 1998, the CEF was formed by Santa Clara County residents who were tired of negative political campaigns, according to Susanne Wilson, one of the founders.
CEF commissioners, who apply for the position and are chosen by a panel of three retired judges, receive complaints from candidates running in a county race who feel that an opponent released misleading or false statements about them. Commissioners, who cannot have any involvement in that particular campaign, then review the complaint and make a decision.
If commissioners decide that a candidate has acted unethically, they recommend consequences – ranging from making the candidate publicly admit their unethical behavior to directing stakeholders to withdraw their endorsement and financial backing from the candidate. Stakeholders are groups within the county, often political action committees, that have agreed to follow the recommendations of the CEF commissioners.
Though she thinks it may be too late to form an ethics committee to oversee this year’s political campaigns for county office, Loe said she hopes that simply re-opening the ethics discussion may work to ensure ethical campaigning this year.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
