The San Benito County Board of Supervisors did the right thing
Tuesday and reopened the discussion on creating an ethics committee
to monitor campaigning. Now it’s time to do your part to establish
an ethics committee that will help restore the luster to San Benito
County politics.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors did the right thing Tuesday and reopened the discussion on creating an ethics committee to monitor campaigning. Now it’s time to do your part to establish an ethics committee that will help restore the luster to San Benito County politics.
The supervisors took the unusual step Tuesday of calling for a public forum on the issue on July 19. If you are dismayed by the vitriol stirred up in the last year of political battles, lawsuits and endless mudslinging, this is your chance to let the Board know you want something done to solidify good government in San Benito County. Show up at the meeting, speak your mind and let the supervisors know that the average resident of this county is tired of the shenanigans that have come to characterize our local political scene.
Frankly, the arguments against establishing an ethics commission are short-sighted. They seem to revolve around the fear that politicians will insinuate themselves into the commission and use it as a tool to punish their opponents. But the larger issue is restoring civility to our local political process.
Doing that is of utmost importance to our political future. It’s often been said – and it has the whiff of truth – that good people fear to run for local office because they don’t want to be pilloried during the campaign or on the dais if they win. To that we would add that voters are turned off by street brawl campaign tactics, and, as a result, stay away from the polls.
Those are the larger issues where an ethics commission charged with reviewing campaign literature for honesty and working in conjunction with those who make important political endorsements can make a substantial difference.
This does not mean an ethics committee does not have to be an arm of local government. As Supervisor Anthony Botelho has suggested, it can be organized by groups such as the Farm Bureau, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Vision San Benito. As we have noted in the past, Gavilan College could establish, appoint and operate such a committee. Our local college could also create an ethics class to teach those campaigning for office the rules and regulations surrounding campaign law.
The bottom line is creative thinking by our leaders to establish an ethics commission free of the short-term concerns about political payback will have long-term benefits for the political health of our county.
So on July 19, let’s let them know that’s what we want and what we expect.
