Reminder of the Public Trust

In an unusual--perhaps unprecedented--action, the Orange County Grand Jury has charged four veteran members of the Orange Unified School District with “willful misconduct” because of an alleged failure to protect district property and follow state education code requirements on bidding practices.

For nearly three years the district has been under investigation by the district attorney’s office and Orange city police in connection with the alleged rigging of bids for school repairs and reconstruction over a three-year period. Four people were indicted last April, one a former school district maintenance supervisor. None of the defendants has come to trial yet.

The school board members were not part of a bid rigging scheme, nor did they personally benefit from any alleged wrongdoing, according to the district attorney’s office.

But the grand jury, after hearing more than 70 witnesses and examining about 2,500 exhibits, filed willful misconduct charges against Robert James Elliott, Ruth C. Evans, Joe C. Cherry and Eleanore C. Pleines because the jury believed that they had not carried out a duty to oversee district operations. (The district’s three other trustees were not charged because they were not on the board at the time of the alleged improprieties.) The charges carry no criminal penalties or fines, but would require removal from office if a jury agreed with the grand jury.

It remains for a jury to decide whether the board members should lose their jobs over the bid rigging scandal. But if it is proven that bid rigging indeed took place and an estimated $3 million in public funds was lost, then the questions must be asked: Who is responsible? And, how shall they be held accountable for their inaction?

Moreover, the misconduct charge should touch a nerve for anyone in an elective post--from school boards to city councils--and for anyone considering running for public office. The grand jury’s rare action is a reminder that holding such offices is a public trust--and that officeholders must be held accountable.