Too Much Partisanship

The introduction of partisanship into the selection process for nonpartisan public posts is not new. It is no longer even surprising.

But even though it is commonplace, that does not mean that partisanship is anything to cheer about.

Few people are naive enough to suggest that politics can be kept entirely out of every decision made by public bodies. It is even difficult anymore to argue with a straight face that politics has no place at all in nonpartisan positions, although some people manage to do so.

Still, it is a cause for concern that partisan considerations seem to have become part of virtually every decision for every public post in Orange County--too dominant a part in some cases.

The latest example of behind-the-scenes political maneuvering was evident in Monday’s selection of the “public” member for the Orange County Transportation Commission. The commission is a nonpartisan group with a state-mandated mission of solving the county’s traffic problems.

The Transportation Commission is made up of seven voting members, six of whom are elected city and county officials. The six select a seventh member to serve as the so-called public representative. The public member is not an office-holder, but is chosen from the community at large.

Although someone entirely apolitical is not generally sought for the post, county residents have a right to expect that the community member will represent people of all political persuasions in a manner as nonpartisan as possible. But no post, no matter how local or nonpartisan its nature, seems immune from partisan political interference.

While they were making a final decision Monday between two qualified candidates (one a Republican, the other a Democrat), at least two of the six commissioners voting on the new member said that they had been contacted by political activists--in this case Republicans. The activists were upset that one of the commissioners, a Republican, had reportedly been supporting a Democrat for the post of public member.

As we noted, interference by political parties in local, nonpartisan business is neither new nor surprising. The danger is not so much the presence of political pressure, no matter which party is trying to exert it, but that party affiliation rather than qualifications could become the deciding factor in filling open board and commission seats. The issue should never have been raised. Party registration has nothing to do with county roads.