SAN DIEGO COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : What’s in a Title, Anyway?

It’s one of those cases when common sense seems to conflict with legality--an incident that contributes to public cynicism about politics.

When Nancy H. Scofield ran for the Palomar Pomerado Health District Board last November, she listed her occupation as a “nurse/community volunteer.” She was elected.

So, too, were a physician and two incumbents. An assortment of retired and active executives, two people listed as health-care professionals, a nursing assistant and an incumbent were rejected.

It’s not too surprising that the candidates listed as doctor and nurse were the only nonincumbents elected. After all, the Health District Board administers the Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and Pomerado Hospital in Poway. And once the voters sort through state and local initiatives and decide on members of Congress and city councils, how realistic is it to expect them to be knowledgeable about candidates for hospital and fire-protection district boards?

Only the most civic-minded are that conscientious.

Correctly or not, occupations play a significant role in guiding the voters. That’s why the candidates include them even when they don’t have to.

But Scofield isn’t a licensed nurse; she is a home health aide. Whether or not she meant to mislead the voters, the hospital district felt deceived; so, probably, did many voters.

However, last week a Superior Court judge ruled that state law does not prevent people from lying about their occupations on district election ballots. Scofield didn’t have to list any job. Besides, home health care is nursing in the generic sense, her attorneys argue.

Those arguments may satisfy semanticists, and they may satisfy the letter of the law.

But try doing that on any other type of job application, which essentially is what a ballot is. The candidate wants to be hired by the electorate.

If a home health aide put down “nurse” on a hospital application, she would probably be fired. Even for a job not directly related to patient care, such fudging on the truth would not inspire an employer’s confidence.

It’s true that the electorate can “fire” Scofield at the next election. And perhaps this case will lead to closing an obvious loophole in state election laws.

But, in the meantime, the voters’ disenchantment with the political system is nurtured. And the common-sense value of honesty is diminished.