ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Welcome Wave on the Ethics Front

The push for a gift ban ordinance, to be followed by a new code of ethics, has sent a breath of fresh air through the corridors of county government in recent weeks.

The winds of reform are also being felt in municipalities such as Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Laguna Beach, which are now considering a review of local ethics in light of the county government’s resolve.

There no doubt will be those with a sense of history in Orange County who pinch themselves to make sure all this is happening. It was not so long ago, after all, that county planning commissioners routinely exercised their best judgment from golf carts driven by developers with business pending before the county.

The new attention to ethics surely is not entirely a result of ethical consciousness-raising. One prominent lawyer, who has made it his business to advise officials on laws related to gifts and campaign contributions, suggests that tighter restrictions on gifts would clarify decision-making in government at a time when people are especially nervous about ethics.

Indeed, Orange County might not have come to this point were it not for the highly publicized troubles of former Supervisor Don R. Roth. Roth resigned March 1, denying any criminal wrongdoing but saying that a district attorney’s investigation into the gifts he got from developers, property owners and business people with financial interests before the Board of Supervisors made it impossible for him to do his job.

It should be clear now that, however wrenching Roth’s political troubles have been for the county over a period of many months, some necessary reform is likely to come of his fall from power.

In catching the wave of this new urgency about ethics, it will be important for the county and the cities to strike a balance between extremes. The existing state standard allowing officials to accept up to $1,000 in gifts but barring votes on matters involving anyone who has given more than $250 is clearly too generous for officials and staffers at the county level. But standards should not be so onerous as to prevent people from functioning, either. Much smaller limits, similar to those in effect in Los Angeles, can do the job.

This new attention to ethics is welcome in any form. The county has come a long way when William G. Steiner, a new member of the Board of Supervisors, talks on the day he is sworn in about a “brown bag” lunch and asserts: “There is no substitute for personal integrity.” Amen.