Orange County Voices : COMMENTARY ON GOVERNMENT : Accountability Is Key for State’s Public Officials of the Future : Whatever changes come, the direct relationship between those elected and those who elect them must be reinforced.

From pet rocks to Hula-Hoops, and even the Gold Rush itself, Californians love the enthusiasm of the moment. We’re innovative and creative and proud of it. We invented aerospace, freeways, and even special districts.

But some politicians’ latest enthusiasm to “reinvent government” risks missing the point. We have to find the right size for government, but we can’t forsake accountability.

Our republican form of government demands the intelligent interest of every citizen. But it also requires public servants to be accountable to the public. Elected or appointed, public officials should stop chasing fads and headlines and refocus their attention on their constituents.

Southern Californians understand the need to change our governments. The forces of change have washed over us like the waves of the winter storm surf. The end of the Cold War and lower defense spending on research and hardware, the closing of local military bases with their previously secure payrolls, and the sad collapse of the construction industry remind us that yesterday’s certainties can change in a blink.

Natural disasters, almost Biblical in proportion, remind us of the need for community connections, not individual isolation. And deeper than this year’s catastrophes are long-wave changes whose effects may not be apparent for years.

It’s not just the size of California’s population, it’s the dazzling diversity and complexity that challenges our social institutions. It’s not just the scarcity of capital, it’s a whole new global investment market. It’s not just our water supply, it’s the massive shift away from agricultural use and the rise in urban consumption. It’s not just petty environmental regulations, it’s the real change in public attitudes about the quality of life.

These trends--demography, capital formation, resource use and environmental attitudes--combine to force change in California’s governments.

Boxed in by a recessionary economy, constitutional limits and public opposition to new taxes, state officials took the only way out. Over the last two years, the state government moved $4 billion in local property tax revenue away from cities, counties and special districts and gave the money to schools and community colleges.

Counties face rising demands for public health services and social welfare because of the continuing recession. Cities want to promote local economic development but they end up competing with each other for the same projects. Special districts struggle to deliver essential public services paid for from a narrower revenue base. It’s no wonder that local agencies are in trouble.

In Sacramento, we’re left with less flexibility. We can’t readily adapt to changing social conditions. We have razor-thin reserves to cope with wicked natural disasters.

As a result, we do the same thing every year. A fragile, bipartisan coalition of responsible legislators just patches up the parts and makes do for another fiscal year. It works--barely--but every year we ignore the long-term solutions.

The challenge to change comes from many points on the political compass. This is not a conservative-versus-liberal debate. It isn’t about social engineering or ignoring individual rights. The need to change government requires serious consideration, not slogan-mongering, political posturing or headline hunting. Those cheap partisan tricks are easy, but they never work.

Some of my legislative colleagues want to chase the newest public craze to “reinvent government” and convert it into headlines for themselves. That isn’t what restructuring government is about. Re-engineering government means returning political control to the people who pay for the programs. That means re-examining what our governments do and who pays for them.

Despite what the political spin-doctors promise, reinventing government is hard work.

What Californians want is a public sector that works. Instead of accepting what “is,” we must create what “should” be.

None of us want to pay a dime more in taxes than we have to. But everyone wants safe streets, clean water, fire protection and good schools. Not one of us wants to support a bloated bureaucracy that lives high on publicly paid expense accounts. But everyone supports dedicated public servants who do the community’s work. No one wants a government that pries into our private lives. But Californians want to be safe in their homes and at work.

Last month I invited the dean of UC Irvine’s Graduate School of Management to talk to my Senate Local Government Committee. Dennis Aigner predicted the breakup of traditional government structures into new forms that respond to people’s real desires. He challenged the senators to ask if county governments, born in the 19th Century, have a future in 21st-Century California. Aigner called counties “historical artifacts,” but rightly predicted that we won’t embrace distant regional governments. I agree with our local management expert. As Aigner said, it’s not just working harder, but working differently.

To restructure state government and its local agencies demands real moral imagination. It requires politicians to do more than just chant an anti-tax mantra. It requires Southern Californians to think differently about what they expect from their governments and what they’re willing to pay.

Restructuring government goes beyond wanting cheaper government, it forces us to think about what we want our future to be. Restructuring government goes to the very heart of the public life. What do I expect from the public sector? Who represents my interests? How can I ensure that public officials remain accountable to their constituents?

We need to reinforce the direct relationship between elected officials and the citizens who elect them. We need to connect the responsibility with the results. I remain committed to accountability, no matter what kind of government we invent. After all, it’s a matter of public trust.