ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Limiting Gifts

Citizens across California can benefit from an Orange County water district scandal if Gov. Pete Wilson signs, as he should, a bill expected to land on his desk soon.

The bill would cut from $1,000 to $250 the annual limit on gifts or honorariums from any single donor to an elected official or an employee of a special district or local government body such as a city council, county board or school district. While the ideal limit would be zero, or maybe a cup of coffee and a hamburger, the $250 cap is about as good as can be expected now in Sacramento.

Another good provision requires employees or elected directors of special districts to list bills totaling more than $100 for meals, lodging, travel expenses or other costs if they were reimbursed with taxpayer dollars. That will give the public the opportunity to evaluate the spending.

The impetus for the legislation, sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), was the disclosure of lavish expense-account spending by the general manager of the Santa Margarita Water District and his assistant. The two, who have since resigned, are under investigation for possible violations of laws limiting gifts and barring conflicts of interest.

After its practices were publicized, the water district imposed a virtual ban on gifts and required more expense-account disclosure. This is good. But a tough law at the state level well might prod special districts, councils and boards elsewhere to keep a closer eye on their ethics and their purse strings, heading off future scandals.