Lesson From Campaign Case

The Anaheim City Council’s overzealous hunt for campaign finance violations has received a deserved comeuppance, one that might offer a lesson to other cities.

Superior Court Judge Gregg L. Prickett ruled recently that the council had “no authority [to hire] a special prosecutor, period.” Prickett said the city should have asked the district attorney’s office or the state attorney general’s office to investigate allegations of campaign irregularities.

The council had been urged to take such action long ago, but the two members who voted to hire Ravi Mehta as a special prosecutor ignored that recommendation. The other council members and Mayor Tom Daly could not vote on Mehta’s hiring because as potential subjects of the investigation they had conflicts of interest. That opened the door for Mehta to investigate political foes of those who hired him. The probe had a bad odor from the beginning.

The beneficiaries of Prickett’s ruling were Daly and former Councilman Irv Pickler. They chose to fight Mehta’s attempt to charge them with criminal wrongdoing. Four other cases brought by Mehta were settled.

One unfortunate effect of the investigation was that it influenced Daly’s decision not to run for the county supervisor seat being vacated by William G. Steiner. His presence would have expanded the choices of district voters.

Making matters worse for Anaheim were Mehta’s bills--more than $300,000 in fees and expenses for six months’ work. The city eventually fired and replaced him. Mehta sued and now is trying to get the city to pay his lawyer’s fees in his fight against the dismissal.

Campaign finance laws are important and should be obeyed. But full-time professional prosecutors should be able to determine whether criminal charges are warranted. The state Fair Political Practices Commission is another proper agency to scrutinize campaign spending.

There was no need to hire a special prosecutor after the city attorney declined to file charges against Daly and others. The county district attorney could have been asked to review the allegations, as campaign finance watchdogs told the City Council. Instead, in conducting a distracting and costly spectacle, Anaheim became the first and only city in California to hire a special prosecutor. The city’s experience should be carefully noted by other jurisdictions.