Watchdog With Teeth

Once this city’s new campaign finance reform law is written, someone independent and apolitical should enforce it. Make that five independent and apolitical someones.

Hoping to give enforcement clout to the new reforms they are drafting, residents charged with changing the way money affects Thousand Oaks elections have unanimously endorsed the creation of an independent ethics commission.

As it is envisioned, the City Council would delegate authority to the ethics panel to educate candidates about spending laws, audit campaign documents, dole out fines and punishments to lawbreakers and uphold community standards in elections.

Eventually, the ethics commission might propose new laws, if necessary, and possibly oversee the behavior of sitting City Council members.

Creation of an ethics commission could give teeth to the law that the city’s campaign finance reform committee has been drafting for the last month, said co-Chairman Jim Bruno.

The panel could also address thorny issues of truth in campaign advertising and candidate conduct, which are difficult--and sometimes unconstitutional--to otherwise legislate.

“What is constitutionally unallowable is not necessarily ethically allowable,” said Bruno, who introduced the ethics commission proposal at a meeting Monday night. “To tie the ethics issue to the constitutional issues is a quantum leap. . . . [Yet] there are certain things that are just not acceptable in the city of Thousand Oaks.”

Ideally, the commission would work like a faster, local version of the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission with the ability to fine people who violate campaign rules before election day arrives.

The idea was roundly endorsed by Bruno’s colleagues, but it will be presented to the City Council on June 16 as a strong recommendation as opposed to part of the campaign finance ordinance. That is because creating such a commission would require in-depth study and some city financing.

Before becoming law, all proposals crafted by the 16-member campaign finance reform committee must be endorsed by the City Council. Campaign finance commission member Dave Jacobson, a former school trustee, said the ethics panel would answer the perennial question, “Who shall watch the watchmen?”

Although he was concerned that there would be no way to de-politicize the appointment of ethics commission members, campaign reformer John Relle added, “I think we’d all like to see something like this.”

If the commission had the ability to levy fines--which could be appealed in court--it would almost certainly have to be appointed by elected officials, said attorney Craig Steele, a campaign law expert advising the campaign finance committee.

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Already, the Thousand Oaks campaign finance panel has limited contributions to $250 per candidate in each city election and has curbed the aggregate contribution any noncandidate can make in a local contest. The committee members have also limited the window during which a candidate can raise funds to six months before an election and 90 days after it, to make sure bills are paid.

The group has not yet tackled punishments for people who violate the proposed law. That topic will be the first order of business at a meeting Thursday.

Creating an ethics committee would make sure the spirit of reform doesn’t die once City Council members vote on the proposed ordinance, said Herbert Gooch, a political science professor at Cal Lutheran University, who is not a part of the citizens committee.

“The biggest message creating the committee would send is that we’re putting teeth into this new [campaign finance] law--it’s not just hot air,” Gooch said Tuesday. “Then the word goes out that Thousand Oaks is not a place where you want to come in and play dirty tricks.”

Creating an ethics commission would be neither easy nor cheap, said Benjamin Bycel, president of the University of West Los Angeles and the founding executive director of Los Angeles’ 7-year-old Ethics Commission.

“They’re going to have to put up some dollars,” Bycel said. “How much it would cost for a city the size of Thousand Oaks, I don’t know. But it costs money.”

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Effective ethics commissions require investigators, auditors, a paid executive director and computers, for starters, Bycel said.

Aside from money concerns, heated debates over who appoints commission members and how much power they have are also to be expected.

But it can be done, Bycel added.

“I started [Los Angeles’] commission in a 4-by-6 room with all my equipment and no employees; I basically iron-willed it,” said Bycel, who was dismissed from his post in 1995 for his abrasive style. “You have to have the basic knowledge to get from A to Z. You have to be willing to get fired. And you have to have no political identity.”

Beyond discussing the ethics commission concept Monday, the campaign reform panel:

* Decided that any enforcement action taken for violations of the new campaign law--say, an illegally high contribution--should be applied to both the candidate and the contributor.

* Agreed to study possible rewards, such as free air time on Thousand Oaks TV, that could be given to candidates who agree to a voluntary spending cap.

* Voted that any contributions of $100 or more made during the last campaign filing period must be reported to the Thousand Oaks city clerk within 24 hours.