Silva Drops Bid to Crack Down on Colleagues’ Leaks

Facing growing opposition, Supervisor Jim Silva on Tuesday unexpectedly withdrew a proposed ordinance that would have punished fellow Orange County supervisors and staff with jail time for leaking information from closed-door meetings.

Silva pulled the ordinance at the board meeting before any public testimony was heard, saying the county’s district attorney told him that several state laws would supersede his proposal.

“I learned last week that existing codes to state laws are enough to have a member of the board removed from office,” he said.

No county in the state has made leaks a crime.

Silva and other supervisors acknowledged the mounting opposition. Dozens of news organizations, including The Times, said the proposed ordinance was unconstitutional and would have a chilling effect on “whistle-blower” protections. It also carried the potential for vindictive political prosecution of foes, the media argued.

Under Silva’s proposed ordinance, violators would have been charged with a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Silva said he was glad that the proposal had gained at least some short-lived attention because recent leaks had angered him and other board members.

“I wasn’t after the publicity,” Silva said. “But I wanted the issue to get publicity.”

Silva, who supports an international airport at the El Toro Marine base, said he felt betrayed when a confidential legal opinion was reported in newspapers and made available over the Internet. The opinion justified the county’s use of John Wayne Airport funds to help plan for an El Toro airport.

Supervisors voted 3 to 2 against making the John Wayne Airport opinion public, over the objections of Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Thomas W. Wilson.

For Spitzer, a longtime proponent of the public’s access to government, Silva’s decision was a victory.

“I have fought to protect all the citizens, all of us, from a potentially repressive government. We all won today,” Spitzer said.

Chairman Charles V. Smith said he agreed with the proposal’s concept but felt the punishment was too severe.