The Board Shirks Its Duty

Those with special powers have special responsibilities. So it is for the Board of Supervisors in handling citizens’ petitions for ballot initiatives. In undercutting their county counsel recently by failing to support his opinion on such a proposed initiative, they undermined the democratic process in the county.

When a Superior Court judge in Orange County ruled that the ballot title and summary for petitions supporting an initiative on a park at the closed El Toro Marine base had misleading language, the supervisors were duty-bound to defend the work of their own county counsel. Former County Counsel Laurence M. Watson drafted the language that was overturned in court, and he defended it as sound. The three-member pro-airport majority decided not to appeal the ruling, and it was left to others to make the appeal.

This was not about airport versus park as much as it was about the role of supervisors as guardians of people’s access to the ballot. The process easily would be corrupted if the county routinely mishandled the naming of petitions and or later failed to vouch for its work. Even though the board clearly was opposed to the thrust of this particular initiative, what matters is that the process has integrity.

The local judge’s decision eventually was stayed by a San Diego appeals court. Watson had been scheduled to leave office anyway, and the stay came on his last day on the job. But the damage to the credibility of the county counsel’s office was done, simply through neglect on the part of the supervisors. More important, the supervisors had abused their position as trustees of the process for petitioning the government. Any number of interest groups are likely to come to the supervisors with ballot petitions, and they necessarily rely on the county to do its job.

The supervisors don’t have to agree with an initiative drive to handle it fairly. Their political and policy views should not conflict with their administrative responsibilities, which are separate and distinct.

The appeals court has yet to decide whether signatures on the ballot are valid. But this episode doesn’t inspire confidence that Orange County citizens bringing petitions of any kind to the current board can expect a fair shake.