News-Leader - Give commission full attention


Party Politics

By admin, Section From The Wires
Posted on Sat Sep 29, 2007 at 08:39:35 AM EST

Our View, Springfield News-Leader

Members of the public should pack the Missouri Ethics Commission on Thursday if for nothing else than to guilt the commissioners into having something to say. Nothing loosens the tight lips of a group of politicians like seeing a packed house.

The MEC scheduled the meeting in a tacit admission that when it last met it violated the Sunshine Law.

The ethics commission was supposed to discuss how to implement a Supreme Court ruling that will change the course of next year's gubernatorial election.

The court ruled that a law allowing unlimited campaign contributions was unconstitutional and it passed on to the MEC the duty of deciding how candidates were to give the money back.

The ethics commissioners balked. They met in private, decided what to do, and then, with no public comment, passed a motion deciding the issue. Thankfully, the Missouri Republican Party and state Rep. Shane Schoeller of Willard stepped in and sued the MEC, forcing the commission to rescind its decision and decide to meet again.

There's no guarantee, however, the ethics commissioners have learned their lesson. In responding to the controversy, new ethics commissioner Ken Legan of Halfway said this: "We find ourselves in a mess, in my opinion. We probably ought to rescind our actions of Sept. 11 -- not that we made a mistake, but because of things that have happened."

The former lawmaker is plain wrong. He and the others clearly made a mistake when they decided to discuss the public's business in private. That's why we'd like to see a packed house in Jefferson City when the ethics commission meets again. Ethics commissioners should take at least as much time to debate the reasoning behind their action as they took trying to convince a skeptical public that they didn't make a mistake in the first place. And if they won't do it, members of the public should take the time to have the debate themselves. In public. Where it belongs.

Source

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News-Leader - Give commission full attention | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)
Doug Harpool: Politicians should explain selves (none / 0) (#1)
by admin on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 01:07:02 PM EST
Letter to the Editor, News-Leader

Efforts by some political candidates to convince the State Ethics Commission to allow them to keep political contributions which exceed limits enacted by voters are shameful. Unfortunately, the State Ethics Commission's secret handling of the issue hasn't been much better. The commission should immediately schedule a public hearing for any candidate who requests to keep the excess contributions. These politicians should be required to personally and publicly explain why they should be allowed to keep these contributions.

The governor, who is yet to return excess contributions, should be given the first opportunity to personally explain why he needs to keep the $100,000 out-of-state contributions he received. He should publicly explain why his re-election effort is dependent on contributions which exceed the limits approved by voters. After these public hearings, the Ethics Commission should unanimously vote to require all candidates from every party affiliation to live within the limits voters established and refund excess contributions with interest. Voters should then vote against every candidate, regardless of party affiliation, who refused to voluntarily refund excess contributions.

Doug Harpool, Springfield
News-Leader - Give commission full attention | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)
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