Measure Y: Half a loaf may be all we can get

“Half a loaf,” some say, “is better than no loaf at all.” And based on what I’ve learned in 13 years of writing this column, I’d add, “When politicians offer even half a loaf, take it,” especially when the tendered item contains a few long-sought crumbs of ethical reform.

Of course, I’m addressing Measure Y--the Yorba Linda Ethics Ordinance--placed on the Nov. 2 election ballot by a 3-2 City Council vote, with John Anderson, Nancy Rikel and Mark Schwing in favor and Jan Horton and Jim Winder opposed.

The ordinance’s full text and impartial analysis by City Attorney Jamie Raymond can be found in a sample ballot pamphlet mailed to the city’s 43,282 registered voters last week.

Raymond notes the ordinance is already part of the municipal code and will stay in effect even if most voters oppose the ballot measure. But if “yes” prevails, the ordinance could not be amended or repealed without voter approval.

The latter is a plus, guaranteeing the reforms a permanent place in the city’s law books and not subject to the whims of current or future council members. Additional reforms can be enacted by separate ordinances and put before voters in future elections.

It’s best not to wait for a perfect ordinance, since getting three votes on anything about ethics is like pulling teeth. The most recent codification of council-member ethics was back in 1972, when an early council adopted a weak, quickly forgotten ordinance.

Among the key provisions of the new, more effective law is a ban on campaign donations from city contractors, such as the city’s trash hauler and ambulance provider, contributors to mostly incumbents in past election cycles.

And the time limits placed on council members voting on issues benefiting contributors of $250 or more will inhibit deep-pocket developers in providing the large sums used to finance many council winners from the late 1980s through the early 2000s.

Also important is a ban on closed-door council committee meetings, such as the ad-hoc Town Center group of developers, council members and top city management staff that met in 2005-06 to hash out Old Town redevelopment matters in private sessions.

Other reforms, including a “whistleblower” procedure and an official code of ethics, are expected to be approved after the election.

However, less likely to be implemented is more transparency in approving increases in council fringe benefits, such as the 13.4 percent increase they gave themselves in a 5-0 vote Aug. 17, included in a resolution in a 10-item consent calendar agenda. Council’s salary and benefit hikes should be presented in legally noticed public hearings.

And left untouched by the ordinance are contributions from developer-funded political action committees, such as the active Committee for Improved Public Policy and once-active Past and Present Elected Public Officials Representing Yorba Linda.