Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2008 | Nowadays lame duck City Council representatives Scott Peters and Jim Madaffer are bashing the San Diego Ethics Commission‘s schedule of fines against officeholders who don’t follow tough rules about disclosing contacts with lobbyists or paying campaign expenses on time. Incredibly, Peters has the nerve to say a recent Ethics Commission communique on the subject makes it look like “money is driving the show, and that just isn’t true.”
Well, I beg to differ. The fines are NOT excessive: Ethics Commission rules are meant to be deterrents to politicians’ playing fast and loose with monies raised in a political campaign. In the case of scofflaw School Board member Luis Acle, he has continued to draw a monthly school district stipend while being disengaged from his duties. At least he cannot run for re-election in November.