An Ethics Commission for Burbank

The recent Burbank general election had a certain Lockean quality - nasty, brutish and (thankfully) short. From my perspective down in the flats, it seems odd that so much anger and vitriol would be spewed over a friggin' city council election. This is ostensibly a part time job, and not a particularly well-paid part time job.

I understand that politics is a full-contact sport, and that negative campaigning is a part of life. And this seems right, even fair. You should be able to point out your opponents flaws, as much as you can (and must) tout your own ideals and credentials. But voters must know where those attacks are coming from. And to do that, the city of Burbank should create an Ethics Commission to oversee the local political process and make things more transparent.

(Full disclosure: I work at the Los Angeles Ethics Commission as a senior investigator and have since 2005. I am suggesting that Burbank follow Los Angeles' lead here.)

Study after study has shown that negative campaigning works, but that it has its price. Voters may be turned off, the target of the negative ad will almost certainly retaliate, and grudges are likely to develop.

All of these problems, though, are ameliorated if these negative attacks are bought and paid for by political friends of the candidate. The candidate stays above the fray.

An excellent example is our recent election. Negative ads bloomed on Burbank lawns like so much crabgrass. Countless drivers saw the signs: a red circle with a cross through the words "Married Couples." It doesn't take much to figure this one out: don't vote for Carolyn or Phil Berlin and create a de facto voting bloc. Fine. Good. Personally, I had some reservations about the Berlins for exactly that reason.

But I would have felt a hell of a lot better about it if I knew that Gary Bric or Anja Reinke (the other two candidates) paid for it. But they didn't. They claimed, believably or not, not to know a thing about it. And, if an informed and ambitious citizen wanted to discover what group, exactly, paid for the signs, what that group stands for, and who contributed to it... well, that citizen would be frustrated.

Now, mind you, negative pieces regarding Bric and Reinke also spit through my mail slot. And again, it was not paid for by their opponents. This is not a good thing.