After I posted this point about the fact that the Ethics Commission's enforcement procedures -- and impartiality -- will be put to the test in a way it hadn't before, I ended up talking the Stacey Fulhorst, the commission's director. She made an interesting point.
If Luis Acle does end up being forced into a full trial-like administrative hearing in front of the commission, somewhat of a spectacle might follow.
Fulhorst said the Ethics Commission will have to debate his guilt and potential punishment in public. They'll have to deliberate about everything right in front of Acle and the public.
That's weird. Fulhorst pointed out that should put their logic for doing whatever they do on display and the public will be able to judge them on whether they were impartial or not.
I think we're having a great time today talking about campaign finance reform. Gil Cabrera is setting the foundation for an argument that we may need to publicly finance local political campaigns. And he claims that restricting donations has had a positive influence on the process. John Kern, the political consultant and former chief of staff to former Mayor Dick Murphy, has laid out well his contention not only that campaign contribution limits have done little to change the perception of corruption in the local political scene but the city should simply not have limits.
On Monday, in the Café we're excited to have Anurag Kashyap hosting. Kashyap won the 2005 Scripps National Spelling Bee. He's a junior at Rancho Bernardo High School. I'm not going to spell check it.
Ironic, that you would say you won't spell check the kid on Monday, when you've got a typo in your second paragraph of this post. I'm just sayin' . . .
Often public hearings are canceled when the losing party knows in advance it shall be exposed as a fraud or loser, or that it has reason to believe it very well MAY lose. Real combat occurs when both parties Really think they each will win, and that is what we all want to avoid -- a spectacle made out of a misguided loser. Fulhorst must know for 100% sure that she shall win or her leadership of the ethics commission will look pitiful indeed.
Luis Acle -- whose campaign transgressions have been published numerous times already -- is weird enough to enjoy a full public spectacle before the Ethics Commission. I hope Ms. Fulhorst has her ducks in a row when she deals with this guy.
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Scott Lewis on Politics
The Scott Lewis on Politics blog, abbreviated cleverly as SLOP, is a collection of observations, insights and the occasional scoop on public affairs in San Diego. Please feel free to e-mail Scott at scott.lewis@voiceofsandiego.org.
Listen to voiceofsandiego.org's radio program on AM 600 KOGO: Latest Episode (November 8): Scott Lewis and Michael Zucchet talk about the city's budget
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