ANOTHER VIEW: Political watchdog has a full set of teeth under Ann Ravel's charge
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Mike Genest
I consider the previous two (Republican) chairs of the Fair Political Practices Commission friends of mine and I admire them both greatly. Further, I am a longtime Republican denizen of the state Capitol, having worked for state Senate Republicans and served in the administrations of Govs. Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger. So it may seem out of character for me to rise in defense of Gov. Jerry Brown's liberal Democrat appointee as chairwoman of the commission.
I do so because, despite our diametrically opposed political philosophies, I know Ann Ravel to be a tough, no-nonsense administrator and an honorable friend and colleague. So let me set the record straight.
The Californian's Feb. 15 editorial "FPPC needs to grow back its regulatory teeth" was right to say that the job of the commission is to reassure "California voters that it has racheted up its scrutiny of political fundraising and other, related affairs of elective government." But the editorial was wrong to claim that Ravel has failed to live up to that promise.
To the contrary, never in the history of the commission has it shown such a strong resolve to prosecute wrongdoers. Prosecutions for such serious violations as conflict of interest, money laundering and corruption accounted for 80 percent of all cases in Ravel's first year, up from 25 percent the year before she took office.
All bureaucracies need shaking up from time to time, and the FPPC was no exception. When Ravel took over, she found an organization mired in minutiae and bogged down in unproductive bureaucracy. She found a commission that burned staff time with too many meetings and not enough action items. That has stopped. Now, the staff focuses on serious cases. And instead of half-day meetings with a country club pace, the commission now meets for full days and takes up agendas packed with action items.
How can anyone question her leadership in focusing the commission on political malfeasance when the top two fines in FPPC history have been levied under her leadership, one of which was levied against one of the state's most prominent Democratic politicians?
Change always brings controversy and dissent. Some worry that Ravel's decision to stop publicizing investigations still in progress deprives the people of timely information. But lawyerly integrity demands that accusations not be hurled prematurely, before all the evidence is in. On the other side of the ledger, Ravel has shown an acute interest in getting timely information to the public by being the first commission chair to use the social media for that purpose and by greatly expanding the amount and quality of information posted on the commission's website.
When a state senator died a few years back, his widow was prohibited by FPPC rules from accepting gifts of flowers for his funeral. Yet when a corrupt pension official's wedding was paid for by someone doing business with his pension board, FPPC said it could not intervene. Ravel is working to change those priorities. Minor violations, such as late reporting, will still be cited. But, the focus of the commission has shifted to punishing and publicizing serious malfeasance. This watchdog not only has teeth, but knows how, when and on whom to use them.
Michael C. Genest of Lincoln, Calif., served as director of the California Department of Finance for four years under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Another View is a critical response to a previous editorial, column or news story.
