Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Editorial

Why we're interested in Blanton's new job

When we were putting together this week's story on Steve Blanton's new job, several people--including Blanton--seemed dismayed that we considered it a story at all.

Town Attorney Orry Korb says the job does not present an automatic conflict of interest in most matters coming before the Town Council. We don't disagree.

Professional associations such as PenWest are primarily interested in promoting the well-being of their members. They support issues that will keep the real estate market and property values healthy.

On March 8, 1994, for instance, this newspaper ran an endorsement of the school parcel tax in a commentary bearing the byline of the president of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Board of Realtors. "Not only do excellent schools benefit families with children, they greatly enhance property values for homeowners," the endorsement began.

Although PenWest has been relatively quiet in the past year or so, we expect recent re-organization efforts, including the hiring of a public affairs director, will change that.

For a while after the merger of six real estate associations into PenWest--and certainly when the Los Gatos-Saratoga Board of Realtors represented West Valley real estate professionals--it was a highly visible and politically active group.

They approached this newspaper on several occasions asking for space to state their position on local issues.

As is common in any organization that employs a staff to carry out day-to-day functions, commentaries always bore the byline of the organization's president, but we always understood it was the public affairs/government relations person who had done the legwork and hammered out the copy for the president's approval.

In organizations where volunteers make policy decisions and staff offer recommendations, staff have considerable influence, albeit behind the scenes.

Blanton may never have a conflict-of-interest problem at a council meeting, but voters do have a right to know when a public figure has a job that puts him in a position to influence campaign contributions and endorsements in a race in which he is a candidate.

We're sure Blanton will try to extricate himself from the process in Los Gatos as he says he will, but he will never be able avoid the appearance that he wielded influence.

And seeking PenWest's endorsement, as he also says he plans to do, will only contribute to the problem of appearances.

After all, how likely is it that a professional organization wouldn't endorse its own lobbyist and mouthpiece?

And if PenWest chose not to endorse him, what in the world would voters make of that?

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