Monday, April 14, 2003 Why not disclose possible conflict?   By Tom Hennessy, Staff columnist One of the best op-ed articles I have read in the P-T was activist Bry Myown's Sunday essay, "Council should reconsider its vote on convention bureau." She began it with historical perspective, noting how the Queen Mary was purchased by the city "without a single public meeting to authorize the deal." An "almost identical scenario" might have ensued over Queensway Bay in 2001, she said, had it not been for the diligence of citizens. The moral: Don't count on City Hall to do the right thing. Oh, that form! Consider, as Myown did, the proposal that surfaced early last month. Given that members of numerous Long Beach boards and commissions are involved in spending public funds, it was suggested that they be required to fill out a state document known as Form 700. On it, they would have been obliged to record their investments, properties and local income. Sound reasonable? Sure. Even members of the City Council, an entity not celebrated for inviting public scrutiny, seemed to think so; at least, initially. Led by the 9th District's Val Lerch,they voted unanimously to require members of the city's 35 commissions to make the disclosures. But there was hesitation. Why not delay the vote pending further study, some council members suggested. By mid-March, the issue had become contentious, and centered around the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, an agency which, just two years ago, was awash in allegations of libel, slander and falsified hotel bookings. If CVB board members were obliged to file Form 700s, argued chairman Joseph Prevratil, "we could lose a lot of board members who decide they don't want to file this form." And that, he said, would mean the loss of "great leadership for the CVB." But is that true? In naming people to commissions, there is a fiction which holds that well-connected folks, steeped in business and/or politics, are more capable than others. In truth, they are as a group probably no better or worse. Some have served the community well, a few have sat in silence when things went awry, or worse, pretended things were dandy. Lerch's initiative had substance. "If you're doing a service as a volunteer on a committee, that should be the driving factor," he said. "I and the city want to know why you're there." Hardly unreasonable. After all, no one holds a gun to the heads of commissioners, forcing them to serve. Colonna demurs It was the 3rd District's Frank Colonna who subsequently moved (and the council approved, 5 to 3) that the CVB board be exempt from disclosure. Such boards in other cities, including L.A. and San Francisco, are not required to file Form 700, he argued. It could also be argued that citizens in those cities have greater confidence in their governments than do the people of Long Beach, who have witnessed one budgetary mess after another and who see their City Council call on employees to make fiscal sacrifices the council itself is not making. Myown's suggested that the council consider reversing its vote. Doing so, she hinted, might even have the effect of "bringing residents to the table" instead of the usual well-connected bobbing heads. The ball now appears to be mostly in Colonna's court. Tom Hennessy's viewpoint appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He can be reached at (562) 499-1270 or via e-mail at Scribe17@aol.com