Howard County elected officials continue their ludicrous stance that the County Council should continue to serve concurrently as the local Zoning Board. For the fourth year in a row, Sen.-elect Martin G. Madden and Del. John S. Morgan have proposed an "ethics bill" that would require applicants for zoning changes to disclose contributions to council members. This year's model would also demand that contributions to the Howard county executive be revealed.
The new version of the bill, like its predecessors, is bad legislation. It would single out developers, overlooking other professionals with a stake in the process, and it would not cover gifts to other Howard officials. No wonder Gov. William Donald Schaefer vetoed the previous version.
At a public hearing on the bill last Wednesday, Councilman Charles C. Feaga said the bill should order disclosure of contributions by proponents and opponents of zoning changes. Councilman Darrel E. Drown then suggested anyone appearing before the council for any matter would have to say whether he or she gave money to a member.
It's plain the councilmen want to load the bill with so many inane amendments that it would have no chance of being taken seriously. Besides, two similar bills approved in past years by Prince George's County legislators in Annapolis were later ruled unconstitutional.
The real solution, as everyone knows but no council member would admit, is for the council and legislators to create a separate zoning board. A zoning panel answerable to voters -- especially in Howard, where few issues fuel people's passions as zoning does -- can't always be trusted to make judgments that aren't influenced by public protest. Moreover, council members take contributions from developers, raising the concern that the people's representatives are at the bidding of local builders.
But don't hold your breath waiting for Howard County Council members to give up their zoning role. Controlling zoning is a great source of power for them. It makes people fear and respect them. What red-blooded politician could be expected to surrender that?
One thing might put some fear and respect into the council members, though: A loud, clear message from voters that they will no longer tolerate the conflict-laden arrangement in which the council also sits as the zoning board. Until then, the ethics bill two-step may go on and on.