Kevin Shelley should resign

sacbee.com: Secretary of state has eroded public trust

It's time for California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to call it quits.

As the state official in charge of elections, Shelley bears a particular responsibility to safeguard the public's trust in democracy. He clearly has shirked that responsibility and eroded that trust.

That would be a grave problem in any circumstances. With the November elections less than six weeks away, it is intolerable.

Shelley should resign immediately. If he does not resign, the Legislature should call a special session and begin impeachment proceedings.

The case against Shelley has been building for weeks. It began with a series of articles in the San Francisco Chronicle. The stories revealed that state funds, which Shelley (then a member of the Assembly) helped steer to a San Francisco neighborhood group, may have found their way into his campaign coffers.

Shelley claims to know nothing about the true source of those contributions. Perhaps that is so, but his claim is curious given the fact that the funds in question were the biggest donations he received in his campaign for secretary of state. The FBI, the California attorney general and the city of San Francisco have all launched investigations.

Shelley also faces allegations that he sexually harassed and verbally abused members of his staff. He admits to being tough and has long been known to fly into tantrums, frequently letting loose with profanity-riddled tirades that have led to extremely high turnover rates at his office. Unfortunately, this problem is not limited to his treatment of his staff. County elections officials around the state complain about Shelley's use of intemperate language and his intimidating manner with them.

Most recently and most damaging, documents obtained by The Sacramento Bee reveal that federal Help America Vote Act funds Shelley administered have been used for blatantly partisan political activities.

Shelley's office signed a $69,000 contract with a Los Angeles activist who reported to the secretary of state's office that he used HAVA funds to attend a "Take Back the White House" rally on behalf of the secretary of state, among other things. A politically connected Los Angeles minister reported using HAVA funds to attend an "NBA Wives Association Salute to Janet Jackson."

In the newest batch of documents obtained by The Bee, a Shelley staffer paid with HAVA funds reported he spent time keeping track of the people Shelley spoke to at a Sacramento fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Another HAVA-paid staffer reported attending a San Francisco fund-raiser for Assembly Democratic candidates and the Democratic Party.

The federal HAVA funds were appropriated by Congress primarily so states could buy new voting systems and train poll workers and voters. While Shelley was doling out funds to partisan political operatives, county voting officials complained that they were having a hard time prying HAVA funds out of Shelley to help them prepare for the 2004 elections. Shelley's office didn't even give counties an opportunity to apply for funds until July 16 - very late in the election cycle and in most cases too late to do any good.

For example, Jill Levine, Sacramento County's voter registrar, wanted to use HAVA funds to upgrade the training manuals for poll workers in Sacramento. By the time Shelley's office issued the application form, it was too late; Levine had already turned the final training manual copy over to the printers.

San Luis Obispo County Registrar Julie Rodewald planned a voter education program targeting first-time voters, including college students and Latino residents. She wanted to alert them to the fact that the new federal rules required first-time voters to bring identification to the voting booth. Because the application from Shelley's office came too late, she was unable to prepare materials, get them proofed and to the printers in time for the 2004 election. The money she got for that purpose will have to be returned.

The Shelley scandals have surfaced at a time when citizens' faith in our voting system already has been shaken badly by the 2000 Florida presidential election debacle. If there is a close election in California this year, involving either the presidential race or one of the numerous propositions on the ballot, Shelley is the one whose public face will preside over the recount.

He is so badly tainted by his own actions that the public cannot have confidence in his judgment. For the good of the state and of democracy, he should have the grace to resign. If he doesn't, the Legislature should take steps to restore the public's trust by doing for California what Shelley will not.