Punishment doled out for bad behavior

This isn’t the time to be sleazy.

Jack Noble, a Republican state senator from Kuna, Idaho, and top Boeing executive Harry Stonecipher learned that lesson this week. Facing possible expulsion from the Idaho Senate, Noble resigned after failing to declare a conflict of interest and then lying about the matter to the Senate Ethics Committee. Stonecipher, 68, was forced to resign as the result of an office affair with a female executive, shaming the scandal-plagued corporation again.

In the past year, two governors – Republican John G. Rowland of Connecticut and Democrat James McGreevey of New Jersey – have resigned under pressure. Rowland quit last June under threat of impeachment for accepting gifts from friends and business owners. After announcing last August that he was gay, McGreevey quit under threat of legal action from an ex-lover.

Some speculate that rising attention to ethics is a pendulum swing back from former President Bill Clinton’s unseemly two terms in office. Others believe the public is tired of the corporate accounting scandals of Enron and WorldCom. Still others see the influence of the religious right influencing the ousters that may not have taken place a few years ago. The return to such standards as honesty, character and proper relationships in the workplace and politics is welcome.

Noble could become the poster boy for elected officials in Idaho with possible conflicts of interest. So many politicians refuse to acknowledge conflicts, concluding that they are honest people and their constituents should trust them. In small Idaho towns, like Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, it’s hard not to have some conflicts in public dealings.

But Noble went further with his misconduct.

He presented legislation that would have changed the way the state measures distance between schools and liquor stores, but he didn’t disclose that he was seeking a liquor license for his convenience store across the street from an elementary school. Later, when cornered by the Senate Ethics Committee, he lied under oath that he knew all along that he, as a legislator, wasn’t eligible for a license. As a result, the Ethics Committee recommended 6-0 to censure him after failing on a 3-3 vote to recommend expulsion.

By submitting a one-sentence letter of resignation, Noble saved state senators the unpleasant task of conducting proceedings to either censure or expel. At best for him, he would have lost his leadership positions. At worst, he would have been exposed to public ridicule, more newspaper headlines and become the first Idaho senator to be expelled.

Elected officials throughout Idaho could have benefited from a bloody Senate spectacle. Seeing Noble harangued by his peers on the Senate floor would have sent a message to other politicians that times have changed. They could be subject to similar treatment if they step out of line. From Clinton, who suffered the embarrassment of impeachment, to Noble, from Stonecipher to Enron founder Kenneth Lay, the rules of conduct, public and private, are changing, perhaps for the better.