Ethical Bump or Just a Pothole?

"It was intended as a picturesque public relations triumph," writes Carla Marinucci: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger backed by a blaring soundtrack of 'Takin' It to the Streets,' striding alongside an army of neon-clad street workers to tackle a 'critical' transportation problem—a San Jose pothole. But the photo op took more than a little doing, government documents show—a flurry of anxious e-mails from city officials, dozens of hours of planning on city time and considerable angst over details like location, location, location. ... Critics say the May 26 event, paid in part with money from a tax-exempt committee called the California Recovery Team, illustrates the increasingly blurred lines between Governor Schwarzenegger and Candidate Schwarzenegger." Marinucci quotes our own Sheldon Rampton, who points out that "the bottom line is transparency. There's an ethical problem any time people engage in politics ... without the public knowing who's funding the effort."