In Houston recently, some former members of the city council were indicted on corruption charges, and East Texas has seen its share of sheriffs busted on drug-running charges. It's angering, to say the least, to see our laws broken by so many of the very people who have been charged with making and enforcing those laws. These are people who have convinced the largest number of voters that they were the best people to be entrusted with our laws, our taxes and, in the case of law enforcement officers, with our very lives. A greater eye cast by federal prosecutors on public corruption will perhaps provide a deterrent for elected officials tempted by money and power. And then there's the ballot box.
Voters can always choose to start anew when local government is troubled by corruption charges.
In seven weeks, primary elections will be held to choose candidates for local, state and national offices. Plenty of time remains for people who are eligible to vote to register if they haven't already. Plenty of time remains to inform ourselves about those who seek public office, and try to come to a conclusion about the person who seems the most honest and best qualified to handle our tax money. State and federal prosecutors alone can't clean up the political process. Only voters can make the kinds of wholesale changes that are needed to turn local government into something that doesn't throw taxpayer's money into improper activity or into court costs from so many criminal trials.