Don Perata, the thankfully termed out President pro Tem of the State Senate whose district includes Berkeley, has received a little bit of heat lately for a contribution he received to his political action committee. The money will most likely be spent on one of Perata’s pet causes, defeating proposition 11, which would take the power of drawing legislative districts out of the hands of lawmakers. The donation was given by a union which is in the midst of contract negotiations with the state, not surprisingly leading to questions and a formal complaint by proponents of the measure.

But more interesting than the ethics complaint itself is the reaction from Perata’s spokesman in this morning’s Sacramento Bee:

Perata campaign spokesman Paul Hefner said the senator has not decided whether to use those donations to fight Proposition 11 or for other measures. Perata said the complaint was “the cheapest form of political theater” filed by “people who fancy themselves as being more important than politicians.”

Does Don Perata actually believe that the politicians are more important than the people? If so, his beliefs are contrary to 232 years of American tradition. As any fifth grade student can tell you, the ultimate authority in this nation lies (or at least should lie) in the people. The politicians are elected to study the issues and to use their best judgment and values to make sound policy. But beyond that, they work for the people and are subject to the ultimate authority of the people.

For Don Perata to claim that a complaint lodged by citizens supporting a particular issue is “political theater” is simply reprehensible. The public has the right to question every action that he makes while representing the people, just as an employer can question any action by his or her employees while on the job. If the complaint is baseless, then further inquiry will prove such. But to discourage citizens from investigating is simply wrong and frankly undemocratic. And of course claiming that the politicians are more important than the people is as ridiculous as me claiming that an inquiry into possible money laundering by my boss is made by “a person who thinks he is more important than the employees.” Of course he is.

Thank goodness Don Perata is on the way out. Berkeley, let’s try to make much better decisions when we go to the polls this November to select new representatives, preferably people that understand the role of the politicians vs. the people.