Murphy made the right move

Former Burbank City Councilwoman Stacey Murphy’s career in public

service has been exemplary. She has been an advocate while also

seeking fairness and common ground on significant Burbank issues.

When Rep. Adam Schiff named Murphy Woman of the Year in 2001, he

touted her leadership, ranging from maintaining the city’s electric

utility to preserve reasonable rates for customers to her efforts to

protect residents from the adverse effects of the airport. It is a

career in public service that dates back to before she was first

elected to the Burbank City Council in 1997, to when she was on the

PTA, the Magnolia Park Citizens Advisory Committee and the Park,

Recreation and Community Services Board.

But sadly, Murphy’s resignation Tuesday, in light of cocaine

possession and child endangerment charges against her, is also a

contribution -- perhaps her greatest. As heart-wrenching as this must

have been for Murphy and her family, it was the right decision for

the city. Council business would certainly be affected by not only

Murphy’s high-profile criminal case, but also that of her longtime

boyfriend Scott Schaffer, of Glendale, who will stand trial in

federal court on charges that he traded guns for cocaine.

A four-person council waiting for the outcome of a trial and

weathering the case’s ups and downs would be left without the vital

input of a member; would be left with the potential of no member to

break a tie on contentious votes; would be left wondering if and when

Murphy would be back; and would be left absorbing the blows to the

city caused by both cases.

Representative democracy and the accountability that goes along

with it functions best when people are involved. That goes for both

constituents and the people that represent them. Though Murphy had

earlier expressed confidence in carrying out her council duties, she

most surely would have been distracted, and that is not good for

constituents or the mechanisms of government.

Murphy seemed to acknowledge as much when she wrote in her

resignation letter that “the distractions caused by my personal

issues should not be a factor that the council should have to deal

with.”

It is a lesson that perhaps all public servants can learn from,

even at perhaps a less tragic level. Bickering councils, political

backstabbing, petty hatreds and personal issues on local boards

happen in the context of the people’s business. And those engaged in

that business must be forced to ask themselves if their issues taint

that business, and the future of a city.

Murphy’s departure helps Burbank because it allows the city’s

business to move on. Already, the wheels are in motion for a special

election, which will determine who will finish Murphy’s term, which

expires in 2009.

Hopefully, it will be a fresh start -- cathartic for the city. And

for Murphy, who has pleaded not guilty, hopefully it will be a

beginning of sorts on a path that allows her to fully, and without

her own distractions, allow her to defend herself.