The response to my prior column, “We Need To Do Better,” suggests that people really do believe that the recent election was a step too far (in the wrong direction). While it seemed that a nasty, negative campaign worked to rile people up, the “winners” now have the serious task of governing before them. With some new faces at the table but a campaign that continued many of the old, divisive attitudes, how do we move forward?

First things first. The Board of Ethical Review needs to get back to basics.

At its inception, the Board of Ethical Review was a bipartisan effort to build trust, integrity, and confidence in the conduct of public officials. It was meant to be used only in rare cases where questions of conduct could not be reconciled by existing means, and its members were to be residents skilled in mediating, adjudicating, and advising. Clergy, professional mediators, attorneys — people with formal training and lots of practice dealing with difficult topics in a moderate and respectful way — were the intended members. Unfortunately, basic provisions (the board members should run for public office, official decisions should be free of........

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