GOVERNOR OFF-KEY ON SYMPHONY LOANS

Gov. Mel Carnahan nullified last week a deal to allow the symphony orchestras of St. Louis and Kansas City to repay state loans totaling $3.3 million by performing free concerts. The agreement fell apart when state lawmakers, some from the same political party as the governor, reacted adversely to Mr. Carnahan consenting to an arrangement found unacceptable in the legislative process. Thus with this episode, nothing much changes for taxpayers, whose loans to these orchestras remain unpaid and whose prospects for seeing payment remain dim. Further, citizens of Missouri were treated to a view of chief executive wheeling and dealing that casts a bad (if all too typical) light on government.

Gov. Carnahan, hailed (mostly by lawmakers of his party) for his open style of leadership and his bent for prowling the side galleries of the state legislative chambers, exhibited an ample show of stealth with this arrangement. While governors are usually eager to tout their role in providing aid, this multi-million-dollar deal was struck last month and did not come to light until last week ... to nearly universal disapproval. The state attorney general, a political ally of the governor, planned a review of the deal's legality. Some lawmakers hinted they would retaliate in future appropriations to the Missouri Arts Council. Spin doctors in the Carnahan administration tried valiantly to construct a face-saving explanation, but eventually the governor opted to cut his losses and step back from the deal.

Inherent in the discussion, but lost in the political pique, is the debate over how deeply public governing bodies should involve themselves with funding of the arts. Our feeling is that government has a role (albeit a limited one) in this pursuit, and citizens of the state (including those in Southeast Missouri) are enriched as a result. However, when legislative loans packages are being fashioned with the assumption they will never be repaid, and when the governor believes he is within his authority to cavalierly dismiss the will of the legislature, state government is not working as it should, on this deal or any other.

Ultimately, we stand surprised that Gov. Carnahan's customary Teflon image gained a chip as a result of his secretive handling of payment for $3.3 million in loans involving symphony orchestras. Sadly, he never got a scratch from his maneuvering involving the $310 million Senate Bill 380.