A rose -- the "Better Safe Than Sorry" award -- to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who said last week that her office would examine electronic voting machines used throughout the state from "top to bottom." Activists here and elsewhere across the country have raised concerns about the security of the machines and the votes they hold. While Riverside County Registrar Barbara Dunmore and the county's Board of Supervisors have repeatedly expressed their faith in the machines that have been used in Riverside County for seven years without any reported tampering or related problems, critics have argued that there is the possibility that the machines could be hacked into and votes altered. Bowen's review, which is scheduled to begin next Friday, is expected to include drills where one team works to secure a voting system against hacking attempts by another team. It is possible -- and perhaps even likely -- that her review will underscore that the systems are secure, as local officials here have maintained for years. But it could also highlight vulnerabilities that need to be

addressed. No matter the results, the move to conduct the review is a good one. While it's not as comprehensive as we would like -- it won't focus on the comparative safety of punch-card or other paper-based systems -- it's a step in the right direction. Any move to help reassure voters that their votes are being accurately counted is a good one.

A raspberry and a rose -- the "Keeping the Public's Business Public (In The End)" award -- to the city of Murrieta. A joint "get together" of the Murrieta Planning Commission and the city's Historic Preservation Commission was planned for last Saturday so the commissioners could tour historic buildings and sites in the city. However, the meeting, which was put together by the members of the city's Planning Department, was not properly publicized so that residents could attend if they wanted to. Because of that, the meeting would have been a violation of the Brown Act -- the state's open meetings law. A city planner acknowledged that advance notice of the meeting was not posted publicly, but dismissed it as just an informal get together to tour the area. When the impending violation was called to the attention of several higher-ranking city officials -- interim City Manager Ron Bradley, Mayor Doug McAllister and Planning Commissioner Randon Lane -- all three expressed dismay that the meeting was not announced properly and all said they believed the meeting should be canceled. And it

was -- within the next 15 minutes. While a tour of the city may seem like a benign event that most residents may not care about, by law, the business of government is to be conducted in full view of residents. But they can't observe what they don't know is happening. The raspberry goes to the city staffers who should know that any time a quorum of any commission meets it is to be treated as a public meeting. The rose is handed to Bradley, McAllister and Lane, who realized the error -- and the importance of the Brown Act -- and acted quickly to remedy the situation.

A rose -- the "Giving From the Young Heart" award -- to Preston Root and his parents Kyle and Starline Root. When Preston celebrated his fifth birthday Saturday, he got lots of presents. But they weren't for him. Preston's parents decided that this year they would teach him the lesson of giving to others who are less fortunate and who need toys more than he does. So they asked the children who attended his party to bring an unwrapped toy for a child between the ages of 2 and 12 to be donated to Children's Hospital in San Diego. To his credit, Preston signed on. "It's nice," he said. "Everybody who is sick needs those toys." The party also served as a lesson on benevolence to some of the children who attended, their parents said. That's a lesson all kids -- and adults -- could stand to learn.