The Salt Lake County Council is talking about an ethics overhaul. We hope the discussion leads to a strong policy that eliminates the underlying attitudes that have spawned current problems: cronyism, feelings of entitlement, political influence-peddling and the practice of government by special interest groups.

County government has been a showcase of unethical behavior recently that has included a firestorm of investigations and accusations, the resignation of the county auditor and felony charges against the mayor.

Misuse of public money has been the focus of the charges, but a lack of ethical standards is at their heart.

While the council-mayor form of government is still new and evolving, now is a good time for some housecleaning. The County Council is considering several reforms. We support most of them, but would strongly urge the council to get even tougher on capping campaign contributions and to prohibit nepotism.

Among the suggested reforms that should be implemented in a timely manner are: requiring lobbyists to register so that everyone is aware of the loyalities of elected officials and the people they deal with, making the mayor's cabinet meetings open to the public, prohibiting campaign contributions from county contractors and from county employees and prohibiting cars and car allowances as employee perks.

Some items that we believe should be more restrictive than the council is contemplating: The proposed $10,000 cap on donations for countywide races should be the same as that proposed for council district races: $2,000. Individual donors who give more than $100, instead of the $500 being proposed, should be required to disclose their employer or occupation.

A policy to prohibit nepotism wouldn't eliminate the "I'll scratch your back, and you scratch mine" attitude that is all too prevalent in county government, but it would reduce it and eliminate the partisan carping over which department head has hired more of his or her relatives.

Another needed reform that is separate but indirectly related to the ethics policy is the hiring of a staff of professionals to work for the County Council to replace the current administrative assistants, one for each council member.

A shared council staff could provide assistance to all council members, reducing the pressure toward partisanship in the ranks. It could also act as liaison with the mayor's office, helping provide some council involvement with and oversight of the executive branch.

Recent county scandals have eroded taxpayers' faith in their government. Taking a tough stand against unethical behavior can help to restore that faith.