The Moving Line

George Lefcoe

George Lefcoe, a renowned USC law professor and expert in real property, zoning, and development and, for a time, a commissioner of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission, offered the following thoughts on his retirement and the seduction of public office1:

I really missed the cards from engineers I never met, the wine and cheese from development

companies I never heard of, and the honey baked ham from, of all places, Forest Lawn Cemetery, even though the company was never an applicant before the commission when I was there.

My first Christmas as a commissioner-when I received the ham-I tried to return it, though for the record, I did not, since no one at Forest Lawn seemed authorized to accept the ham, apparently not even for burial. My guess is that not one of the many public servants who received the ham had ever tried to return it.

When I received another ham the next Christmas, I gave it to a worthy charity. The next year, some worthy friends were having a party so I gave it to them. The next year I had a party and we enjoyed the ham.

In the fifth year, about the tenth of December, I began wondering, where is my ham?

Discussion Questions

1. What was Professor Lefcoe's absolute line?

2. How did he cross it? As you review his gradual slippage, be sure to think about your credo and personal lines that Unit 1 encouraged you to develop.

Think about this question: how did he go from an absolute standard of accepting nothing-indeed, returning the gifts-to expecting the gifts?

3. As you think about Professor Lefcoe, rely on this metaphor. When you buy a new car, think about your initial feelings on food and beverages in the car.

Perhaps bottled water at first. Then you move into the brown beverages. Then food enters the new car. Then red punch, sundaes, and ketchup. How did we evolve to a position that is the exact opposite of our original absolute line? In answering this question about the line, consider the following reading.