EDITORIAL MEATHEAD MOVE QUESTIONABLE ETHICS TAINT REINER INITIATIVE.

EVEN though activist-actor Rob Reiner has stepped aside as chairman of the First 5 California Children and Families Commission, a dark cloud still hangs over the program - as well as the ballot proposition Reiner's pushing for the June election.

The controversy stems from First 5's spending $23 million in public money - raised from the tobacco tax Reiner championed in 1998 - on ads promoting the value of preschool programs. This, at the same time Reiner was trying to drum up public support for his latest initiative, Proposition 82, which would guarantee free preschool for all of California's 4-year-olds.

Whatever the merits of the proposal, using public money - especially money that's supposed to fund programs benefiting children - to finance politics betrays the public trust. And while the ad campaign may, in the final analysis, turn out to be entirely legal, the appearance of impropriety was great enough to force Reiner to give up his state post until after the election.

But perhaps worst of all, this apparent abuse taints the public debate of whether Proposition 82 is the right way to deal with preschool education. In short, it was a real meathead move.