EDITORIAL SUNSHINE REVOLUTION OPEN GOVERNMENT FINALLY MAY COME TO LOS ANGELES.

THERE'S something historic afoot with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Caught red-handed in a deceitful attempt to thwart the democratic process, the supervisors have started to purge their shame and embarrassment by taking steps to throw open the doors of government. Their long-standing disdain for the public and their penchant for secrecy will soon be history if they follow through on their commitment.

The board's Tuesday meeting was an extraordinary event in the closed world of Los Angeles politics. The supervisors listened to representatives of the 300 citizens who came to lobby for respect for the First Amendment, and they debated and voted on real policies - policies that promise to transform the board's relationship with the public.

Chief among them was a proposal to hire a law firm to review a proposed Sunshine Act that would rein in the board's closed-door meetings. The board also established protocols for future closed sessions, which should be rare, requiring that these meetings be taped and that any actions taken in them be reported to the public.

There's always the chance that the supervisors' reforms could be purely cosmetic, a way to dilute public outrage. But, so far, they appear to be both legitimate and far-reaching.

Take the supervisors' new policy that bars their aides from discussing board business behind closed doors. This reform could close one of the biggest loopholes in the state's open-meeting law, which allows nonelected bureaucrats to do their bosses' bidding, safely shielded from public view.

It truly seems to be the beginning of a new era for the supervisors, an era of unprecedented openness and accountability. The board plans to start putting all official transcripts, video and documents on the Internet, where voters can get immediate access to county government's inner workings.

What a change this marks from the board's old way of doing business!

Backroom deals and closed-door meetings, more than any other single factor, are responsible for the failure of local political institutions to meet the needs of the public and for the public's disdain for local political institutions.

That's the way local government has functioned throughout Los Angeles history - among the supervisors, at City Hall, in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Officials free themselves from public scrutiny and are oblivious to public input.

But through their serious and important reforms, the county supervisors have set a new standard for how local government should operate. They have set an example that their counterparts in City Hall and at the MTA and LAUSD should quickly follow.

Let the sun shine in.