During a running dispute with Congress in 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower remarked, "The public good goes begging while politics is played for politics' sake." Keep that thought, which columnist William Safire highlighted in "Safire's New Political Dictionary," in mind as we look at a good public program in the Lehigh Valley and some politics local and statewide.

The public program is Properties of Merit, founded here in 1999 by Siobhan "Sam" Bennett of Allentown. It has been a good endeavor, based on the concept that just as blighted properties can turn a block downhill, well-cared-for ones lift it up. POM identifies "good" properties and honors their owners annually. The Morning Call has been one of its staunch corporate sponsors, providing advertising space and other support.

Over the years, Ms. Bennett's interest in community affairs has been broad. It included, of course, the POM program, leadership positions in support of the Allentown School District -- Good Neighbors and the William Allen Construction Co. From 2001 to 2004, she was director of the Mayfair Festival of the Arts. Except for the Mayfair position, all were voluntary service.

Ms. Bennett's interests also included party politics. She has served in local and regional leadership positions with the Democratic Party and is chair of the Allentown Democratic Committee. She ran for mayor of Allentown in 2001 and 2005, and after her loss in the 2001 primary, she got to know Ed Rendell -- soon to become governor of Pennsylvania. Ever since, Mr. Rendell has helped Ms. Bennett by appearing at the annual POM recognition events. In the 2005 Democratic mayoral primary here, he annoyed other Allentown Democrats by singling out Ms. Bennett for campaign support in the primary.
So, when Ms. Bennett announced in August 2006 that Gov. Rendell agreed to make POM a statewide program and she would be its salaried executive director, it was hardly a surprise. With a homegrown program gaining the recognition, it looked like a good thing.

It turned out, however, that there were devils in the details. As reporting in The Morning Call last week showed, the details of POM's organization and the process by which Ms. Bennett's salary was set did not meet unimpeachable standards. When POM was transitioning from local to statewide in 2006, Ms. Bennett was both its paid executive and chair of the organization's board -- a practice that did not meet accepted standards among non-profits. Ms. Bennett has since stepped down as chair, and remains on the board as an ex- officio member.

This is common among charities and non-profits, but we question her level of involvement on the board, particularly as it set her salary. The propriety of the standards POM used to decide on a $110,000 salary (for an organization with an annual budget of $351,000 this year), are debatable. Likewise, IRS guidelines for executive salary-setting in non-profits can be interpreted in more than one way. Ms. Bennett and her supporters on her board say everything was proper.

But, this comes back to politics. Ms. Bennett is in the position she has, with the salary she gets, because she has built two things: POM as a program and her own political bona fides. She has launched a very early campaign for the Democratic nomination for the Lehigh Valley's 15th District seat in Congress next year. It is an endeavor that would he helped by increased attention that a statewide office would bring -- as long as that attention is positive.

Voters eventually will decide, and that includes deciding among shades of gray in candidate records. Ambition is an admirable quality in public life. Voters have short memories. But, in Properties of Merit's transition to a statewide format, Ms. Bennett and her supporters may have wound up with a gray that is one shade too dark.