Recently, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge fired George J. Venesky from his post on the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

No details were released — apparently none are needed for this type of action — but the governor's administration mentioned that Venesky's dismissal was due to unspecified "shortcomings."

How is this fair to anyone working for the state government, let alone any Pennsylvania citizen?

If this action goes unchecked, any governor could simply remove members from a board dominated by another party in order to have more proposals work out in his favor.

Democratic lawmakers say they will attempt to quash this problem by introducing a bill to the General Assembly that would call for tighter legislative controls on a governor's firing power over nine independent boards, including the Turnpike Commission and the Higher Education Assistance Agency.

The bill would require the governor to have a two-thirds majority of the Senate in order to remove officials, the same majority needed to appoint them.

Sen. Robert J. Mellow, the Senate Democratic leader from Lackawana County said: "What's the point in having a conformation process if the governor can arbitrarily remove people from a commission without a legitimate reason?"

Mellow brings up a good point. The confirmation process is an extremely complicated one, and it seems pointless to go through all the trouble if the governor can simply keep who he likes and jettison the rest.

Without a change in the current policy, appointees would have to do all they can to appease the governor, or perhaps risk being fired over something as trivial as party lines. How can members perform their job to the fullest if they know the governor is watching over them at all times, ready to give them the pink slip should they do anything against his judgment?

As it stands, the policy is simply a game of pick and choose for the governor.