City Council President Luke Ravenstahl recognizes the erosion of trust when he sees it.

Yesterday Mr. Ravenstahl attempted to step into the ethical void created by council's lax oversight of the $85,000 that each member has for staff and other expenses. He introduced a resolution calling for new controls on council spending, including the use of explanatory invoices, lists of hourly rates and hours worked, professional service contracts and initialed approvals for work performed.

The use by Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle of office funds to pay for services by a political supporter, a family friend and other individuals is beginning to metastasize into a credibility issue for Pittsburgh government. Last week, city Solicitor Susan Malie referred Ms. Carlisle's spending records to the Allegheny County district attorney and the State Ethics Commission for investigation.

The solicitor has not detailed the nature of her concerns and Councilwoman Carlisle has said precious little, leaving city taxpayers wondering about how wisely their dollars were spent. The perception of cronyism and political ineptitude that shadow the councilwoman after revelations she paid $27,195 to her former campaign treasurer and family friend and $30,740 to a political supporter will not be dispelled by silence. Since Ms. Carlisle won her seat in the 9th District in 2002, she has spent $177,892 in discretionary funds, according to the city controller's office.

For some of Ms. Carlisle's supporters, the issue of her probity hinges only upon whether she exceeded the spending limits allotted to her office. This is far too low a standard for anyone governing in an economically distressed city like Pittsburgh.

Because suspicion is rife that other council members may have used their funds for questionable public benefit, it is time for City Council to come clean. Councilmen Bill Peduto and Doug Shields promised yesterday to post their spending records on their Web sites by the end of the week; that should be standard practice for all nine members.

In the meantime, we applaud Mr. Ravenstahl and acting City Controller Tony Pokora's call for tighter controls on council's discretionary spending. We're also glad to hear that Mayor Bob O'Connor wants to reinvigorate the city's Ethics Hearing Board. These are the first steps toward ridding city government of an appearance of impropriety.