IN APPROVING A 2002 proposition to give members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors a pay raise of tens of thousands of dollars each, and give their jobs full-time status, voters expected that the supervisors would in return devote their full attention to their duties. Unfortunately, as Examiner political editor Adriel Hampton reported this week, when it comes time to cast votes on the business of the board, too many supervisors are absent too often.

The members of the Board of Supervisors not only are paid sufficiently for a full-time job, but also are entrusted with special authority and responsibility by the people of San Francisco. It doesn't seem too much to ask that they go out of their way to attend all their meetings, show up for all the votes and listen attentively to what people have to say.