The Connecticut legislature will likely be asked in the 2012 session to double-down on a bad idea. Its better option is to correct a mistake.

In an effort to fulfill a campaign promise, the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy successfully pushed the General Assembly to consolidate nine agencies into an Office of Governmental Accountability (OGA). The move saved little money, but did give the governor the ability to claim he was streamlining and consolidating government, a goal popular with voters.

In truth, however, the agencies the administration forced together have disparate and sometimes contradictory missions. They are the Office of State Ethics; the State Elections Enforcement Commission; the Freedom of Information Commission; Judicial Review Council; Judicial Selection Commission; Board of Firearms Permit Examiners; Office of the Child Advocate; Office of the Victim Advocate; and the State Contracting Standards Board.

Conflicts? Consider the case of an individual seeking criminal records, but the victim advocate objecting on grounds of violating a victim's privacy. The FOI Commission could find itself in direct conflict with another member of the OGA if it orders the records to be made public. Or the Office of State Ethics could produce a different conclusion than the Judicial Review Council about the conduct of a judge, while the FOI Commission might disagree with both of them over what information should be public.

Adding to the potential for conflicts are new proposals from David Guay, who as executive administrator has the unenviable task of trying to make sense and squeeze savings from the hodge-podge OGA. He wants to serve at the pleasure of the governor, the same as other gubernatorial appointees in the executive branch. The problem is, what if the FOI, Ethics or Elections Enforcement Commission produces a decision the governor does not like? Where would Mr. Guay's loyalties rest - with his governor or his agency?

To find savings, Mr. Guay also suggests cross-training attorneys to work between the agencies. That would only exacerbate the conflicts cited earlier in this editorial. Mr. Guay presented his ideas in a report to the OGA Commission. It meets at 2 p.m. today in Hartford.

Our suggestion is for the legislature to pull the chief watchdog agencies - Ethics, FOI and Elections Enforcement - out of the OGA. Return their independence, with directors answerable to the commissions, not the governor's appointee or the legislature. It was a mistake to trade ethical credibility for meager savings. Correct it.