Betsy Ritter will probably make a fine commissioner for the State Department on Aging. During five terms in the state House of Representatives, the Democrat from Waterford earned high marks from advocates for the elderly, championing health policies to help older residents stay in their homes and making services for seniors a priority.

During her time in elected office, her focus was often on health and human services, sometimes seemingly more so than issues directly related to her district. So heading what is essentially one more social services agency should be a good fit for the 63-year-old former lawmaker.

Yet we cannot applaud this appointment for a couple of reasons.

First, state government needs to be leaner and less redundant. On those counts, there is no need for a Department on Aging.

Secondly, the revolving-door politics behind the Ritter appointment are disturbing, though typical.

The department has an interesting political history. When former Republican U.S. Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. ran for governor under the third-party banner A Connecticut Party in 1990, he got a critical endorsement from a respected Democrat, Edith Prague. The state representative from Columbia had earned a reputation as a champion for the elderly.

Once elected, Gov. Weicker returned the favor, naming Ms. Prague to lead the Department on Aging - but not for long. Confronted with a fiscal crisis that would drive him to push for creation of a state income tax, Gov. Weicker shrank the size of the department. When Ms. Prague rebelled in very public fashion, Gov. Weicker fired her.

In 1993, the legislature followed Gov. Weicker's recommendation and absorbed the DOA into the Department of Social Services.

For the next two decades, the state functioned without a Department on Aging. As noted in this space before, there was no vast reduction in services for the elderly during that time, no groundswell of support to revive the department. With or without a separate department, politicians tend to pay attention to the needs of the elderly for one good reason - they vote.

Fast forward to the election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy who, despite facing his own fiscal crisis, revived the Department on Aging as an independent entity in state government, along with a $9 million budget, not counting federal funds that flow through the agency, and a staff of 30.

Named to head the agency was Ms. Prague, then age 87 and only recently retired as a state senator. She continued in the position until last June, leaving for medical reasons. She is now involved in a dispute with the state over her pension compensation.

This department, which the state so long managed to do without, remains, it seems, a place for political rewards.

Last year Ms. Ritter agreed to give up her safe seat in the 38th House District to try to keep the 20th Senatorial District in Democratic hands. Sen. Andrea Stillman had decided not to seek re-election, and Republicans had presented a formidable candidate, East Lyme First Selectman Paul Formica.

Mr. Formica won. But with her appointment to commissioner by Gov. Malloy, Ms. Ritter has certainly landed on her feet, with a $125,000 salary, several times more than she would have earned as a mere senator. Was this a lifeline tossed to a loyal Democrat? It would appear so, but that's nothing new in the world of politics.

Still, a political appointment for a department the state long lived without is tough to swallow.