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A Miscellany
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011
Robert Wechsler
Electing EC Members
Is electing an ethics commission a good idea? I had never heard of an elected EC until this week, when I read that the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, an Indian nation in Kansas, canceled an EC election for four out of six seats, because there were no candidates.
Electing an EC would seem to be the most independent way to select its members, but the problem is that, since it is most desirable that EC members be people not involved in politics, most of the best EC members would not think of running.
The problem in the Kansas tribe also implies that being on an EC is not the most desirable thing. That's why it is even hard to get people to volunteer for EC duty. It is something individuals are willing to do when asked, to fulfil their obligations to their community. But, it appears, running for the office is far more than people are willing to do.
And Yet, Serving on an EC Is Heavenly
According to an article on the Tempo Interactive website last week, an Indonesian political analyst is calling for the formation of an ethics board consisting of non-parliamentary members to handle the house of representatives' ethics matters.
“We need an Ethics Board with strong authority whose members are not part of the legislature. ‘Demi-gods’ must still exist somewhere."
"Demi-gods." How nice that sounds! Perhaps requests for people to volunteer to serve on ethics commissions should say,
It's too bad that manufacturing ethics violations is not itself an ethics violation.
Here's what appears to have happened in San Diego, according to two Tuesday articles on the Sign On San Diego website (1 2). A mayoral candidate set up a beta website that included a campaign contributions page. A union campaign manager "made" a $5 contribution on the website more than a year before the date of the election (that is, before June 5), knowing that it is illegal for a candidate to accept contributions at that time.
Although the contribution appears to have been intended to put the candidate, whom the union loudly opposes, in violation of the law; the law allows a candidate to return an illegal contribution within ten days; and the contribution was not processed, since it was not a working site, the union filed a complaint with the city's ethics commission.
The head of the union is quoted as saying, “Carl DeMaio is violating not only the letter of our ethics laws, but also the spirit of openness and public accountability that they were written in."
And yet the candidate appears to have not accepted any early contributions, only done a poor job of testing out a website. It is the union that seems to be violating the spirit of the ethics laws. It is also seeking to put ethics laws into disrepute by employing them to catch an opponent whose policies it does not like.
The union has demanded an apology. It should be the one apologizing.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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Is electing an ethics commission a good idea? I had never heard of an elected EC until this week, when I read that the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, an Indian nation in Kansas, canceled an EC election for four out of six seats, because there were no candidates.
Electing an EC would seem to be the most independent way to select its members, but the problem is that, since it is most desirable that EC members be people not involved in politics, most of the best EC members would not think of running.
The problem in the Kansas tribe also implies that being on an EC is not the most desirable thing. That's why it is even hard to get people to volunteer for EC duty. It is something individuals are willing to do when asked, to fulfil their obligations to their community. But, it appears, running for the office is far more than people are willing to do.
And Yet, Serving on an EC Is Heavenly
According to an article on the Tempo Interactive website last week, an Indonesian political analyst is calling for the formation of an ethics board consisting of non-parliamentary members to handle the house of representatives' ethics matters.
“We need an Ethics Board with strong authority whose members are not part of the legislature. ‘Demi-gods’ must still exist somewhere."
"Demi-gods." How nice that sounds! Perhaps requests for people to volunteer to serve on ethics commissions should say,
Join the EC and become a demi-god.
It's too bad that manufacturing ethics violations is not itself an ethics violation.
Here's what appears to have happened in San Diego, according to two Tuesday articles on the Sign On San Diego website (1 2). A mayoral candidate set up a beta website that included a campaign contributions page. A union campaign manager "made" a $5 contribution on the website more than a year before the date of the election (that is, before June 5), knowing that it is illegal for a candidate to accept contributions at that time.
Although the contribution appears to have been intended to put the candidate, whom the union loudly opposes, in violation of the law; the law allows a candidate to return an illegal contribution within ten days; and the contribution was not processed, since it was not a working site, the union filed a complaint with the city's ethics commission.
The head of the union is quoted as saying, “Carl DeMaio is violating not only the letter of our ethics laws, but also the spirit of openness and public accountability that they were written in."
And yet the candidate appears to have not accepted any early contributions, only done a poor job of testing out a website. It is the union that seems to be violating the spirit of the ethics laws. It is also seeking to put ethics laws into disrepute by employing them to catch an opponent whose policies it does not like.
The union has demanded an apology. It should be the one apologizing.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
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