Legislators Fending Off Ethics Enforcement -- Who Needs Legislative Immunity?
Two months ago, I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/608" target="”_blank”">a
blog entry </a>about the en masse resignation of the Jackson County
(MO) ethics commission, and said that this was a sign that things were
seriously wrong in that county. Little did I know.<br>
<br>
One thing I didn't know was the conflict that lies at the center of the
commission's selection process. I praised the fact that independent
organizations sat on an ethics selection committee. What I didn't
realize is that the organizations receive substantial sums from the
county legislature, according to <a href="http://www.examiner.net/archive/x1959826640/Jackson-Countys-sad-ethics-…; target="”_blank”">a
recent op-ed piece </a>by a former county legislative aide, former
legislative candidate, and citizen activist. <a href="http://www.examiner.net/archive/x497790831/The-politics-of-ethics-in-Ja…; target="”_blank”">A
recent letter to the editor</a> added, "With the appointment process
under way, the Legislature wasted no time
in drafting more than five ordinances distributing millions of dollars
to those organizations."<br>
<br>
Due to this, all three members of the ethics selection committee appear
to be in violation of the county ethics code, which "prohibits board
members from service if they or their employers are in a
financial relationship with the county."<br>
<br>
Another thing I didn't know was the history of relations between the
ethics commission and the county legislature. Even assuming that there
is some exaggeration and simplification here, and the author has some
axes to grind, it's a pretty frightening picture:<br>
<br>
<div>A few years ago, the Ethics Commission
had lapsed into oblivion (even
though it is supposed to be a standing committee, according to the
County Charter), and a sole legislator pushed to re-establish a
functioning commission. Once re-established, some complaints came to
the commission regarding the county legislators. <br>
<br>
One particular complaint alleged the legislators had received services
paid for with public money. The commission found the legislators in a
conflict of interest and ordered them to pay for the services. Some
complied, but most did not. <br>
<br>
Next, the commission issued subpoenas to ascertain compliance with
their order. Again a majority of the legislators did not comply with
the subpoenas or show proof of payment. <br>
<br>
The legislators spent thousands of your taxpayer dollars for legal
representation in this simple matter and withheld money requested by
the commission for transcripts and other necessary expenditures.
Financially, the Legislature had blocked the commission’s work. <br>
<br>
While all of this was going on, the commission was also putting in long
hours, drafting a new and improved “code of ethics” at the direction of
the county executive. Once again, the Legislature blocked the
commission’s work by adopting the new code but exempting the
Legislature from its jurisdiction. Shortly thereafter, the entire
commission resigned. <br>
<br>
As for the sole legislator who revived the Ethics Commission, he was
physically beaten one day after a legislative meeting. In the back
offices, the remaining legislators and their aides celebrated with
laughter and high fives. The county executive at the time referred to
the beating as “the Italian job.” Since then, the legislator’s
successor has been warned that failure to do “as you are told” would be
met with a similar treatment.<br>
</div>
<br>
So far, no one appears to have publicly responded to these accusations.<br>
<br>
The situation in Jackson County says something about legislative
immunity in the ethics sphere. When a legislative body makes ethics
rules, but applies them only to others, it undermines the very trust in
government that ethics programs are supposed to support. All the
constitutional and other arguments (and the Jackson County legislators
came up with some original arguments; see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/608" target="”_blank”">my blog entry</a>) cannot
change the view that legislators are just trying to get away with
unethical conduct. <br>
<br>
When the ethics commission did have jurisdiction over the county
legislators, many of them apparently ignored their rulings and
subpoenas, and withheld the funds necessary to enforce the ethics code
against them. A legislative body, especially at the local level,
doesn't need constitutional arguments to undermine an ethics
commission's jursidiction. Its members have a host of other weapons,
ranging from pursestrings to intimidation.<br>
<br>
I hope that the op-ed writer <span>was</span>
exaggerating what the Jackson County legislature did. But he did show
some of what <span>can</span> be done and
has been done in local governments across the country to fend off
ethics enforcement against local legislators.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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