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The Results of Jefferson County's Unethical Behavior
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
Robert Wechsler
It's rare to see the clear results of unethical behavior in local
government. Sadly, exceptionally clear results can be seen in a front-page
article in today's New York Times.
Jefferson County, Alabama, the home of Birmingham, had a serious scandal involving sewer repairs and bonds, which I wrote about last year (billions were borrowed and heavily risked; effectively the county played investment bank). More than twenty people have been convicted in the sewer scandal. The president of the county commission, now mayor of Birmingham, was arrested a year and a half ago, but has not yet gone to trial.
Today, for county employees, the unethical behavior hits the fan. Two-thirds of those eligible for layoffs, up to 1,400 employees, are to be laid off today. This includes about 400 of the 488 county employees doing road and bridge repair; 75% of the probate court staff; the juvenile detention center's entire cafeteria staff.
Moody's rates Jefferson County's credit the lowest of any local government in the United States. Lower even than Detroit's. The county asked the governor to declare a state of emergency, but the governor declined.
In addition, the county has been hurt because it played games, something that usually goes along with a poor ethics environment. For example, "a tax the county relied on for more than a quarter of its general fund was illegal because the Legislature repealed it in 1999." Fought in the courts until earlier this year, the county's right to collect the tax has ended, and the county commission is blaming not itself, but the legislature, for not changing the law.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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Jefferson County, Alabama, the home of Birmingham, had a serious scandal involving sewer repairs and bonds, which I wrote about last year (billions were borrowed and heavily risked; effectively the county played investment bank). More than twenty people have been convicted in the sewer scandal. The president of the county commission, now mayor of Birmingham, was arrested a year and a half ago, but has not yet gone to trial.
Today, for county employees, the unethical behavior hits the fan. Two-thirds of those eligible for layoffs, up to 1,400 employees, are to be laid off today. This includes about 400 of the 488 county employees doing road and bridge repair; 75% of the probate court staff; the juvenile detention center's entire cafeteria staff.
Moody's rates Jefferson County's credit the lowest of any local government in the United States. Lower even than Detroit's. The county asked the governor to declare a state of emergency, but the governor declined.
In addition, the county has been hurt because it played games, something that usually goes along with a poor ethics environment. For example, "a tax the county relied on for more than a quarter of its general fund was illegal because the Legislature repealed it in 1999." Fought in the courts until earlier this year, the county's right to collect the tax has ended, and the county commission is blaming not itself, but the legislature, for not changing the law.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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