City Ethics
Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Allegations Against Miami-Dade County's Ethics Director

Anonymous
County Related

There are people who get great satisfaction going after the ethics of
government ethics professionals. Rarely are their accusations relevant
to government ethics; it's just about showing that we're not good
people, either, as if government ethics was just about good and bad.
Maybe we should wear t-shirts that say, on the front, "We're Not
Perfect," and on the back, "So?"<br>
<br>

Government ethics is not a way to attain sainthood. It's a way to help
government officials act more professionally. Maybe we should refer to
ourselves as coaches. After all, don't coaches sometimes fine players
when they don't act professionally?<br>
<br>
The latest of these <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/234&quot; target="”_blank”">ad
hominem attacks</a> on a government ethics professional was an
anonymous accusation against Robert Meyers, the executive director of <a href="http://www.miamidadeethics.com/&quot; target="”_blank”">the Miami-Dade County Ethics
Commission</a>, that he was having an affair with a subordinate. The
accusation was forwarded to the EC by, of all people, the county mayor,
whose former chief of staff, and friend, had been reprimanded by the EC
a few months before.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/08/2057148/miami-dade-ethics-commiss…; target="”_blank”">an
article
Tuesday in the Miami <i>Herald</i></a>, an investigation was made both
into the allegations against Meyers and into who had stolen handwritten
notes between
the executive director and his subordinate. The report, which I could
not find on the EC's website, found no substantiation of the
allegations against Meyers. The article doesn't say if the EC found out
who stole the
notes. Or the tarts, for that matter.<br>
<br>
Only weeks after being cleared of the allegations, Meyers announced his
resignation, for other reasons, after twelve years in the position.
Let's hope this affair wasn't the last straw.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
---

Tags