Another Side to Disclosure
Disclosure is almost always about what the public should know. But
there is another side to disclosure: what the official should know.
This is especially important in pay-to-play.<br>
<br>
The idea for this blog post came from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/magazine/21FOB-ethicist-t.html" target="”_blank”">Randy
Cohen's
Ethicist column</a> in today's New York <i>Times</i>. The context
there is corporate, but the problem and solution are the same. An
employee of a contractor adds to her e-mail signature a link to a
charity for which she will soon be racing. She is concerned that
subcontractors will give to the charity to curry her favor. Cohen
recommends that she ensure that she will not know who gives, and to
make this fact known in her e-mail signature.<br>
<br>
Officials involved with charities should do the same thing. Even when
they do not expressly solicit their subordinates, or those doing
business with the local government, they should effectively blind
themselves to donors and let potential donors know this. This can be
difficult, however, when lists of donors are published in annual
reports.<br>
<br>
When an official is a controlling position with respect to a charity or a particular fundraising event,
as is often the case with mayors and their charitable golf tournaments, the
official could do one of two things. One, the official could insist, as
a condition of participation, that the charity not publicly list
donors to the charity or event. Or two, the official could ask that subordinates, campaign
contributors, lobbyists, and anyone doing or hoping to do business with
the local government make their donations anonymously.<br>
<br>
A sincere attempt to make it clear that charitable activity is not
being used as a form of pay-to-play would go a long way to improve a
local government's ethical environment.<br>
<br>
See my other blog posts on charities and pay-to-play:<br>
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/701" target="”_blank”">Good People Arguing for
Pay-to-Play in a Charities Context</a><br>
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/two-perspectives-gift-giving" target="”_blank”">Two
Perspectives
on Gift-Giving</a><br>
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/another-local-government-officials-ch…; target="”_blank”">Another
Local
Government Official's Charity Mess. And Why Golf?</a><br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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