An Attempt to Get Rid of New Ethics Provisions in Three Broward County Cities
In November 2010, Broward County, FL voters approved an ethics code
for officials of the cities in the county (the code also applies to
the county commissioners). The code finally became effective January
2, 2012.<br>
<br>
Three cities in Broward County (home to Ft. Lauderdale) have put referendum questions on
the January 31 ballot seeking to strike the applicability of
certain of the code's provisions to their cities' officials. The principal one is the requirement to disclose one's outside salary. Personally, I don't think disclosing a salary is necessary. It's sufficient to ask officials to say they are paid,
say, more than $20,000 by an employer, or more than $5,000 by a
client, to show that the job is serious and there is a financially
meaningful relationship with a client.<br>
<br>
What is notable about changing this particular provision is how
self-serving it is for mayors to waste the public's time on a
question that is only intended to protect their privacy. Of course,
the argument is made that otherwise officials will resign in huge
numbers. But if officials were to resign in huge numbers, the law
would likely be changed. The fact is that disclosure requirements
always lead to this argument, but rarely to the reality. When there
were mass resignations in Oregon a couple of years ago (see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/447" target="”_blank”">my blog
post</a>), the officials either quickly were appointed again or others
were appointed to replace them. The predictions did not come true,
and the public did not suffer.<br>
<br>
There are other problems with what the three cities are trying to
do, according to <a href="http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2012/01/wilt…; target="”_blank”">a
recent article in the <i>Sun-Sentinel</i></a>. One, it is not clear that
city voters can change the county law. Two, the ballot language
makes no mention of the county ethics code, making it very unclear
to voters what exactly they are voting on. This does not indicate a
commitment to transparency, to say the least.<br>
<br>
Third, one mayor argues that “I fully support giving residents the
opportunity to choose how their city is governed.” And yet city
voters already voted for the ethics code. Should they now be asked
to vote for it again, provision by provision, and without the ethics
code even being mentioned?<br>
<br>
Here's the language of the ballot question, and an explanation, from
<a href="weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/wiltonmanorsreferendum.pdf" target="”_blank”">a
flier</a> from one of the three cities. The explanation (below) does refer
to ethics laws, but only those approved by the county commission,
with the implication that they have not been passed (that sneaky "subsequent" — to what?), and without
mention of the referendum that established the ethics program.<br>
<br>
First Question: <br>
<i>City Elected Officials Serve Part-Time and may be Concurrently
Employed Pursuant To Florida Law.</i><br>
Should service on the Wilton Manors City Commission be recognized as
a part-time position whereby the City’s elected officials shall be
permitted to engage in outside/concurrent employment consistent with
Florida law and that any disclosures associated with such employment
shall be consistent with and limited to the requirements of Florida
law? <br>
<br>
<i>What does this mean?</i> <br>
The Mayor and Commission’s responsibilities in making the right
decisions on behalf of the resident are currently governed by
Florida State Statutes. These Statutes state that the Mayor
and Commission are of part-time service and they are able to be
employed in outside professions. By approving this
question, the Charter of Wilton Manors will be amended to indicate
that Florida State Statute requirements are fair and just, and to
ensure that subsequent laws approved by the Broward County
Commission regarding ethics will not affect the ability of the Mayor
and Commission to have outside employment and will not affect the
ability of future Commissioners to earn a livelihood by their
professions. <br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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