Campaign Ideas for Local Government Ethics Reform
Election time can be a good time for local government ethics. Good
government candidates spout all sorts of interesting ideas about
ethics independence, budgeting, transparency, and the like, which
are rarely heard between elections.<br>
<br>
Take, for example, Leland Yee, who is running for mayor of San
Francisco. His <a href="http://www.lelandyee.com/issues/plan-for-an-independent-city-hall/" target="”_blank”">Plan
for an Independent City Hall</a> starts off with a call for the
independence of the city's ethics commission. He has an original
idea for EC member selection, patterned on the new state
redistricting commission: a pool of citizens who apply is
narrowed based on qualifications and independence, and then members
are selected at random from the narrowed pool.<br>
<br>
For Yee, independence doesn't end with EC member selection. He also
calls for the mayor to have nothing to do with the EC budget.
Rather, the EC designs its own budget request, which still goes
through the budget process. But if Yee were elected mayor, it's
likely he would have to push for a sizeable increase in the EC
budget in order to obtain the reforms he feels are necessary.<br>
<br>
The rest of Yee's ideas come largely from the recent civil grand
jury report on the EC (see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/civil-grand-jury-report-san-francisco…; target="”_blank”">my
blog post on the report</a>), but he does add ideas of his own.
For example, he calls for more EC transparency, including open
hearings and online information regarding pending cases. He calls
for an end to investigation delays and for more investigators to
make this possible. And he calls for more proactive enforcement,
rather than the EC simply responding to complaints. EC initiative is one of
the most important powers an EC can have.<br>
<br>
Yee also wants to greatly improve transparency in city government,
including videos or webcasts of every meeting, starting with the EC,
which he feels should "lead by example." In its <a href="http://www.sfethics.org/files/civilgrandjuryresponse7.6.11.pdf" target="”_blank”">draft
response to the grand jury report</a>, the EC takes the position
that televizing is a luxury it cannot afford, and that it is better
to use audio, web availability, and social media.<br>
<br>
Yee calls for all commissions to be open to penalty for transparency
violations, and for transparency training for all city employees.<br>
<br>
And finally, Yee wants to increase the registering of lobbyists by
changing the definition, having the EC proactively seek out
unregistered lobbyists, and eliminating loopholes and abuses.<br>
<br>
It's good to see such ideas floated. Unfortunately, it's easier to
find original ideas in campaign documents than in actual discussions
about ethics reform.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
203-859-1959