EC Members' Backgrounds and Misuse of Office
There is no greater pleasure for some people than accusing ethics
professionals and ethics commission members of unethical behavior. That
is why ethics professionals and ethics commission members have to be
extra careful about what they do, and why individuals who have not
dealt responsibly with conflicts of interest, at least in the recent
past, should not accept a nomination to an ethics commission.<br>
<br>
What no one wants to read is what is being written about the current
chair of the Florida Commission on Ethics, which has jurisdiction over
local government officials and employees. <a href="http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/08/roy_rogers_school_board_…; target="”_blank”">This week, <i>New Times</i> blogger Bob Norman wrote</a> that the EC chair,
appointed in 2007, had no-bid work orders from the then Broward
assistant school superintendent from 2004-2006 totaling $75,000, marked
with "bid waiver," although there was allegedly no formal approval from
the school board.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/05/rothsteins_partners_bewa…; target="”_blank”">another
Bob
Norman blog post</a>, from May, the former assistant
superintendent, now the Broward school construction chief, gave a $3
million contract to the EC chair and a Canadian firm for which the EC chair
acts as a special consultant.<br>
<br>
These two situations, which may very well have reasonable explanations,
point to the question: Should a contractor, or a consultant to
a contractor, who seeks work from local governments sit on a commission
that has jurisdiction over those local governments' officials and their
dealings with contractors? The same individual was formerly a
developer, and developers' relationships with government can also be
questionable. Neither contractors nor developers, for this reason, make
ideal members of ethics commissions, and especially the most visible
position of chair.<br>
<br>
In addition, according to <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/fl-beverly-gallaghe…; target="”_blank”">a
June
<i>Sun-Sentinel</i> article</a>, the EC chair wrote a letter asking for
leniency for a Broward County school board member who had pleaded
guilty to accepting bribes. Is this really appropriate for an EC chair,
or even member,
to do?<br>
<br>
It's not as if she were accused of something
unrelated to government ethics. I don't think any EC member should use
his or her position to ask for leniency in an ethics matter, especially
in his or her state, and most especially for someone on a board with
which the EC member has entered into contracts. The appearance of
impropriety gets greater as it goes up the line to this particular
request for leniency.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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