Ethics Reform Aimed at Political Opponents
Ethics reform aimed at political opponents is a good way to undermine the whole idea of ethics reform. This is what is happening in San Jose.<br>
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San Jose starts off with an odd ethics program. <a href="http://www.sanjoseca.gov/Clerk/commissionboard/Election/SJMCTitle12.pdf…; target="”_blank”">Title 12: Ethics Provisions</a> does not even have a conflict of
interest provision, nor does the city have an ethics commission. It is primarily
a campaign finance and lobbying law, with a gift provision
and a revolving door provision. It is enforced by an <a href="http://www.sanjoseca.gov/Clerk/commissionboard/ElectComm.asp" target="”_blank”">Election
Commission</a>. Ethics matters are primarily left to the state.<br>
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Every two years, the mayor reviews the ethics laws and suggests
reforms. The mayor made his suggestions this week, and the council
members associated with labor hit the ceiling. Here are the
suggestions, according to the mayor's office, as included in <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13980774?nclick_check=1" target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's San Jose <i>Mercury-News</i></a>:<br>
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<ul>1. Avoid conflicts of
interests arising from family relationships.<br>
2. Close a loophole in lobbyist registration and disclosure.<br>
3. Require all decision-making boards and commissions to meet at City
Hall.<br>
4. Avoid "policy by surprise" at council committees by deferring action
on last-minute proposals.<br>
5. Allow laid-off employees to seek a waiver of the prohibition on
"revolving door—employment with the city. <br>
6. Improve timely disclosure of council member calendars and those of
top officials.<br>
7. Debate requests to drop or defer agenda items at their scheduled
time, rather than at the start of the meeting.<br>
8. Limit anonymous complaints to the Elections Comission.<br>
9. Ensure that arbitration hearings over police and fire contracts are
open to the public.<br>
<br></ul>
Out of context, these reforms seem reasonable. But they arise from very
specific contexts, most of which involve the mayor's opponents. For
example, the background to suggestion #1 is that a council member has a
husband who lobbies for a local union. It's odd to include a conflict
provision for families in an ethics law that has no conflict provision.
But the article says that currently only financial interests must be
disclosed; I assume this is a reference to state law.<br>
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The loophole referred to in suggestion #2 is one that does not require
those who lobby for nonprofits to register as lobbyist. A prominent
pro-labor lobbyist is policy director for Working Partnerships USA.
This apparently led to the desire to close a loophole that is not
otherwise a problem, but of course could be if, as has been suggested,
the Chamber of Commerce were to form a nonprofit arm.<br>
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The next several suggestions involve transparency and council
procedures. But suggestion #8 is very specific to one event, which
again involved a pro-labor council member, according to a <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13980741" target="”_blank”"><i>Mercury-News</i> editorial</a>.
This year an anonymous complaint was filed against a former mayor on
lobbying charges. Although anonymous, the complaint was sent to the
news media and others. The current mayor's solution is to greatly limit anonymous
complaints, which is certainly not the best way to deal with this
problem. In fact, there is no reason to allow anonymous complaints at all; it is highly unusual to allow them. It is better
to allow anonymous tips, and let the enforcement agency investigate and
file its own complaint.<br>
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The fact is that no one can prevent people from publicizing complaints
they file, or from sending a press release containing allegations even
when no complaint is formally filed. The mayor's suggestion simply
makes it harder for those afraid of retaliation to report wrongdoing.
It throws out a baby sitting in only a few cups of bathwater.<br>
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If the mayor is so concerned with the ethics process being used for
political purposes, why has he done this with his ethics reform proposals?
If he truly cares about ethics reform, he should look at all that has
been left out of the San Jose ethics program, determine whether
conflicts of interest are being adequately handled by the state and the
council, and lead a discussion on what is the best ethics program for
the city.<br>
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Piecemeal responses to situations involving political opponents is not
the way to increase public trust in government.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
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