City Ethics
Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Independent Offices vs. Independent Ethics Enforcement in Palm Beach County

Anonymous
County Related

<br>
<b>Update:</b> December 30, 2009<br>
<br>
Two weeks ago, <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/palm-beach-county-ethics-program-has-…; target="”_blank”">I
welcomed</a> the new Palm Beach County ethics codes. What I didn't
realize is how much of the county's government isn't covered by the
codes, including other elected officials (and their offices) such as the sheriff, the School Board, the tax collector, the county clerk, the
property appraiser, and the supervisor of elections. If they do not
voluntarily submit to oversight by the inspector general and the ethics
commission, then the IG and EC won't have any jurisdiction over them.<br>
<br>

According to <a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sheriff-other-top-palm-beach-county-o…; target="”_blank”">an
article
in the <i>Sun-Sentinel</i></a>, the sheriff says he won't voluntarily
submit to the IG. He says that he already gets rigorous oversight, and
he wants his office to remain independent.<br>
<br>
The most interesting response is that of the county property appraiser.
According to the article, he "said his office already undergoes
thorough audits and he is 'cautious' about creating 'too many layers of
bureaucracy. I'm not ruling it out ... I want to take a look at it and
see how it can benefit the office.'"<br>
<br>
But does the sheriff's and appraiser's oversight include conflicts of
interest? Is benefit to their offices the appropriate standard for
evaluating an ethics program? Shouldn't it be benefit to the public?<br>
<br>
There don't have to be layers of bureaucracy. If there is already an
office that audits the appraiser and other elected officials, perhaps that office
can become part of the IG's office, so that all auditing comes from one
place and is independent of each agency or department. Where an
oversight office has jurisdiction over
conflicts of interest, it could give up that jurisdiction to the EC.<br>
<br>
These are problems with
easy solutions, unless you put independence of offices ahead of
independent ethics enforcement. If you do, then you are rejecting the
county's decision to have independent ethics enforcement, something
that requires a better argument than layers of bureaucracy and
independence of offices.<br>
<br>
<b>Update:</b> December 30, 2009<br>
A <a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/editorials/no-ethics-opt-out-for-s…; target="”_blank”">Palm Beach <i>Post</i> editorial</a> yesterday echoed the wrongness of the sheriff's position.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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