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A Miscellany
Thursday, January 23rd, 2014
Robert Wechsler
Incompatible Political Offices
According to an article this week on the TribLive website, an ethics complaint was filed against an Allegheny County, PA council member for working as a constituent services representative for a state senator whose district partially overlaps the council member's. The county ethics code prohibits council members from being employed on the personal staff of any local, state or federal elected official.
This sort of incompatible offices rule can be controversial, and it is being strongly opposed by the council member, who wants it changed. But this is just the sort of situation such rules are good for. When the council member deals with a constituent matter, is he doing it for the county or state government? Which hat is he wearing? Also, considering that his time is limited, will he put (or will it appear he is putting) his employer's constituents (most of whom live outside his council district) ahead of his own constituents? And how will anyone know?
The council member says it doesn't matter, as long he is helping people. But the state senator's chief of staff provides another reason for this rule. According to the article, he said that the council member's position gives him access the senator deems valuable. If this access were given to a non-governmental entity, it would clearly be inappropriate. It is different for a government, but was the hiring of the council member done for the good of the government or more for the re-election of the state senator?
The Importance of the Power to Subpoena
According to a Courier-Journal article yesterday, the Kentucky Senate's Standing Committee on State and Local Government unanimously passed a bill that would allow local ethics commissions in Louisville and Lexington (why not anywhere in the state?) to “issue administrative subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documents relevant to possible violations of the code of ethics.” Louisville's Metro Council had asked that its ethics commission be given this power after two of its investigations were hampered by lacking the power to subpoena.
An Experiment Put Off
According to an article yesterday in the Journal Times, the Racine, WI council's Committee of the Whole effectively, and unanimously, tabled a proposal to set up an ethics commission hearing exchange with Kenosha. This occurred after Kenosha's ethics commission was inundated with complaints. Racine's city attorney referred to what was going on in Kenosha as "a circular firing squad." So much for an interesting experiment in ethics administration. For more on this experiment, see my earlier blog post.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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According to an article this week on the TribLive website, an ethics complaint was filed against an Allegheny County, PA council member for working as a constituent services representative for a state senator whose district partially overlaps the council member's. The county ethics code prohibits council members from being employed on the personal staff of any local, state or federal elected official.
This sort of incompatible offices rule can be controversial, and it is being strongly opposed by the council member, who wants it changed. But this is just the sort of situation such rules are good for. When the council member deals with a constituent matter, is he doing it for the county or state government? Which hat is he wearing? Also, considering that his time is limited, will he put (or will it appear he is putting) his employer's constituents (most of whom live outside his council district) ahead of his own constituents? And how will anyone know?
The council member says it doesn't matter, as long he is helping people. But the state senator's chief of staff provides another reason for this rule. According to the article, he said that the council member's position gives him access the senator deems valuable. If this access were given to a non-governmental entity, it would clearly be inappropriate. It is different for a government, but was the hiring of the council member done for the good of the government or more for the re-election of the state senator?
The Importance of the Power to Subpoena
According to a Courier-Journal article yesterday, the Kentucky Senate's Standing Committee on State and Local Government unanimously passed a bill that would allow local ethics commissions in Louisville and Lexington (why not anywhere in the state?) to “issue administrative subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documents relevant to possible violations of the code of ethics.” Louisville's Metro Council had asked that its ethics commission be given this power after two of its investigations were hampered by lacking the power to subpoena.
An Experiment Put Off
According to an article yesterday in the Journal Times, the Racine, WI council's Committee of the Whole effectively, and unanimously, tabled a proposal to set up an ethics commission hearing exchange with Kenosha. This occurred after Kenosha's ethics commission was inundated with complaints. Racine's city attorney referred to what was going on in Kenosha as "a circular firing squad." So much for an interesting experiment in ethics administration. For more on this experiment, see my earlier blog post.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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