A Miscellany
<b>Problematic Development</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20101129/OPINION03/11290301" target="”_blank”">Harry
Themal's column in yesterday's <i>News Journal</i></a>,
the newly elected county executive of New Castle County (DE) wants to
review government processes "top-to-bottom." There is just one catch.
According to Themal, land use procedures are most in need of reform,
but the new county executive's wife is a big land-use attorney
representing local developers.<br>
<br>
Anything the new executive does or doesn't do in the land-use field
will carry with it an appearance of impropriety.<br>
<br>
Themal also takes a more personal view of the conflict: "Can you
imagine the Clark-Scott breakfast table if Clark has vetoed a rezoning
or land-use plan his wife has been advocating?" Yes, not every conflict
harms the community, but every conflict does put the
conflicted official between a rock and a hard place.<br>
<br>
<b>How to Deal with Gifts</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-ethics-conf…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the <i>Sun-Sentinel</i></a>
this week, there are a lot of complaints about the new Broward County
(FL) zero tolerance gift provision, which effectively says that officials can't
eat at events sponsored by companies or organizations that do business
with or lobby the county.<br>
<br>
One county commissioner said she's keeping a "stupid list.'' "On it she documents the invitations and items she's
had to refuse, which she thinks are 'ludicrous' and require
commissioners to be 'ungracious' and 'rude.'"<br>
<br>
There's nothing rude about turning down gifts when the law says you
have to. And the only stupid thing here is the commissioners' inability
to deal with this problem in a reasonable manner. How? By having the
county pay for their food whenever they are invited to an event in
their government role, and by having their campaign pay for their food
whenever they are invited to an event in their role as a candidate.
When they are wearing neither hat, they should either not attend the
event or pay for the food themselves.<br>
<br>
Officials should stop calling ethics provisions stupid and instead
start acting like the problem solvers they were elected to be.<br>
<br>
<b>Confidential Investigations</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/fl-public-records-exemption-p…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's <i>Sun-Sentinel</i></a>, the new Palm Beach County
inspector general's office wants an exemption from the state's sunshine
laws to keep its investigations confidential until they have been
"presented to the unit of local government."<br>
<br>
According to James Rhea, director of the Tallahassee-based First
Amendment Foundation, investigations are generally kept confidential
only as long as they are active (this is the rule for the <a href="http://miamidadeig.org/" target="”_blank”">Miami-Dade County IG's office</a>, for
example). Rhea is quoted as saying that "a political hot potato or
wrongdoing by someone could be protected by never presenting the
investigative report, just letting it languish to avoid the
conclusion." Of course, it could also be kept secret by keeping it
"active."<br>
<br>
It's a serious tradeoff: keeping an investigation secret so that
it is not undermined by becoming public versus preserving transparency
in the system. It's important to take into account the possibility that
the fact of an investigation will, despite a sunshine exemption, be leaked by someone interviewed.<br>
<br>
<b>Party Time</b><br>
"The beneficiaries of this request are the 4,400 MARTA employees. There
is no implication of any undue pressure on any of the parties being
asked to voluntarily consider giving." These are the words of the chair
of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) regarding a
request sent to 40 to 50 companies from among those who had received
more than $50,000 from MARTA in the last fiscal year, asking each for
$5,000 to $10,000 to fund a holiday party for MARTA employees.<br>
<br>
But as a Common Cause spokeswoman says, according to <a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/firms-asked-to-fund-758510.html" target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Atlanta <i>Journal-Constitution</i></a>, "it could feel
like a pressuring situation." And it could look to the public as if
sponsoring contractors and lobbyists are trying to buy influence.<br>
<br>
Holiday spirit is fine, but a government official has to analyze every
situation from an ethics point of view. To say "there is no implication
of undue pressure" is to either lie about the situation or to fail to deal with it responsibly.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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