Non-Ethics Commission Ethics Oversight
All ethics oversight cannot be done by an ethics commission. Much
oversight needs to be done outside of the complaint process. Even when
complaints are made, a lack of proper oversight can leave a big hole in
the facts available to an EC. I came across such a situation in <a href="http://www2.tricities.com/news/2010/oct/24/role-firefighters-wrecking-s…; target="”_blank”">yesterday's
Bristol
(VA) <i>News</i></a>.<br>
<br>
No complaint has been filed, but there appears to be a concern that the
owner of a car towing company is using his position as a volunteer
firefighter, and the connections he makes on the job, to give his
company more business. According to the article, on fire and
police calls (the fire chief is also a police officer) either the
driver chooses the towing company or it is chosen from a sequential
list. This seems fair, but there are two possibilities for abuse:
recommending a company to drivers and ignoring the list.<br>
<br>
The Virginia Association of Towing and Recovery Operators' executive
director is quoted as saying that "tow operators prize
any friendships made with first responders, because of the potential to
drum up business. It’s based on the dream of having the first person on
the scene place a business card in the hands of the distressed." In
other words, recommendations can make a big difference.<br>
<br>
Sadly, the Virginia Municipal League representative focuses on the fact
that there are no state laws on relationships between tow companies and
uniformed officers.<br>
<br>
The big problem, according to the article, is that no one will take
responsibility for oversight. The county's 911 system keeps a record of
all calls, including the selection of tow companies. The sheriff
insists that the 911 emergency operations center should be monitoring
the system.
The sheriff has received complaints about police officers funneling
business to a particular tow company, but he said the accusations were
false and apparently did not investigate.<br>
<br>
The emergency operations center director says that the sheriff is the
only person with the authority to police the 911 records.<br>
<br>
As long as no one takes authority, there will be no
oversight. And without oversight, it would be difficult for anyone to
prove an allegation were an ethics complaint filed. It would seem that
oversight should be given to an
office that is not involved in the situation at all, an auditor or
inspector general, perhaps.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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