Palm Beach Council Sneakily Opposes County Ethics Reform
According to <a href="http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/town-council/council-resolution-…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Palm Beach <i>Daily News</i></a>, Florida law "forbids
government bodies from advocating for voters to vote yes or no in a
referendum election, and from spending funds to advertise for that
purpose." But as with all laws, there are ways to end-run this
prohibition, and the town of Palm Beach's council and city attorney
found a way.<br>
<br>
The subject of the referendum? Yes, it's giving the county ethics
commission and inspector general jurisdiction over the town's
officials. And yes, the council members do not want to cede
jurisdiction.<br>
<br>
The result is a resolution that states that the council members
unanimously but individually "determined that making this county
charter amendment applicable within the Town of Palm Beach would not be
in the interests of the residents and taxpayers ...” Not to mention, of course, the council members themselves.<br>
<br>
The town's ethics program consists of an "internal auditor" (an outside
firm paid by the hour to do purely financial oversight), <a href="http://palmbeach.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC=%7B984CFEA4-1037…; target="”_blank”">an
ethics hotline</a> (calls to be addressed by the police and human
resources), and the council's ethics and finance and taxation
committees. There appears to be no ethics code or board, no ethics
training, no ethics adviser, and no financial disclosure. There is a state ethics program applicable to local governments, but it is a relatively weak program that has done little to stop rampant unethical conduct in Florida local governments.<br>
<br>
The council president is quoted as saying, “The ramifications of this
are absolutely draconian for our town. We don’t have the issues of the
county and do a pretty good job of policing ourselves.”<br>
<br>
The reporter notes that the mayor and council failed to mention that
"the former town construction manager was fired in May and faces
multiple charges for an alleged kickback scheme with town contractors."<br>
<br>
For more on the county ethics program, see the following blog posts:<br>
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/independent-offices-vs-independent-et…; target="”_blank”">Independent
Offices and Independent Ethics Enforcement</a><br>
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/comparison-two-county-ethics-initiati…; target="”_blank”">The
Ethics Pledge</a><br>
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/palm-beach-county-update" target="”_blank”">July
Update</a><br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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