Playing Games with Local Government Ethics
Explaining a political decision on the basis of government ethics, when
that really isn't the reason, can lead to government ethics reform
made on the basis of politics. That's what appears to have happened in
Boerne (TX), a small "city" of 6,000 residents outside San Antonio.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://boernestar.com/articles/2009/07/17/news/doc4a5f9e181daba61282357…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Boerne <i>Star</i></a>, two events have intertwined:
expansion of the city's historic district and an amendment to the city's
ethics code. Opponents of expansion complained that the wives of two
council members who supported expansion sat on the Historic
Landmark Commission. They argued that this created a conflict of interest,
although it isn't clear exactly which interests are in conflict -- no
personal interests appear to exist.<br>
<br>
When the historic district matter actually came to a council vote, one of the husbands voted
against expansion, saying that the public was overwhelmingly opposed to
it. He is a supporter of the mayor.<br>
<br>
The term of the wife of the other council member, who voted for expansion, soon came
to an end, and the mayor chose not to nominate her, arguing that there
was concern about a conflict of interest, since her husband was on the
council. Two of the five council members, including the husband, voted
against the mayoral nominee (although it is a question whether the
husband should have recused himself from being involved with the
possible replacement of his wife on the commission, even though the
city's ethics law requires recusal only where there is a financial
interest involved).<br>
<br>
At a council retreat, the husband supposedly proposed an amendment to
the ethics code making it unlawful for the spouse of a council member
to serve on a city board or commission. After calling this a conflict
of interest, the mayor could hardly oppose such an amendment.<br>
<br>
Caught in the middle was the other husband, a supporter of the mayor,
the only person who would be directly affected by the amendment. He was also
possibly the target of the amendment, possibly for his change of heart
on expansion of the historic district, possibly just out of political
vindictiveness.<br>
<br>
What's most important is that by arguing there is a conflict of
interest -- even if the actual interests are unidentified -- you in
effect create a conflict and may be required to remedy the problem.
Games of chess or chicken should not be played with government ethics.<br>
<br>
There is a serious inconsistency at the heart of the council debate
over ethics reform in Boerne. One principal controversy, according to <a href="http://boernestar.com/articles/2008/07/29/news/news02.txt" target="”_blank”">another
Boerne <i>Star</i> article</a>, involves the definition of what is an "economic
interest." In Boerne, conflicts do not involve non-economic interests.<br>
<br>
And yet the other principal controversy involves a non-economic
interest, that is, the interest of a council member's spouse to be able
to serve as a volunteer on a board or commission.<br>
<br>
There certainly is an argument against allowing council members'
spouses to sit on important boards and commissions. Council members may
be seen as misusing their positions to gain more power for themselves
via appointment of their spouses.<br>
<br>
But this is not a government ethics problem, except when appointments
are involved: spouses should not vote on appointments that
involve their spouses, even though no financial interest is involved.
It is not a conflict for one spouse to vote on something his spouse
formerly voted on.<br>
<br>
On the other hand, there is an ongoing conflict when a local government
attorney's spouse sits on a board or commission before which the local
government attorney's office argues. In such a situation, a board
member cannot recuse himself every time his wife or one of her
colleagues appears before the board. The spouse should not serve on a board where such conflicts will recur.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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