The Advantages of Annual Financial Disclosure
Here's a good followup to <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/officials-possibly-conflicting-intere…; target="”_blank”">yesterday's
blog
post</a> about a conflict of interest in Tucson. In that post, I
argued that annual financial disclosure makes it clear that an
official's basic interests are public information, and said, "The goal
of annual disclosure is to let the public know about an
official's basic interests, so that if the official does participate in
a matter where he has an interest, the public (usually an ethics
commission, the news media, or a gadfly) can stop him from doing so."<br>
<br>
In Tucson, there don't appear to be annual financial disclosure
requirements. There are, however, financial disclosure requirements throughout California.
According to <a href="http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_144366a4-374b-5279-9ede…; target="”_blank”">an
article
in the North County <i>Times</i></a>, a Vista City (CA) council member
failed to disclose a loan from a developer who was trying to get the
city to let him hook into its sewage treatment system. After the
council member voted to allow the developer's request, the loan came
to light. Now, the other four council members are asking him to resign.<br>
<br>
This is another example of why annual disclosure is in everyone's best
interests. Had the council member disclosed the loan, he would most
likely not have voted on the developer's request. Filling out the form would have reminded him that the loan is considered a financial interest, and he wouldn't have
thought he could get away with the vote.<br>
<br>
The requirement of disclosure of interests, whether they will ever be
in conflict or not, also makes the process less stressful for the
official. At the time of a vote, there is a lot of pressure to help those who have helped you. At the time of filling out a form, there usually is no pressure
at all. The official discloses the loan and then, if the lender comes
before his board, the official simply says, "I was required to disclose the loan. And I'm not allowed to vote
on your request." No choice, no pressure. It's just doing what you've
got to do. You can do the responsible thing without going
through an agonizing balancing of considerations or explaining it all to family
members and business associates. That makes life a lot easier.<br>
<br>
If only more officials could see it this way.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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