Broward County (FL) Ethics Reform Talk: Gifts and Advice
According to <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-broward-ethics-code-2014042…; target="”_blank”">an
article this week in the <i>Sun-Sentinel</a>,</i>
the Broward County, FL commission is discussing changes to the countywide ethics program, focusing on gifts and ethics advice.<br>
<br>
<b>Gift Bans</b><br>
Conversations about the problems with gift bans are like Hollywood
monsters: they never die (see
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/miscellany-9">my 2010
blog post</a> on the last such discussion I covered). In Broward County, the
monster's roar hasn't changed. <br>
<br>
The principal complaint is that a gift ban is just a way to trap elected
officials into ethics violations. But, according to the article, no
official has been charged with accepting a <i>de minimis</i> gift.
The entrapment argument is a phony one.<br>
<br>
The mayor says she's spent about $15,000 paying her own way to
events. If she's attending for government purposes (as opposed to
personal or campaign purposes), why doesn't she pay out of her
expense account or argue for a bigger expense account, rather than
blaming it on the gift ban? If it's valuable to the county for her
to attend, the county should pay for it, not restricted sources. If
not, she should pay her own way.<br>
<br>
<b>Who Should Provide Ethics Advice?</b><br>
The county commission appears to want follow the inspector general's recommendation to take away from city and county attorneys the
authority to provide ethics advice. But whereas the inspector general recommends having an ethics officer do this, there was talk by the commission about creating "an independent board of attorneys" to
issue advisory opinions.<br>
<br>
This is not a good idea. Most ethics advice is needed quickly and
can be given on the phone or via e-mail. The same questions are
asked again and again. An ethics commission need make formal
advisory opinions only with respect to complex and important,
policy-oriented interpretations of the ethics code. The best
solution is to have an independent ethics officer provide most
ethics advice in a timely and consistent manner, with an ethics
commission to make policy-oriented interpretations based on the
ethics officer's recommendations. This is how most jurisdictions
handle ethics advice.<br>
<br>
There are problems with having a board of attorneys instead of an ethics commission of ordinary citizens. One, attorneys are the most
likely people in a community to have conflicts, due to their
representation of individuals and entities that seek special
benefits from governments in the county. They are also more likely than
most to have personal, political, and professional relationships
with government officials. Therefore, they are most likely to be and
to appear conflicted, which is a terrible thing for a body that gives advice about conflict situations.<br>
<br>
It is important to recognize that an ethics commission is a citizen oversight body, not a judicial body. It is more jury than judge. Since the ethics officer will be a lawyer, there is no further need
for legal expertise on an ethics commission. Other professionals who are trained in
conflicts of interest — including health professionals, accountants,
and individuals who work in large corporations — can handle ethics
issues just as well, and sometimes better.<br>
<br>
Also, a board that makes advisory opinions and, thereby,
interprets the ethics code and sets ethics policy, should not only
make advisory opinions. It should also oversee training, disclosure,
and enforcement, so that all of these are consistent with ethics
advice.<br>
<br>
The Broward County commission needs to recognize that its idea is a
radical one that departs from best practices. Experimentation with
ethics programs can be a good thing, but it should be presented as
an experiment, and its advantages and disadvantages clearly
delineated and compared to best practices. It should also be given a clear time line, with a report that shows how all the advantages and disadvantages play out in practice. An experiment that is not treated as an experiment usually is the result of ignorance and an unwillingness to consider best practices, often for self-serving reasons.<br>
<br>
Whatever sort of ethics commission the county commissioners
may decide on, it should still have an ethics officer to provide timely
ethics advice, to advise the commission, and to provide training and
other sorts of oversight.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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