Florida EC Chair Calls for Some Wheels
<br>
Cheryl Forchilli, chair of the <a href="http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/" target="”_blank”">Florida
Commission on Ethics</a> (which deals with local government ethics),
wrote a <em></em><a href="http://floridathinks.com/florida-issues/florida-issues/ethics-watchdog-…; target="”_blank”">must-read
op-ed piece</a> that appeared on the <a href="http://floridathinks.com/florida-issues/home.php" target="”_blank”">Florida Thinks
blog</a> yesterday.<br>
<br>
Forchilli's piece begins with a nice simile:
<br>
<ul>If a sports car barreling down the
interstate at 120 miles an hour
passes a Florida Highway Patrol officer, we expect that officer to flip
on the lights, stop the speeder, and make our roads safer.<br>
<br>
Wouldn’t the public be angry if the
Legislature passed a law that
forced the officer to stay parked by the side of the road, patiently
waiting for a concerned citizen to pull up, sign a sworn statement
describing the speeder’s actions, and ask the officer to please look
into it?<br>
<br>
Yet, that’s exactly how the Florida
Commission on Ethics is forced to operate.<br>
</ul>
Forchilli calls for three ethics reforms, none of which is at all
radical, but all of which, apparently, the state legislature has shown
no willingness to adopt.<br>
<ul>1. Commission-generated investigations<br>
2. Increased fines (noting that the highest fines are reserved for the
most egregious violations)<br>
3. Including participation as part of recusal (that is, not just
abstaining on votes), and prohibiting staff from participating on the
official's behalf<br>
</ul>
The specific prohibition against staff participation is the only unusual reform, but an excellent idea.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
---