Ginny Looney
<br><br>One of the most important figures in local government ethics passed
away last week at the young age of 61, after a relapse of ovarian
cancer. Virginia "Ginny" Looney was Atlanta's first Ethics Officer.
She was appointed by Mayor Shirley Franklin, who conceived and
pushed through the ethics program back in 2002. <br>
<br>
Ginny helped turn Franklin's ideas and an inadequate ethics code
into an excellent ethics program. She held the ground against
attempts to weaken the program, used the internet to provide both
transparency and ease of disclosure, and prepared a variety of
reports and advisory opinions that are examples for other ethics
programs to follow. She did a great deal with limited resources.<br>
<br>
Ginny understood government ethics better than anyone I know. I
learned so much from bouncing ideas off her, even after she left her
position to work for a state Supreme Court judge a few years ago.
She also had a wonderful, biting sense of humor, which made Council
on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) conferences enjoyable for all
those lucky enough to be in her company.<br>
<br>
It's worth quoting Franklin, from <a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-obituaries/ginny-looney-lawyer-empha…; target="”_blank”">an
excellent Atlanta <i>Journal-Constitution</i> obituary</a>:<blockquote>
When public officials resisted, Franklin said, “Ginny never went on
the attack, she didn’t vilify people, she didn’t demonize them. But
ultimately, Ginny won. She didn’t try to be the smartest person in
the room, though, more often than not, she was.”</blockquote>
Ginny was the smartest person in every room I shared with her. The
best way for people in the government ethics world to remember her
is to emulate the work she did and check out her reports and
opinions, which will live on for a long time on <a href="http://www.atlantaethics.org/" target="”_blank”">the Atlanta ethics
board's website</a>.<br>
<br>
The family has asked that memorial gifts go toward establishment of
a Ginny Looney Summer Fellowship at the <a href="http://www.southerneducation.org/" target="”_blank”">Southern Education
Foundation</a>, 135 Auburn Ave. NE, 2d Fl., Atlanta, GA 30303. The
foundation's mission is to "advance equity and excellence in
education in the American South."<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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