The Wisdom of 38 Million Senior Citizens
One of the most powerful lobbyists in the United
States has come out strongly in favor of independent, effective
local government ethics programs. The lobbyist is AARP. Here is a
quote from p. 1-13 of <a href="http://aarp54390.tizrapublisher.com/fullchapter-1/%7E%7EPdfSource/0" target="”_blank”">the
Government Integrity and Civic Engagement chapter</a> (notably,
Chapter 1) of AARP's latest Policy Book:<blockquote>
Government at all levels should establish and adequately fund
independent nonpartisan commissions to create and enforce ethics and
lobbying regulations.</blockquote>
This appears to be a simple sentence, but it calls for a lot of things most
local government ethics programs lack.<br>
<br>
An AARP local ethics commission would be "independent," whereas most
commissions are dependent on the mayor, council, and/or city or
county attorney's office.<br>
<br>
An AARP local ethics commission would be "adequately funded,"
whereas most commissions have no funding at all, and those in
larger jurisdictions are inadequately funded.<br>
<br>
An AARP local ethics commission would be "nonpartisan," whereas most
commissions are bipartisan.<br>
<br>
An AARP local ethics commission would write ethics rules, whereas in
almost every city and county, ethics rules are written by the local
or state legislative body.<br>
<br>
And an AARP local ethics commission would enforce these ethics rules,
whereas most commissions have no or limited enforcement powers.<br>
<br>
In other words, this is probably the most radical statement on local
government ethics ever to come from a lobbying organization. Thank
you, AARP. This is the first time I have actually considered joining
your organization.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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