A Responsible Act of Non-Denial in San Diego, a Den of Denial
It's great to read newspaper commentary that shows an understanding
of how an unethical organization acts, in this case, the effects of its employment of denial. Scott Lewis,
voiceofsandiego.org's Executive Editor and political commentator, did
this in <a href="http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/08/25/columnists/scott_lew…; target="”_blank”">a
column</a> this week.<br>
<br>
He was writing about what has happened with San Diego's Centre City
Development Corp., which has been having some serious conflict of
interest issues that have undermined its projects. The president
(effectively the director) of CCDC resigned under pressure a month ago.
And just this week, its attorney resigned, as well, although it does
seem likely that she did not have reason to believe she had a conflict.<br>
<br>
The
resignation of innocent people is one part of the fallout of
conflicts that are not dealt with by officials -- the oversensitivity
to the issue puts a bright spotlight on others. For more on what is
happening now, check out <a href="http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/08/30/government/473ccdc08…; target="”_blank”">this
voiceofsandiego.org article.</a><br>
<br>
How does San Diego act, according to Mr. Lewis? He contrasts how the
CCDC board, especially its chair, Fred Maas, has acted. When the CCDC
president said she was recusing herself and not getting involved in any
way with a project in which she had a conflict, but it turned out she
was involved, Maas worked with her to create a Chinese Wall separating
her from the project. When it turned out she was still involved with
the project, "Maas had a choice to make. He could feverishly back her
and follow the tradition of local leaders trying to protect the
reputation of their agencies by aggressively defending them against any
and all critics. Or he could do something outside of the San Diego mold
-- he could say he was keeping an open mind and would listen to the
criticisms that arose and see if they had merit. He chose the latter."<br>
<br>
Later in his column, Lewis ties this in with San Diego's biggest
scandal, its pension crisis: "Dick Murphy could still be mayor
right now had he learned a simple lesson about managing scandal: Keep
an open mind that you might be wrong and that your organization could,
indeed, have done something wrong. Murphy's basic error -- repeated
over and over again in 2003, 2004 and 2005 -- was that, in dealing with
the now legendary pension crisis, he put up reason after reason why we
shouldn't worry about it. And when reporters found out that each of
those reasons was hollow or worthless, it was a bigger story than it
had to be because it directly contradicted what the mayor was claiming.
This happened for months, until the mayor's credibility was shot and he
eventually had to resign."<br>
<br>
The inability to admit that you might possibly be wrong is central to
every unethical organization. It reflects both a culture of denial and a lack
of ethical leadership, because an ethical leader can, by example (not
by words), make a large dent even in a culture of denial, which is very
powerful. A culture of denial can be differentiated from isolated
instances by the pattern of consistent denial and the absurdity of some
of its manifestations.<br>
<br>
The first experience I had with government ethics involved denials. When a question I asked was answered
incorrectly (I later discovered), and I confronted my town's first
selectman (effectively mayor), he and the town attorney not only
refused to admit it as an error, but the town attorney reiterated it in print in an attack on
me (even though I had not been politically involved in my town). What
did the wrong answer concern? Some big issue? No, Robert's Rules and
whether to vote separately on some appropriations. This denial,
followed by denial upon denial (along with two arrested department
heads who were leaders in the denial field), led to the demise of the
administration four years later.<br>
<br>
Lewis again contrasts what the CCDC board did with what usually occurs
in San Diego:<br>
<br>
<p>And then, as more information came out,
[Maas] had another choice. He could protect the massive condo/hotel
project CCDC had supported -- the one that [CCDC president] Graham had
now put her mark on -- or he could put it on hold, if not scuttle it
entirely, and send the message that even the perception of a conflict
of interest would not be tolerated. The bidding, planning and approval
might just have to begin again. He chose, again, the latter.<br>
</p>
<p>And then last week, as if became clear that the former CCDC
president had definitely had a conflict of interest and had definitely
been involved with the project despite her protestations, and that this
might seriously cripple the big Ballpark Village development, Maas
hired as a consultant Bob Stern, head of the <a href="http://www.cgs.org/" target="”_blank”">Center for Governmental Studies</a>, to, as
Lewis put it, "try to help them wade through the next phase: what else
could be in trouble because of Graham. ... As the leader of CCDC,
Graham touched everything -- directed all. Maas will need to take his
decisive approach to every single project CCDC touched during her
tenure."<br>
</p>
<p>This is probably the end of the CCDC, Lewis feels, but it's good to
see an official responsibly taking the proper steps to deal with a
conflict rather than to sweep it under the rug or try to pooh-pooh how
it affects the agency's projects. It's hard to say that bids might have
to be done all over again, or that building may not be able to go
forward. But to ignore these results of conflicts that are ignored,
denied, and lied about is to tell the world that treating conflicts in
this manner is not such a bad thing, just a little ethical problem that
can be solved by an official's termination.<br>
</p>
<p>It's not that easy. As Spinoza says in the last sentence of his <span>Ethics,</span> "all things excellent are
as difficult as they are rare."<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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