The Art of Making People Skittish
Move over, presidents, movie stars, and models. Welcome a local
government ethics officer to your ranks.<br>
<br>
Yes, at last a local government ethics officer's picture is on the
cover of a magazine. The ethics officer is City Ethics' own Carla
Miller, and the magazine is Northeast Florida's <span><a href="http://www.folioweekly.com/" target="”_blank”">Folio
Weekly</a>. </span>And there's even <a href="http://www.folioweekly.com/documents/main020309.pdf" target="”_blank”">an
incredible article</a> inside, which details Miller's long-running
battle to get Jacksonville a first-class ethics program, a battle which
is still going strong.<br>
<br>
My favorite quote from Carla is:<br>
<br>
<div>You can pick safe issues or you can
pick ones where people are skittish. Safe issues would be: Let’s
discuss whether or not employees can get fruit baskets, and should
fruit baskets have chocolate in them, because that might bring it up
over the $100 limit. Or do you say: The procurement code is really
interesting, and how does that work and is it a fair and transparent
system in plain English for the citizens of Jacksonville to understand?<br>
</div>
<br>
Needless to say, Miller has put her nose into some pretty
questionable-sounding procurement practices involving big, big money,
and it hasn't made her many friends in the city government. As the
article says about Miller, "As a former prosecutor, she says that
when she senses her questions make people skittish, she tends to want
to know more."<br>
<br>
This is a classic, well-written article about what it takes to get an
ethics program instituted in a city that isn't crazy about the idea.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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