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A Miscellany
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
Robert Wechsler
Problematic Development
According to Harry Themal's column in yesterday's News Journal, the newly elected county executive of New Castle County (DE) wants to review government processes "top-to-bottom." There is just one catch. According to Themal, land use procedures are most in need of reform, but the new county executive's wife is a big land-use attorney representing local developers.
Anything the new executive does or doesn't do in the land-use field will carry with it an appearance of impropriety.
Themal also takes a more personal view of the conflict: "Can you imagine the Clark-Scott breakfast table if Clark has vetoed a rezoning or land-use plan his wife has been advocating?" Yes, not every conflict harms the community, but every conflict does put the conflicted official between a rock and a hard place.
How to Deal with Gifts
According to an article in the Sun-Sentinel this week, there are a lot of complaints about the new Broward County (FL) zero tolerance gift provision, which effectively says that officials can't eat at events sponsored by companies or organizations that do business with or lobby the county.
One county commissioner said she's keeping a "stupid list.'' "On it she documents the invitations and items she's had to refuse, which she thinks are 'ludicrous' and require commissioners to be 'ungracious' and 'rude.'"
There's nothing rude about turning down gifts when the law says you have to. And the only stupid thing here is the commissioners' inability to deal with this problem in a reasonable manner. How? By having the county pay for their food whenever they are invited to an event in their government role, and by having their campaign pay for their food whenever they are invited to an event in their role as a candidate. When they are wearing neither hat, they should either not attend the event or pay for the food themselves.
Officials should stop calling ethics provisions stupid and instead start acting like the problem solvers they were elected to be.
Confidential Investigations
According to an article in yesterday's Sun-Sentinel, the new Palm Beach County inspector general's office wants an exemption from the state's sunshine laws to keep its investigations confidential until they have been "presented to the unit of local government."
According to James Rhea, director of the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation, investigations are generally kept confidential only as long as they are active (this is the rule for the Miami-Dade County IG's office, for example). Rhea is quoted as saying that "a political hot potato or wrongdoing by someone could be protected by never presenting the investigative report, just letting it languish to avoid the conclusion." Of course, it could also be kept secret by keeping it "active."
It's a serious tradeoff: keeping an investigation secret so that it is not undermined by becoming public versus preserving transparency in the system. It's important to take into account the possibility that the fact of an investigation will, despite a sunshine exemption, be leaked by someone interviewed.
Party Time
"The beneficiaries of this request are the 4,400 MARTA employees. There is no implication of any undue pressure on any of the parties being asked to voluntarily consider giving." These are the words of the chair of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) regarding a request sent to 40 to 50 companies from among those who had received more than $50,000 from MARTA in the last fiscal year, asking each for $5,000 to $10,000 to fund a holiday party for MARTA employees.
But as a Common Cause spokeswoman says, according to an article in yesterday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "it could feel like a pressuring situation." And it could look to the public as if sponsoring contractors and lobbyists are trying to buy influence.
Holiday spirit is fine, but a government official has to analyze every situation from an ethics point of view. To say "there is no implication of undue pressure" is to either lie about the situation or to fail to deal with it responsibly.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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According to Harry Themal's column in yesterday's News Journal, the newly elected county executive of New Castle County (DE) wants to review government processes "top-to-bottom." There is just one catch. According to Themal, land use procedures are most in need of reform, but the new county executive's wife is a big land-use attorney representing local developers.
Anything the new executive does or doesn't do in the land-use field will carry with it an appearance of impropriety.
Themal also takes a more personal view of the conflict: "Can you imagine the Clark-Scott breakfast table if Clark has vetoed a rezoning or land-use plan his wife has been advocating?" Yes, not every conflict harms the community, but every conflict does put the conflicted official between a rock and a hard place.
How to Deal with Gifts
According to an article in the Sun-Sentinel this week, there are a lot of complaints about the new Broward County (FL) zero tolerance gift provision, which effectively says that officials can't eat at events sponsored by companies or organizations that do business with or lobby the county.
One county commissioner said she's keeping a "stupid list.'' "On it she documents the invitations and items she's had to refuse, which she thinks are 'ludicrous' and require commissioners to be 'ungracious' and 'rude.'"
There's nothing rude about turning down gifts when the law says you have to. And the only stupid thing here is the commissioners' inability to deal with this problem in a reasonable manner. How? By having the county pay for their food whenever they are invited to an event in their government role, and by having their campaign pay for their food whenever they are invited to an event in their role as a candidate. When they are wearing neither hat, they should either not attend the event or pay for the food themselves.
Officials should stop calling ethics provisions stupid and instead start acting like the problem solvers they were elected to be.
Confidential Investigations
According to an article in yesterday's Sun-Sentinel, the new Palm Beach County inspector general's office wants an exemption from the state's sunshine laws to keep its investigations confidential until they have been "presented to the unit of local government."
According to James Rhea, director of the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation, investigations are generally kept confidential only as long as they are active (this is the rule for the Miami-Dade County IG's office, for example). Rhea is quoted as saying that "a political hot potato or wrongdoing by someone could be protected by never presenting the investigative report, just letting it languish to avoid the conclusion." Of course, it could also be kept secret by keeping it "active."
It's a serious tradeoff: keeping an investigation secret so that it is not undermined by becoming public versus preserving transparency in the system. It's important to take into account the possibility that the fact of an investigation will, despite a sunshine exemption, be leaked by someone interviewed.
Party Time
"The beneficiaries of this request are the 4,400 MARTA employees. There is no implication of any undue pressure on any of the parties being asked to voluntarily consider giving." These are the words of the chair of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) regarding a request sent to 40 to 50 companies from among those who had received more than $50,000 from MARTA in the last fiscal year, asking each for $5,000 to $10,000 to fund a holiday party for MARTA employees.
But as a Common Cause spokeswoman says, according to an article in yesterday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "it could feel like a pressuring situation." And it could look to the public as if sponsoring contractors and lobbyists are trying to buy influence.
Holiday spirit is fine, but a government official has to analyze every situation from an ethics point of view. To say "there is no implication of undue pressure" is to either lie about the situation or to fail to deal with it responsibly.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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