Putting a Stop to Going Along
It not only takes a number of officials to allow unethical conduct to
occur, it also takes a number of officials to undermine the effect of a
good ethics program. An ugly example occurred recently in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Providence,_RI">North
Providence, Rhode Island</a>, a city where three former council members
are awaiting trial for <a href="http://boston.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/bs081910.htm">charges
of
extortion
and bribery</a>.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.valleybreeze.com/Free/MAIN-np-polisena">an article
last week in the <i>Valley Breeze</i></a>, the <a href="http://www.ethics.ri.gov/">Rhode Island Ethics Commission</a>,
which has jurisdiction over local government ethics, approved an
informal resolution in which a former North Providence zoning board
member admitted to multiple violations of the state ethics code by
entering into no-bid contracts with the town (totaling $113,000 in
payments) that were not publicly disclosed, as required by the code.
The allegations against the city's mayor were dismissed, apparently
because the obligation to disclose is only on the contractor-official.<br>
<br>
One would think, under the circumstances, officials would hold back a
bit on the arrogance. But according to the article, the mayor attacked
the individual who had filed the ethics complaint <span class="bodytext">as a "self-appointed gadfly" and tried to make him
look bad, despite the success of his complaint: "[the gadfly]
complained that there were charter violations. The investigation found
that it was state law that was violated by Vin Polisena as a zoning
board member. The gadfly wants to take credit for this, but it was the
Ethics Commission that found this."</span> Giving the credit to the
ethics commission rather than the complainant is petty and shows a lack
of understanding.<br>
<br>
Not only did the mayor fail to apologize for secretly giving the zoning
official no-bid contracts, but he said, <span class="bodytext">"I feel
the pain for Vin Polisena. He has done a great job for the town. Now he
can feel free to do whatever he wants to. Hopefully, he will continue
to bid work that the town has in the future."</span> This statement is
a good argument for debarment as a penalty. A contractor who does not
follow the laws, especially when he is a town official, should not be
contracting with the town at least for a few years.<br>
<br>
The mayor was not alone in effectively defending the no-bid contracts.
After the council finance committee investigated the matter and found,
in early December, that the no-bid contracts were illegal under the
city charter, the council president called the report "bogus."<br>
<br>
And then the mayor personally attacked one of the two council members
who had asked for the investigation, accusing him of doing it only
because he was not given a job with the city.<br>
<br>
It is clear that these two city government leaders put their
self-interest first, and care little about the public's trust. In a
period where they should be bending over backwards to gain the public
trust, they make it very clear that they don't care about the basic
goal of local government ethics. They are confirming that, despite a
very serious scandal, the city's ethics environment has not improved.<br>
<br>
The mayor and council president are hardly alone in not acknowledging the importance of a poor ethics environment. For example, the Florida state
senator who is leading the ethics reform attempt in the aftermath of
the grand jury report (see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/grand-jury-report-florida-recommends-… recent blog post</a>) was <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-capview-column-deslatte…
yesterday
by
the Orlando <i>Sentinel</i></a> as saying, "You can't legislate
morality." This usually refers to individuals. But it isn't individuals
who are the principal problem. It's the culture. And no one can
legislate an organization's culture. That can only be changed by
individuals. But it certainly helps to have clear ethics provisions and
an independent ethics commission for those individuals to turn to.<br>
<br>
The North Providence example shows that, even after a council report
and a state ethics commission settlement, a poor ethics environment
takes the form of personal attacks, denials of responsibility, and open
disrespect for anyone who stands up for good government. I feel pain
for the former zoning official, because he simply went along with the
North Providence culture, and was caught. But if he pays his
$8,500 fine and jumps right back into the mess, he will say to the
public that nothing matters but his personal business interests. He
needs to recognize publicly how poor his city's ethics environment is,
and how even if he bids for a contract, no one will trust a bidding
process that ends in his winning a contract. They will think,
reasonably, that the process is rigged on behalf of the mayor's friends.<br>
<br>
The only way to improve a local government's ethics environment is for
individuals to stop going along. If those caught acting illegally can't
do this, why should anyone else? A great thing for the city's ethics
environment would be for Polisena to speak out by recognizing the
ethics environment he was caught up in and also by acknowledging the
gadfly's contribution. Doing this would deflate the arrogance of the
mayor and the council president, andl
make it much easier for others to stop going along. It would also make
it
easier for other gadflies to get involved and keep North Providence
officials honest. That is what democracy is about. If officials don't
like gadflies, they can always move to Russia. No one is standing in
their way.<br>
<br>
Another great thing for the city's ethics environment would be for the
mayor to acknowledge his role in Polisena's unethical conduct,
including an offer to pay half the $8,500 penalty. Taking
responsibility for one's actions (and inaction) is the first step in
improving a government's ethics environment. The mayor's action here
would send a strong message to the rest of the city's government.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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