Misrepresentations Regarding Disclosure
This week, a citizen in the village of Niles, IL (pop. 30,000) made
a proposal for applicant disclosure, something every ethics program
should have, but most do not. According to <a href="http://niles.suntimes.com/news/12092763-418/niles-ethics-board-defers-d…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Niles <i>Herald-Spectator</i></a>, the proposal
"would ask if the applicant’s officers, directors or partners are
related by blood or marriage or reside in the same residence as any
Niles elected official, appointed official [or] village employee. It
would also require the applicant to disclose information regarding
political contributions to any such elected official, appointed
official or Niles employee" over the past five years.<br>
<br>
The disclosure requirement could be improved. It would be enough to
include family relations to elected officials or to any official or
employee in the department or agency involved. But in addition,
business relationships with these individuals should also be
disclosed.<br>
<br>
The village finance director said that these disclosure requirements
would limit the opportunity to do business in the village, and the
board of ethics chair, himself a village elected official, said he
was concerned about a negative impact on business in the village.<br>
<br>
More specifically, the article said that "some big companies, such
as Amazon.com, have already indicated to the village that they would
probably not be able to sign this type of conflict of interest
statement because it would be too difficult to monitor due to a
frequently-changing staff." But what are the odds that Amazon
officers (in Seattle) are closely related to or do business with
Niles, IL elected officials? And since the disclosure requirement is
not really about big companies based far away, couldn't Amazon ask
for a waiver if it really wanted to dot all the i's?<br>
<br>
The finance director said that some of the
smaller businesses don’t have legal departments and would not be
likely to submit the forms. Why would a legal department be
necessary? The officers or partners of a small business could be
individually asked whether they are related or do business with
Niles officials. How hard could that be?<br>
<br>
And yet the finance director said, “Some of
them may just say it’s not worth doing business with the village
of Niles.”<br>
<br>
In 2010, when annual disclosure of real estate
in the village owned by elected officials was being discussed, the
same ethics board chair said, "You'll never get anyone to run for
public office." (see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/ethics-reform-niles-il-dont-try-home&…; target="”_blank”">my
blog post</a> on this)<br>
<br>
They are simply wrong. Only big landowners who
want to keep their land ownership secret, and businesses who get
benefits from the village through family relations, make decisions
based on such disclosure requirements.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
203-859-1959