An Interest Discovery (sic)
It took a law student doing a summer job, but there is finally confirmation of what I
have been saying for a long time: normal people do not
understand the word "interest" as it is commonly used by lawyers in
the government ethics context. It was for this reason that I rarely
use the word "interest" in my book <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/ethics%20book" target="”_blank”"><i>Local Government Ethics Programs</i></a>.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/sun-investigates/bs-md-sun-in…; target="”_blank”">an article in Monday's Baltimore <i>Sun</i></a>, the <a href="http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Government/BoardsandCommissions/EthicsBoar…; target="”_blank”">Baltimore
ethics board</a> hired a law student as an intern (a "mayoral
fellow") this summer, and the intern was asked to review financial
disclosure forms. She wrote a report on what she found.<br>
<br>
According to the article, when asked if staffers had any financial
interest in properties or entities that do business with the city,
many respondents filled out the form incorrectly. "The word interest
confused filers. Many expressed they did not receive any interest
from their home."<br>
<br>
All in all, the intern found that more than half of the mostly high-level city officials
and employees required to fill out financial disclosure forms filled
them out incorrectly or not at all.<br>
<br>
What led to this review? According to the article, in
February the <i>Sun</i> reported that disclosure forms are rarely reviewed,
that, in fact, there had not been a comprehensive review of the
forms in at least eight years.<br>
<br>
Hopefully, the wake-up call will go beyond hiring a summer intern to
do this review. Baltimore is too big a city to have an ethics board
that is asleep at the wheel. The website not only does not include
this valuable report, but contains the minutes of only three board
meetings this year, the most recent in March. It's been nearly a
year since an advisory opinion was placed online. And there is not
much else on the ethics board's website. The ethics board needs to take a look at my <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/files/lgep1-0%20-%20Robert%20Wechsler.htm#Che…; target="”_blank”">Checklist of Ethics Commission Activities</a>.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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