Philadelphia's "Ethics Agenda": Making Ethics Central to a Mayoral Campaign

Philadelphia's Committee of Seventy may be a little gray (it recently celebrated its 100th birthday), but in its 'reborn' form (it had taken the limited role of monitoring election activities) it still knows how to take a stand and make a difference. It has made ethics a central issue of the upcoming mayoral election by putting together a four-page Ethics Agenda and asking all mayoral candidates to commit to its ethics reforms, which includes FOI, campaign finance reform, lobbyist registration, and even redistricting.

The Ethics Agenda deals with three major principles and twelve topics. The three principles are (i) exemplary hiring, contracting, and appointing practices; (ii) complete transparency; and (iii) fair decision-making, and reducing conflicts of interest and the opportunity for pay-to-play. The topics are contracts, cronyism, board of ethics, nepotism, open government, government documents, gifts, luxury boxes at stadiums, campaign finance reform, lobbyists, outside work, and gerrymandering.

Some of the commitments are strong and specific, especially disclosure requirements. But other requests are weak, employing vague language. It is easy to agree to these commitments (e.g., hiring people for their integrity, not their relationship to you), but it is hard to call the elected mayor on them. Other weak commitments include ensuring "ample funding" of the Board of Ethics, considering changes to campaign finance laws, and tightening regulations governing future employment. But all in all, it is a strong set of commitments, and the process in getting candidates to agree to them has been excellent.

However, not all candidates are cooperating. Three candidates said simply yes; two candidates said yes, but they will be suggesting their own reforms; and one undeclared candidate said no. Candidates' responses to the Ethics Agenda are posted on-line.

The Ethics Agenda is part of a larger project called The Next Mayor (www.thenextmayor.com), which includes the Daily News and WHYY, the Public Broadcasting affiliate in Philadelphia. The website is exemplary. For cities interested in ethics reform, this is a good place to look for ideas.