Self-Serving Ethics
<b>See update below</b><br>
<br>
Ethics is popular in Illinois right now, so popular that two mayoral
candidates in the Village of Niles, a northwest suburb of Chicago (pop.
30,000), are putting it at the center of their campaigns. But it's not
ethics as most of us like to think of it.<br>
<br>
This love of ethics doesn't have much to do with Governor Blagojevich.
According to <a href="http://www.pioneerlocal.com/niles/news/1379305,ni-ethics-011509-s1.arti…; target="”_blank”">an
article</a> in yesterday's Niles <span>Herald-Spectator,</span>
Niles' mayor of 47 years "has pleaded guilty to federal counts of mail
fraud and tax evasion. ... He has admitted to improperly using his
office to steer village businesses to buy insurance from an agency that
paid him kickbacks."<br>
<br>
Acting village mayors can't change criminal laws, which seems to have
been sufficient here, so they settle for ethics laws to show that
they're good people. This is especially important when the former mayor
has improperly used village stationery to endorse the acting mayor's
candidacy, an unethical twofer. And the village manager was <a href="http://www.pioneerlocal.com/niles/news/1366243,ni-blasevideo-010709-s1…; target="”_blank”">going
around with a video camera</a> (a village video camera, of course)
asking local business owners (the same ones who bought the insurance
from the company that gave kickbacks to the mayor) to praise the former
mayor, a tape that could have been used to cut the former mayor's
sentence, had it not been for the village attorney pointing out that
the camera was misused and the whole project had an appearance of
impropriety.<br>
<br>
So what did the acting mayor do? He <a href="http://www.vniles.com/Content/templates/?a=2327" target="”_blank”">put together a
three-member ethics committee</a>, consisting of the acting mayor and
two of the other five village trustees (effectively council members).
At least one of the trustees on the committee is a vocal supporter of
the acting mayor's candidacy. And one of the trustees left off the
committee is the mayoral opponent. Does government ethics get any more
self-serving?<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.pioneerlocal.com/niles/news/1370315,ni-ethics-010909-s1web.a…; target="”_blank”">According
to the Niles </a><span><a href="http://www.pioneerlocal.com/niles/news/1370315,ni-ethics-010909-s1web.a…; target="”_blank”">Herald-Spectator</a>,</span>
the committee will be assisted by two attorneys, whom the acting mayor
declined to name. "I don't want the press calling up and bothering
them," he said.<br>
<br>
Well, at least the ethics committee will have independent counsel.
Normally, I feel that using the local government attorney is the wrong
thing to do, but this village attorney sounds like he really
understands government ethics and acts proactively to deal with
unethical conduct. I can see why he was apparently left out of the
ethics process.<br>
<br>
The mayoral opponent naturally does not like the self-serving ethics
setup. First, according to <a href="http://www.pioneerlocal.com/niles/news/1379281,ni-ethicreact-011509-s1…; target="”_blank”">yet
another article</a> in the Niles <span>Herald-Spectator,</span>
she wants to be on the ethics committee. Of course, that would make the
committee four of the six trustees, but this is a self-serving
exercise, and there are a lot of political selves to serve.<br>
<br>
The mayoral opponent also wants citizens to be on the committee, which
is a nice thought. A better thought would be to drop the trustees, and
hold the citizens. But why would anyone want to serve <span>them</span>?<br>
<br>
For an update about what's going on in Niles, ethically speaking, as of April 2009, click <a href="http://www.pioneerlocal.com/niles/news/1546171,niles-ethicsmeeting-0430…; target="”_blank”">here<a>.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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