How to Unsettle a Settlement Agreement
What happens if an ethics commission enters into a settlement agreement
in which an official admits to certain conduct in violation of the
jurisdiction's ethics code, and then the official goes out into the
world and says he did nothing wrong, but felt it was best for everyone
to pay the fine and move on?<br>
<br>
Well, according to <a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090123_Ethics_board_head__Hughes…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Philadelphia </a><span><a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090123_Ethics_board_head__Hughes…; target="”_blank”">Inquirer</a>,</span>
Philadelphia's ethics board gets at least some officials to agree "not
to make any public statements that are inconsistent with the terms of
the agreement." A clever move.<br>
<br>
But what happens when the official ignores this part of the agreement?<br>
<br>
The offense involved campaign finance (an excessively high contribution
to a city council member's campaign, by a state senator), but it could
have been any ethics violation.<br>
<br>
The state senator and his attorney spoke to the press about the
conduct, and said things that appear to be inconsistent with the
agreement. The ethics board's executive director, Shane Creamer, took
the issue to the press and, of course, the senator's attorney denied
that they had said anything inconsistent with the agreement.<br>
<br>
To which the ethics board director said, "The bottom line is that Sen.
Hughes gave an unfair advantage to a city candidate who was in a close
election. . . . His mischaracterization of his admitted violations is
nothing more than an attempt to mislead the public about the
seriousness of his committee's actions."<br>
<br>
That goes to the root of the problem. Fines are secondary. The most
important thing about ethics enforcement is getting the message across
to the public, to other officials and, in cases such as this, to other
campaign contributors why ethics rules are important and why enforcing
them is important. When a politician acts as if he didn't really do
anything so bad, he's questioning the validity of the ethics process
and undermining the board's attempt to educate the public.<br>
<br>
Not being straight about an ethics violation can be worse than the
violation itself. I commend Philadelphia for using such a clause in its
settlement agreements, and following up on it when it is ignored.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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