You are here
The Art of Making People Skittish
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
Robert Wechsler
Move over, presidents, movie stars, and models. Welcome a local
government ethics officer to your ranks.
Yes, at last a local government ethics officer's picture is on the cover of a magazine. The ethics officer is City Ethics' own Carla Miller, and the magazine is Northeast Florida's Folio Weekly. And there's even an incredible article inside, which details Miller's long-running battle to get Jacksonville a first-class ethics program, a battle which is still going strong.
My favorite quote from Carla is:
Needless to say, Miller has put her nose into some pretty questionable-sounding procurement practices involving big, big money, and it hasn't made her many friends in the city government. As the article says about Miller, "As a former prosecutor, she says that when she senses her questions make people skittish, she tends to want to know more."
This is a classic, well-written article about what it takes to get an ethics program instituted in a city that isn't crazy about the idea.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
Yes, at last a local government ethics officer's picture is on the cover of a magazine. The ethics officer is City Ethics' own Carla Miller, and the magazine is Northeast Florida's Folio Weekly. And there's even an incredible article inside, which details Miller's long-running battle to get Jacksonville a first-class ethics program, a battle which is still going strong.
My favorite quote from Carla is:
You can pick safe issues or you can
pick ones where people are skittish. Safe issues would be: Let’s
discuss whether or not employees can get fruit baskets, and should
fruit baskets have chocolate in them, because that might bring it up
over the $100 limit. Or do you say: The procurement code is really
interesting, and how does that work and is it a fair and transparent
system in plain English for the citizens of Jacksonville to understand?
Needless to say, Miller has put her nose into some pretty questionable-sounding procurement practices involving big, big money, and it hasn't made her many friends in the city government. As the article says about Miller, "As a former prosecutor, she says that when she senses her questions make people skittish, she tends to want to know more."
This is a classic, well-written article about what it takes to get an ethics program instituted in a city that isn't crazy about the idea.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
Story Topics:
- Robert Wechsler's blog
- Log in or register to post comments
