Local Government Attorneys' Conflict re Conflicts
The most complicating (sic) part of conflicts of interest is the being
interested part. When one is interested in something, not necessarily
in a financial way, it can be very hard to get the emotional distance
necessary to analyze a conflict properly. In other words, it's hard for
many people to admit the possibility that they may have a conflict and
then to determine rationally what should be done about it.<br>
<br>
A case in point involves the village attorney of Mokena, IL.<br>
<br>
According
to <a href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1457023,4_1_JO03_MOK…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Joliet </a><span><a href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1457023,4_1_JO03_MOK…; target="”_blank”">Herald-News</a>,</span>
he rejected an ethics complaint regarding village trustees who
campaigned against a referendum. He was probably right in dismissing
the complaint, but he should not have been the one to reject it. Why?
Because he is also the ethics adviser to the village board, and board
members had asked him if it was okay to speak out publicly about the
referendum, which involved the nature of the board itself. So he was making a decision on his own decision. To have allowed the complaint would have been to admit that he had been wrong, and that the village trustees acted wrongfully on his advice.<br>
<br>
Citizens will feel that he threw out the complaint to protect his reputation. This is not the way to gain respect for an ethics program or trust in government for the people rather than for government officials. Acting as both ethics adviser and ethics officer undermines an ethics program.<br>
<br>
According to the article, the village attorney "said he saw no conflict
between serving as ethical adviser to
the village board and reviewing ethics complaints from residents." His
inability to see a conflict regarding himself shows how hard ethics
self-enforcement is.<br>
<br>
It also shows that local government attorneys should not act as an
ethics officer or commission. Between appointment, loyalties, and
conflicting duties, it is a position fraught with conflicts of interest.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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