Atlanta Ethics Report a Model for Other Local Governments
Happy Fifth Birthday, Atlanta Ethics Office! The Ethics Office has
celebrated its birthday with <a href="http://atlantaga.govhost.com/client_resources/government/boards/board_o…; target="”_blank”">a
40-page report</a> on its first five years of existence. It is well
worth looking at.<br>
<br>
The report is entitled <span>Ethics Is the
Only Deal, </span>from something Mayor Shirley Franklin said:
“Ethics is a big deal. . . . [I]t is the only deal. . . . We cannot
accomplish anything, not economic development, not clean water or
better sewers if we lose the public trust.”<br>
<br>
The report looks at the office's major achievements, and then goes
through its various responsibilities in just the right order:
ethics training, public education, advice, disclosure, and enforcement
(the enforcement section is smartly titled "Accountability Through
Enforcement").<br>
<br>
But this report is not only a model in its organization, design, and
use of visuals and ethics "vignettes." It is also a call for
improvements. Right up front, the Executive Summary looks forward more
than it looks back, calling for "every city official, whether elected
or volunteer, and every employee, from the chief operating officer to
the building inspector, to incorporate ethical considerations into
their operational decisions." This should be the goal of every ethics
program, but this forest is often ignored in the war over each of a
program's many trees. The Executive Summary goes on to make more
specific recommendations, and then the report ends with a more detailed
version of these same recommendations.<br>
<br>
This is what a report should be: a look back in order to move
forward. Ethics commissions should not be shy in making recommendations
for change. They know better than anyone what needs to be done to reach
their goals. And they can try to move the program forward even when
there isn't a scandal forcing elected officials' hands.<br>
<br>
Also worth a look is <a href="http://atlantaga.gov/client_resources/government/boards/board_of_ethics…; target="”_blank”">a
2007 report </a>on the first year of Atlanta's Integrity Line, a
hotline for ethics complaints. And visit the Atlanta Board of Ethics <a href="http://atlantaga.gov/government/boards/boardofethics.aspx" target="”_blank”">website
</a>to see other <a href="http://atlantaga.gov/government/boards/ethicspublications.aspx?section=…; target="”_blank”">publications</a>,
including newsletters and some good ethics guidelines for different audiences.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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