The Importance of Public Financial Disclosure
According to <a href="http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/mayor_ray_nagins_ownership_o…; target="”_blank”">an
article yesterday in the New Orleans <span>Times-Picayune</span></a>,
there's a battle going on in New Orleans, but this time it involves a
flood of public documents, as well as a trickle of financial disclosure
forms. The battle is between the mayor and the city council, on one side, and a civil rights
organization called the <a href="http://www.louisianajusticeinstitute.org" target="”_blank”">Louisiana Justice
Institute</a> on the other. <br>
<br>
The trickle is of greatest interest here, because it clearly shows the need for annual (and public) financial disclosure.<br>
<br>
The LJI made a public records request
last week for the annual financial disclosure forms filed by the mayor,
city council, and other officials. According to Section 2-692(d) of the
New Orleans Ordinances:<br>
<br>
<div>The financial statement
shall be filed with the city attorney and shall be accompanied by the
affidavit of the public official filing it certifying that the
information contained in the financial statement is true and correct to
the best of his knowledge, information and belief. The financial
statement
shall be a public record, subject to the provisions of R.S. 44:1
through 44:41.</div><br>
R.S. 44:1-41 is the state public records act. None of the state
exceptions appear to apply to financial disclosure forms of city
officials.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.louisianajusticeinstitute.org/standoff+story" target="”_blank”">According
to the LJI</a>, the LJI requested the financial statements on March 24,
2009, and on March 30, beyond the date written notification was
required, "Penya Moses-Fields [the city attorney] refused to release
the records
of the City Council members because Council Attorney Steven Lane
insisted he be allowed to redact information from the forms, or
completely withhold the council records."<br>
<br>
Sadly, the most important piece of information is that the mayor filed
his 2007 financial statement on March 30, 2009. Later that day,
apparently, the financial statements were turned over to the LJI, and
they were immediately placed <a href="http://www.louisianajusticeinstitute.org/financial+disclosures+link" target="”_blank”">online</a>
and made available to the press.<br>
<br>
The next day, the <span>Times-Picayune</span>
wrote about the fact that the mayor and his wife had owned 40% of a
company that had done business with a company seeking tax breaks and
several streets at a bargain price from the city. The mayor's company
stopped doing business earlier this year.<br>
<br>
Many officials argue that financial disclosure is an invasion of
privacy. In fact, when asked about the mayor's company, his spokeswoman
said, "the city does not comment on the personal matters of the mayor."<br>
<br>
But the mayor had hidden the extent of his family's ownership of the
company until after it had closed its doors. And he appears to have
entered into a contract with a company that was seeking concessions
from the city. Where is the personal matter here? The mayor was doing
business with an applicant. There is a strong appearance that his firm
was hired in order to get his support. No official has the right to
keep private his attempts to benefit personally from public business.<br>
<br>
Without the LJI's request for the financial statements, this
information would have remained private. The city attorney clearly
alerted the mayor to the request, and the mayor filed his statement
nearly a year late. The council attorney tried to prevent public
records of his clients to be made public. They both were representing
the people they answered to, but neither was representing the public
interest in knowing about their elected officials' possible conflicts
of interest. And neither of them was following city or state law.<br>
<br>
If government attorneys will go to this trouble to prevent financial disclosure forms from being made public, if a mayor will suddenly file a statement when it is requested, then it is very clear how valuable annual financial disclosure is. And how important it is that it be made public not only in law, but also in fact.<br>
<br>
As for the flood, that involved a request for city council e-mails,
which was filled. But then the city council filed a suit to prevent the
LJI from making the public records public. It is currently being
litigated.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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