City Ethics
Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Educating the Public About the Limited Role of an Ethics Commission

Anonymous
County Related

<b>See update below</b><br>
What is a local government ethics commission's role when a government
official has done something illegal or unethical that has nothing to do
with the official's work in government? That's the question facing the
Knox County (TN) Ethics Committee, according to <a href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/may/27/ethics-panel-defers-action-loc…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Knoxville </a><span><a href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/may/27/ethics-panel-defers-action-loc…; target="”_blank”">News-Sentinel</a>.<span><span></span></span><br>
<br>

</span>The county law director has confessed to taking thousands of
dollars from his then law firm to pay off a tax lien on his home. He is
paying the money back.<br>
<br>
County commissioners are up in arms about what happened, with many
calling for his resignation. But the ethics committee has no idea what
to do, and tabled the issue to their June meeting.<br>
<br>
One EC member felt that the state Board of Professional Responsibility
was better suited to deal with this matter, and she was right. The EC
chair questioned what the EC could do that was not being done. He too
was right. The acting county attorney said the EC had two courses of
action:  dealing with a complaint if one were filed, or
investigating on its own initiative. He was wrong.<br>
<br>
A look at the comments to this article makes it clear what the EC
should have done:  educate the public about its limited but
important role in the community: dealing with conflicts between private and public interest. Instead, the EC is being attacked for
not acting quickly to rid the county of an unethical official.<br>
<br>
One comment reads, "Why do they call it 'Ethics Committee'?" The EC needs
to tell the people of Knox County why it's called the Ethics Committee
and why it has no role in this affair.<br>
<br>
<i>Update</i> (6/10/09): According to <a href="http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/47427577.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an article on volunteertv.com</a>, the ethics committee unanimously asked the county law director to resign. So much for educating the public about the fact that ethics commissions do not have jurisdiction over private conduct or over conduct prior to an official's government service.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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