Jacksonville Ethics Commission Takes the Lead in Ethics Reform
In Jacksonville-- where City Ethics' founder, Carla Miller, is the
Ethics Officer -- the ethics commission is taking the lead in ethics
reform, according to <a href="http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=52806" target="”_blank”">an
article</a> in the Jacksonville <span>Daily
Record. <br>
<br>
</span>The EC legislative subcommittee is recommending, for
presentation to the charter revision commission, the following reforms:<br>
<br>
<div>1. Putting the ethics code back into
the city charter<br>
<br>
2. Having a funding source for the EC to be set aside, so that the EC
can hire staff. This would allow the ethics officer to report to the EC
instead of to both the mayor and the council president, an impossible
situation for an ethics officer.<br>
<br>
3. Giving the EC subpoena powers and the power to issue civil fines<br>
</div>
<br>
The second and third recommendations, which give the EC independence
and teeth, are extremely important. However, I'm not a fan of having
ethics codes in charters, because changes are so hard to make. On the
other hand, in a city such as Jacksonville, where elected officials
appear to have been dragged into the modern world of government ethics,
it might be worth putting the ethics code into the charter in order to
protect the code and the EC from mayoral and council interference.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.jacksonville.com/opinion/letters_from_readers/2009-07-24/sto…; target="”_blank”">a
guest column</a> in the <span>Times-Union,</span>
Jim Rinaman, who is credited with having helped design Jacksonville's
government, recommended to the charter revision commission that EC
members be elected by district. I have never heard of EC members being
elected. It would seem that requiring EC members to get involved in
electoral politics, and the parties that participate in them, would
undermine their independence and prevent many unaffiliated or
nonpolitical people -- the best sort for an EC -- from becoming members.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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