The Results of Jefferson County's Unethical Behavior
It's rare to see the clear results of unethical behavior in local
government. Sadly, exceptionally clear results can be seen in a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/us/01alabama.html" target="”_blank”">front-page
article</a> in today's New York <span>Times.</span><br>
<br>
Jefferson County, Alabama, the home of Birmingham, had a serious
scandal involving sewer repairs and bonds, which <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/575" target="”_blank”">I wrote about</a> last year
(billions were borrowed and heavily risked; effectively the county
played investment bank). More than twenty people have been convicted in
the sewer scandal. The president of the county commission, now mayor of
Birmingham, was arrested a year and a half ago, but has not yet gone to
trial.<br>
<br>
Today, for county employees, the unethical behavior hits the fan. Two-thirds of
those eligible for layoffs, up to 1,400 employees, are to be
laid off today. This includes about 400 of the 488 county employees
doing road and bridge repair; 75% of the probate court staff; the
juvenile detention center's entire cafeteria staff.<br>
<br>
Moody's rates Jefferson County's credit the lowest of any local
government in the United States. Lower even than Detroit's. The county
asked the governor to declare a state of emergency, but the governor
declined.<br>
<br>
In addition, the county has been hurt because it played games,
something that usually goes along with a poor ethics environment. For
example, "a tax the county relied on for more than a quarter of its
general fund was illegal because the Legislature repealed it in 1999."
Fought in the courts until earlier this year, the county's right to
collect the tax has ended, and the county commission is blaming not
itself, but the legislature, for not changing the law.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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