At this week's City Council meeting, we held a Study Session to discuss the adoption of an ethics policy. The policy would apply to Troy City government elected officials and to members of the City's appointed boards and committees.
We discussed two ways to approach this issue. My preference is the adoption of an ordinance and creation of an appointed ethics board. However, a majority of City Council prefers the adoption of an ethics policy without any kind of ethics board.
For more information on the ethics policy we will probably be utilizing, go to... http://blog.dave.lambert.net/Josephson.pdf
In response to our Study Session discussion, here's an email the Mayor and Council received today from Mary Ann Bernardi...
Dear Mayor and Council:How quick we forget. You are considering, but resisting, the development of an ethics policy. It is understandable that you may not see the need for one since at this time, we probably don't need one. However, in the recent past, we needed one, and we needed it badly. Moreover, we may need one in the future. Let me give you just one example, of which there were many. I choose this one because I was personally involved and felt very frightened with no tools to try to rectify this situation. If there had been an ethics board in place, I could have filed a complaint with them. They could have evaluated the situation and put in place a warning, or a punishment, which might have thwarted future incidents of this type. That would have benefited all of us, including the perpetrator. I was at city hall for a meeting of some kind. I heard a commotion in the hall and stepped into the hall to see what it was all about. What I saw actually frightened me. I was afraid for our city attorney, Lori Bloom. She was being victimized by extreme loud verbal abuse from a male mayor who was standing very close to her and towering over her. I was afraid to leave for fear that without a witness, something could happen. But, I felt a need to get help from others. I quickly went into the meeting and asked a city staff person to do something. They went out to summon the city manager and I went back out into the hall to kind of monitor the situation. When the city manager arrived, I left the scene. Now, I ask you, given the fact that this was in the context of pervasive and persistent abusive behaviors at city council meetings as well, should there not have been some structured manner in dealing with this? Well, there was no such mechanism in place. The residents and the city staff, as well as, most city council members continued to witness this type of behavior with much anxiety throughout the term. We all grappled with it the best we could, but had no meaningful way to put the brakes on it. It was very difficult to deal with the controversial issues that were at hand during this time, and this stressful mode of communication made it even more so. Government does not like over-sight. It never seems to think it has a need for it. Private industry, private corporations and businesses do not have the luxury of voting NOT to have over-sight. Government is unique in that it has the right to do just that. But, does it have the moral right not to vote for over-sight? There are numerous example of where over-sight has been needed in the recent past, examples unrelated to the ones sighted above. Our Federal Government has run amuck, largely due to lack of and independent body to oversee ethical issues. Are we doomed to repeat this mistake at every level of government? I certainly hope not. Our liberty, our quality of life, our very government depends upon our ability to make the right decision in this extremely critical matter. I do not think that "baby steps" are enough. We need an elected ethics board. We need an ethics policy that is relevant, that is specific, and that has specific enforcement measures. Please do the right thing, not just for now, but for the future, which none of us can predict.
What do you think? Send me an email at dave@lambert.net .
