Fuzzy Ethics

There never seems enough hours in a day to capture all of my rants. But recent Sun articles about Senator Currie and Mayor Dixon require a response. These two cases don't have much in common, except one thing - both the Senator and the Mayor took the opportunity to bend and blur ethical lines. I find this really frustrating to say the least.

Let's look at the Mayor's case. She had a relationship with a man who does business with the city. A lot of people want to look at the relationship itself - fancy trips and fur coats. But that's no one's business and really beside the point. The point is that when an elected official is involved with someone who does business with the city, that elected official is to recuse themselves from voting or lobbying on behalf of the individual. Who knows how the Mayor, then the City Council President, would have voted on the business at hand if she had not been involved with him, Ronald Lipscomb. She insists her votes wouldn't have been different. Maybe so. Who cares? She broke the rules. Ethics rules are there to reduce even the appearance of impropriety. Why doesn't the Mayor get it?

With Senator Currie, we have a similar situation. It's a little worse here. Senator Currie was actually being paid by Shopper's to consult and he didn't recuse himself of voting or using his position to give them an advantage with state agencies. He didn't disclose his relationship with Shoppers on his ethics forms. Malicious? No, I don't think so. Wrong? Yes. I'm going to guess that Senator Currie believed there were benefits to his actions beyond helping Shoppers get tax breaks and financial incentives. Getting a Shoppers at Mondawmin Mall was a great thing because that community was grossly underserved. But the Senator ignored the ethics laws.

Here's the problem. For various reasons, both the Mayor and Senator Currie felt they could ignore the ethics laws. They were clearly aware of them, otherwise why the secrecy? They may have been sincere in their goals, but we'll never know. The Mayor's relationship with Mr. Lipscomb can't be separated out from her actions. Same applies to Senator Currie. Again, that is why we have ethics laws. These are the situations people with power can get themselves into and the laws are very clear. Recuse yourself. Simple enough, but clearly too much to ask the Mayor or the Senator.

We deserve better. We really do. Not only are these folks ruining their careers, but they are creating a lack of confidence in our democratic system. That's unfortunate. I know I don't feel we can trust any politician. It's just those politicians who believe they are doing the right thing that ignore the ethics laws. They didn't believe their behavior was unethical. They forgot about the appearance of impropriety. It's really just as bad.

Quick coffee note - I'm loving, loving, loving Zeke's Italian Roast blend. It's so dark and rich and lovely. You must try some!