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No one is perfect. The devil is in the details. No good deed
goes unpunished Every
saying a clich and every saying accurately describes Bernalillo
Countys Ethics
Ordinance. The ordinance was I believe an honest attempt to
protect the public
from both the perception and reality of misbehavior by county
employees and
elected officials. It created a set of standards and a process
for enforcing those
standards.
Allegations against any county employee or elected official can
be made through a
sworn complaint or anonymously. A web portal was set up to
collect anonymous
complaints and not surprisingly the countys web portal quickly
became the favorite
way to file a complaint.
No one is perfect In order to protect employees and officials
from frivolous
complaints, anonymous complaints are reviewed by an independent
investigator to
determine the validity of the allegation and the applicability
of the ordinance.
Should facts supporting a violation be found, the ordinance
requires that the
Internal Audit Contractor prepare the sworn complaint and
present its investigationto the Ethics Board.
The ordinance clearly intends that a full board of five members
be present to hear
complaints even providing for a replacement appointee where a
member has a
conflict of interest.
To date, there have been three cases where the Internal Audit
Contractor found
facts that support a violation of the countys Ethics Ordinance.
Would it surprise you
that one of the complaints has been dismissed despite the fact
that the full Ethics
Board hasnt heard a case in well over a decade? It certainly
surprised me. In fact, I
was shocked!
The devil is in the details A constituent of mine recently
quipped is it any surprise
that they found a way around the ordinance when the ordinance
itself was taken
from Cook County Illinois? In point of fact, the shortcut to
dismissal wasnt found in
Chicago, but right here in the City of Albuquerque.
At the last full meeting of the Ethics Board in October of 2010,
the County Attorney
presented the board with a set of Rules and Regulations that
included language
from the City of Albuquerque Ethics Board creating a review
committee of three
members. The review committee made up of Ethics Board members
appointed
by the Ethics Board Chair - has the authority to summarily
dismiss complaints insecret prior to a public hearing. Thats how a
case that was never heard by the
Ethics Board and never heard by the public was dismissed.
At the time the dismissed case was reviewed by the review
committee, there
were two members of the Ethics Board still waiting to be
confirmed and one of the
three review committee members was an appointee of the accused.
County
Attorney Jeff Landers in a memo dated January 18, 2011,
encouraged the three
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remaining members to review the case in spite of the fact that
the board was
missing two members. Worse, he seemingly encouraged dismissal
stating [a]s you
are aware, the review committee is able to review the Complaint
and determine
whether it believes that the matter should be dismissed without
hearing. How can
the public trust a ruling from a committee where one of three
members was
appointed by the accused, the decision was made in secret, and
the CountyAttorney appears to be encouraging dismissal without a
public hearing?
The ethics ordinance created a two step process where an
independent investigator
reviews a case to determine its merits, then presents the case
to the full Ethics
Board. It does not include a review committee, and does not
permit hearings by
less than the full board. The review committee process is a
disservice to and
perhaps even a deception of the public. Not to mention the pall
it casts over the
accused who is denied the opportunity of a public
exoneration.
No good deed goes unpunished The three complaints found to have
merit
including the dismissed complaint, have all been against
Commission Chair andEthics Ordinance champion Maggie Hart Stebbins.
Its the irony of ethics ordinances
that they can be used unethically and perhaps that is the case
here. However, we
will never know for sure in at least one case because that case
has been dismissed
in secret by a review committee.
The people of Bernalillo County deserve open, transparent, and
ethical government.
There can be no shortcuts to dismissal and no short circuiting
of the original process
created by the Commission. Valid complaints need to be heard in
public not
dismissed behind closed doors. Its our responsibility as elected
officials to restore
and maintain the trust in county government. Obviously, we still
have a long way to
go.
Wayne Johnson
Bernalillo County Commissioner District 5
(505) 238-9352
[email protected]
