Politics and Professionalism

3.6 Politics and Professionalism

Controversies: 3.14, 4.10, 5.15, 6.11 Key Words: city manager, politics, elected office, conflict of interest

Case Complexity → Moderate CD: 4.13 Ethical Environment of Local Government Managers CD: 4.33 Public Administration History CD: 4.15 Why Council-Manager Governments Fail

48 ◾ Ethics Moments in Government: Cases and Controversies

You are an assistant to a city manager in a small, no-growth suburban community. You live approximately twenty miles from the community in which you work and have been involved politically in your home city for about five years. Your home city has a population of 15,000 and is growing rapidly. Several years ago while serving as the treasurer of your home city, the city council refused to take action on your request to hire a full-time finance officer, instead ceding responsibility to the city manager and department heads for financial responsibility. Moreover, the

council refused to take action on new investment strategies intended to make the most of short term excess cash flows and responsibly reinvest them for a small yield. When the council ultimately hired a finance director, they hired someone who had never held a responsible position in a finance department in either the public or private sector.

You were told by the council that if you felt you could do a better job making decisions for the future of the community you should run for city council. Hmmm! Th is was a difficult decision because you recognized that you would have to resign

from your professional city management association. This you did by not renewing your membership and sending a letter to this effect to the association. You were elected in November and are currently serving a four year term on city council. You are also continuing your day job as assistant to the city manager in the neighboring community.

You were elected during a sweeping change in the council. Only one of three members was reelected, and many citizens you spoke with cited the need for change and responsibility in public institutions as the reason for ousting incumbents on council. Essentially, you ran to protect the integrity of your home community and the city management profession that, in your estimation, was being tarnished by irresponsible actions.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you feel that administrative public service and political public ser- vice are mutually exclusive as your professional city management asso- ciation feels? (You know for a certainty—three lawyers reviewed the circumstance of your roles prior to running—that you have not violated any laws.)

2. Is there a conflict of interest?

Case Assessment

Barbara Van Cott Fidler, Budget/ADA Office, City of Dunedin, Florida:

In my opinion administrative public service and political public service are mutually exclusive. The mission of the political public servant is to

Professionalism and Ethics ◾ 49

set policy based on input from the community, business, and higher levels of government. The mission of the administrative public servant is to find the solution that will benefit the community as a whole. This is done through research and analysis. The administrative public ser- vant hires staff members who have the education and experience to provide the expertise needed to implement the policy set by the politi- cal public servant.

Th e case study reveals a conflict of interest for the individual. The person in question is employed by one city as a staff person (assistant

to the city manager) and holds an elective office in his or her commu- nity twenty miles away. One would feel divided loyalties to each com- munity. Decisions made as city commissioner in one community may impact the other community. One example would be a business con- sidering relocation to the rapidly growing community from the home community. Another example is competition for grant funding, state aid, or the availability of limited resources. To be a volunteer on a board or committee for one’s community is one thing, to be on the governing board of that community is another. Sharing best practices from one community to another would be beneficial. Being a politician in one community and a public servant in another would be harmful to both communities.

Earl Mackey, (former) Executive Director of the National Conference of State Legislatures and Executive Director of the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission:

It seems to me that the first issue that arises is one of full disclosure in both sectors of your professional activities. You are employed full time as an assistant city manager in city one. You owe your employer full disclosure of your professional activities in city two. This will allow your employer to decide if your professional activities in city two are incompatible with your responsibilities. The same public dis-

closure should have been made to voters in your election campaign. Th is becomes even more important in that the two communities are

in close proximity to each other. An employer that hires a full time employee should have the opportunity to decide if other paid employ- ment is consistent with the position. This is the case regardless of legal opinions related to conflict of interests. Full disclosure serves the best interests of all parties concerned. In dealing with ethical issues, it is often wise to go beyond narrow legal definitions of conflicts and to consider whether an appearance of conflict will be raised by particu- lar activities.

50 ◾ Ethics Moments in Government: Cases and Controversies