February 24, 2006


Establishment of Ethics Task Force needed

By Supervisor Pete Mchugh
Special to the Times

At the recent State of the County event, Chairperson Jim Beall stated that the Board of Supervisors should immediately establish an Ethics Task Force made up of members of the Board.

I believe the rationale for this recommendation stems from recent ethics scandals. These scandals pervade current events at the federal, state and local levels and have led to a distrust of government and elected officials.

The creation of a task force would establish stronger ethics and lobbying ordinances this year. I strongly support this idea and I plan to ask the Board to appoint me as a member.

I believe that the Board of Supervisors and County staff currently practice high ethical standards. However, we must take proactive measures to uphold this practice and the trust of voters. We must also continue to operate for the good of the people and serve those individuals who most need County services.

I believe the establishment of this Task Force will achieve this objective. Because the Task Force is not yet created, no scope of work has been defined. I have ideas that I believe are important to consider and I look forward to proposing two specific issues that I introduced in November 2005 but were not adopted.

The first proposal prevents all elected officials from holding any business interest or job other than that position for which they were elected. The proposal would extend the current prohibition applicable only to members of the Board of Supervisors and apply it to all other County elected officials. I firmly believe that every County elected official receives adequate compensation and we must all focus on the office for which we were elected.

The second proposal requires disclosure of fundraising solicitations by all Santa Clara County elected officials. As elected officials, we often lend our name to various organizations that provide services to the community or advocate for a specific cause. This involvement generally requires us to either directly or indirectly fundraise on behalf of these organizations. Many of these organizations have or will have business with the County. The proposed ordinance requires County elected officials to report direct fundraising solicitations twice a year. An elected official would have to comply with this provision if they send out direct solicitation letters, open up their home for use as an event location, or pay the majority of the costs for a fundraising event.

These two proposals do not represent the totality of potential changes. Lapses in ethics can occur at any level of County government. The Task Force should not only identify ways to bolster policies applicable to County elected officials, it should also review policies applicable to all County employees. County employees have frequent contact with the public due to the wide array of services it offers. County employees must act in the most ethical and professional manner possible. The Board of Supervisors should establish policies that will achieve this objective.

Transparency in government is the hallmark of ethical governance and maintains the trust of our constituents. As elected officials we must set higher standards for ourselves and uphold the confidence of our constituents. We must also insure that every county employee behaves in an ethical manner. When distrust of government appears at an all time high, we must work to rebuild that trust. I look forward to using the work of the Ethics Task Force to further the goal of ethical governance.