Ethics Made Simple

Our own Ethics board's guide (or one of them) along this mission of re-crafting Pittsburgh ethics laws has been Carla Miller, former Federal prosecutor and founder of the non-profit organization City Ethics.

Robert Wechsler is City Ethics' Research Director. He writes the blog, and maintains the City Ethics Model Ethics Code Project which includes an annotated version of a "model" municipal ethics code.

After bulleting four "essential elements" to all good municipal ethics codes in the Forward to the model code, our authors identify a fifth:

The other essential element of an effective ethics code is that it be the center of an ethical environment. Rarely is the passage of an ethics code the result of an ethics environment. More commonly, it is a response to a scandal or series of scandals in an environment where unethical behavior has been accepted, up to a point.

Boy, howdy!

In such instances, work on a new or revised ethics code can be an exercise in political oneupmanship.

Everything in moderation. Oneupsmanship is a term of art. If a bidding war develops among several grandstanding council members, each of whom would like to appear More Ethical Than Thou, things can get ridiculous pretty quickly.

Then again, if no one at all takes a stand in favor of rigorous ethical standards -- do we all pat ourselves on the back for not oneuping ourselves?

But the writing or revision of an ethics code can also be an occasion for, and centerpiece of, the founding of an ethical environment. The discussion of a new or improved ethics code can help a community determine its goals and ideals, and identify conduct that is consistent and inconsistent with an ethical environment. It can also provide guidance that will help people in and out of government think and act more ethically. Out of this process should come, besides the code itself, an ongoing ethics education system and an organized as well as informal system of rewarding ethical behavior and the examination of issues through an ethical as well as a practical lens.

SOLD! We like it.

##

From the model code itself:

It is central to gaining and retaining the public's trust in our city's government that public servants seek to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Fulfilling one's role as public servant sometimes means sacrificing rather than gaining opportunities.

So far so good. Skipping ahead to the juicy stuff:

4. Gifts. a. An official or employee*, his or her spouse or domestic partner*, child or step-child, parent, or member of his or her household*, may not solicit nor accept anything of value from any person or entity that the official or employee knows, or has reason to believe, has received or sought a financial benefit*, directly or through a relationship with another person or entity, from the city within the previous three years, or intends to seek a financial benefit in the future.

If in doubt, the official or employee should refrain from soliciting or refuse a gift, and should first inquire into the person or entity's relationship with the city.

And from Rob's annotated commentary:

Cities have taken a great variety of approaches to the gift problem. The approach here is to limit only gifts from people and entities that do business with or otherwise get financial benefits from the city, including permits, zoning approval, etc. Other common approaches are to limit the amount of gifts or to limit the type of gifts or the type of givers.

That seems pretty cut and dry.

Officials and employees must file with the Ethics Commission, on or before January 31, a list of all gifts received during the preceding calendar year by them or by their spouse or domestic partner, child or step-child, parent, or member of their household, to the extent that the aggregate amount of gifts received from an individual or entity (including gifts from all employees, partners, or investors) during the year is $50 or greater. Information to be disclosed is as follows:

Well then. It seems in a model code, gifts may only be accepted from sources that have not had any recent significant interest in city business (even though it's a small town), and in this example all gifts greater than $50 must be reported.

There is no section marking an exception for tickets.

##

107. Penalties for Violation of This Code

Now we're talking. It's all well and good to tell people you can't do this and you can't do that, but how are you going to enforce it?

1. Resignation, Compensation or Apology

Violation of any provision of this code should raise conscientious questions for the official or employee* concerned as to whether resignation, compensatory action, or a sincere apology is appropriate to promote the best interests of the city and to prevent the cost - in time, money, and emotion - of an investigation and hearings.

Yeah yeah yeah. Those would actually be swell in certain circumstances.

2. Disciplinary Action

Any person or entity that is found to have engaged in action or inaction that violates any provision of this code may be reprimanded, suspended, or removed by the Ethics Commission, or the Ethics Commission may seek or impose any of the sanctions or remedies listed below or in 215.

There it is!

The commentary notes that many cities do not empower their Ethics commissions to suspend or remove city employees. Indeed, this can at times be acutely problematic from a legal and collective-bargaining perspective, as can be the levying of fines. However, reprimands are cheap, and easy, and effective.

I would have chosen the word "censure", but that's purely semantics. What politician wants to walk around with two or three Ethics Reprimands on their rap sheet? That would make it hard to get ahead in life.

Sure, one could always argue that the Ethics commission was full of beans in your case, or that the Pittsburgh Ethics code is notoriously restrictive and bothersome and written by twits. And you could be right. That would depend on how reasonable and lenient our code turns out -- a code which must also be strong enough to encourage good citywide ethics, and to establish a strong ethical foundation. It's a balancing act.

So what should Pittsburgh do with its ethics code when it comes to the narrow, hot-button issue of accepting gifts? In the New Haven Model Code, no gifts at all are acceptable from givers directly affiliated with city business -- and gifts given by unaffiliated individuals must disclosed if worth more $50.

Let's call the approach inferred by the Post-Gazette on Friday "the opposite extreme". It's a very worthwhile project that we're embarking upon and it's good we're underway.

Obama of Wasilla

"Just gonna have a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country..."

(Early Returns; AP photo)

Polamalu Clearly Inhabited by Beowulf Again, and Other News

The situation has become further complicated by financial issues, including County Executive Dan Onorato's refusal to release $27.7 million being collected this year from the county's drink and car-rental taxes until the authority increases operating efficiency and reins in long-term labor costs. (P-G, Joe Grata)

We were watching the panel on OffQ discuss this, and everybody was like no, no, no, the Port Authority workers can't strike, not now, and besides which their demands are unreasonable. And perhaps they are.

Yet thus far, workers appear perfectly willing to work without a contract -- they simply don't want to be on-record "giving away" anything by sanctifying the imposed labor terms. That being the case, this withholding of county and state subsidies in order to "bump forward" a fiscal crisis and perhaps trigger a lockout seems too cute by half and as likely to backfire as not.

##

Meanwhile also on OffQ, they discussed the new grocery store coming into the Hill District. Nobody had much to say about Kuhn's having beat out Save-A-Lot for the contract (we are pleased and a little shocked!), but what was notable was that after blasting Wall Street bailouts and possible Detroit bailouts, uber-conservative local attorney Heather Heidelbaugh stated that unlike, say, stadiums and amphitheaters, this is what government should be doing -- providing a few million here and there to make sure neighborhoods have things like grocery stores. It was absolutely grand.

##

Meanwhile on OnQ, Chris Moore interviewed School District superintendent Mark Roosevelt for a full half-hour. There was way too much discussed to represent here, but we jotted some notes:

1) We keep hearing that the Schenley students are doing fine in their temporary home at Reizenstein. If we are not mistaken, only some of the Spartans made it into Reizenstein, no? Didn't others get distributed elsewhere already -- I think some of them to "University Prep" schools? Has anyone yet checked out how those kids are faring?

2) The "Managed Institution Curriculum" and the "Positive Intervention Behavior System" sound like good topics for further discussion -- and as always, any coverage on Pittsburgh's new CEP-managed school for disruptive youth (which may account for the "drop" in undisciplined behavior) is always welcome.

3) During a discussion about how what goes on elsewhere in a child's environment is important to their performance, Roosevelt offered as an example, "there's a lot of tough stuff going on in the North Side right now." Question -- really? Has there been a backslide we haven't particularly noticed? That's a good topic in itself.

##

Friday is Light Up Night, the start of the holiday season, and the museum will have extended hours that evening. From 5 to 9 p.m. visitors can mingle with craftspeople, artists, musicians and re-enactors dressed in period clothing.

The following morning, the museum will be the site of a final "Hinge of History" seminar. The focus of the daylong event will be Gen. John Forbes. He led the British and Colonial army that forced the French to abandon and burn Fort Duquesne in November 1758.

Tuesday, Nov. 25, is the 250th anniversary of the date when Forbes arrived at the smoking ruins of the French outpost. Fort Pitt Museum, which ordinarily is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day for a celebration that includes cake for all visitors. (P-G, Len Barcousky)

You've probably missed all the Pittsburgh 250 hooplah so far, but it's okay because the good stuff is just getting started.

Thursday: Your Local News

Myspace Glitter Graphics; h/t Trib, Andrew Russell

Lest we forget. Now today, here is the Trib's take:

Pittsburgh's strategy to lure people to live Downtown with the promise of 10-year tax abatements is showing signs of success, city officials said Wednesday.

Bearing a gift basket of Merlot, biscotti and bags of gourmet coffee, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl welcomed Todd and Dorna Palcic to their new two-bedroom condominium...

Darned if that isn't the news. Now in the P-G's take, compare this:

The 16 families that have bought at 941 Penn are the first to get the benefit Downtown; a handful of homeowners in other neighborhoods are enjoying it.

"We have to do a better job of marketing it," said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, as he visited 941 Penn yesterday. "Long term, we're going to have families living here in Downtown and some of our other neighborhoods that are eligible for the tax abatement."

To this:

"We're getting a lot of out-of-towners" who like the proximity to Downtown and the tax break, said Mr. DePasquale. "I don't think it would move forward as rapidly" without the break, he added, noting that he's now planning a 30-home project.

We're getting the impression this was a lot of sound and fury signifying rather little in the grand scope of encouraging residential growth.

But wait!

Mr. Ravenstahl said there's a "larger-scale development" under way in the West End that will use the program.

Smells like news.

##

No mention here of gentrification and the apparently rapid transformation of East Liberty. It's a complicated subject -- a Target in town, taken on it's own, does seem pretty positive. (P-G, Mark Belko)

PNC continues to be um ... good. (P-G, Patricia Sabatini)

I'm already convinced. Now what about our many commonses that are not piled high on Wood Street? (P-G, Edit Board)

A sign of life on county council! (Trib, Jim Ritchie)

Oh, now I see why Ruth Ann Daily doesn't get Barack Obama! And why the Post-Gazette seems so sullenly resigned to its fate! (P-G, Ruth Ann Daily)

AND FINALLY: Malik Rahim just came to town from New Orleans to receive honors from the Thomas Merton Center. So you think you know what to expect, right?

What was your reaction to Barack Obama's victory?

None, other than to say that history was made. And now it's: How we can really come up with a plan to clean our environment, and then second, do something to save our economy without just giving bailouts to the rich?

Read it. (CP, Adam Fleming)

The Band: Whispers

The song: Rock Steady

Hump Day

The cherry on top. (NYT, Susan Saulny)

Fortunately, some of the rest of us are blogging:

If you haven't read and really thought about the Angry Drunk Bureaucrat posts here, here and here, you're not processing events optimally. (ADB)

You want to start reading at, "If you want to be of value to local readers..." (Nullpsace)

These pictures are freakin' adorable. Freakin. Adorable. (Pgh Hoagie)

Pgh Is A City agrees with Michael Lamb. It doesn't quote Michael Lamb directly, but it's saying the same thing as Mike Lamb. Mike Lamb! (PghIsACity)

Maybe it is time for some hard questions. Maybe it's time to move the FACToids onto greener pastures, like this stuff and more. (Allegheny Institute)

Our Lesbian terms it a "protest", but the flier clearly identifies it as a "rally against". We find nothing at all untoward about the prospect of showing up to this Rally. (PghLesCor)

"Making it 'cool' for our young people to be intellectual, articulate and poised" is a hopeful observation indeed. Glad to have seen it in the P-G. (Diondega 412)

Speaking out of turn and unasked for: the best thing bloggers can do to be of benefit to the region is to produce extremely excellent blogging. Not to go about PR-ing. (Burgh Diaspora)

Dear Matt Drudge: I can't stay mad atch'ya. You're out of the doghouse! (Slate, Jack Shafer; h/t AS)

Mayor Delivers Annual Budget Address

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl used his Budget Address to press the case for unity, optimism, unity, family-style governance and unity -- while frequently invoking the election of Barack Hussein and the birth of Cooper Luke. (Video: P-G, Nate Guidry)

"IF WE ARE TO CONTINUE OUR SUCCESS AND OVERCOME FUTURE OBSTACLES," said Ravenstahl, "WE MUST UNITE AS ONLY A FAMILY CAN. TOGETHER, WE ARE ONE PITTSBURGH FAMILY."

"LIKE A PITTSBURGH FAMILY," the Mayor continued, "WE WILL PUT PERSONALITIES ASIDE TO FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE OF A CITY THAT DEPENDS ON US. LIKE A PITTSBURGH FAMILY, WE WILL WORK TOGETHER IN THE SPIRIT OF THIS HISTORIC ELECTION, TO RESIST THE URGE TO SAY 'NO WE CAN'T' AND INSTEAD SAY "YES WE CAN."

After touting past accomplishments such as improving some community and recreational facilities, demolishing vacant buildings, developing green spaces in their places and reducing crime to "40-year historic lows", the Mayor highlighted initiatives for 2009 such as the relocation of a South Side police station, the installation of video surveillance cameras, a two-percent slimming of the city workforce by attrition, and the expectation of continued street paving and snow removal services.

"OUR PROGRESS IN RESTORING PITTSBURGH'S FINANCIAL HEALTH HAS NOT GONE UNNOTICED," Ravenstahl said, in what is sure to become a familiar refrain as he approaches the end of Mayor O'Connor's first term as chief executive. "FOR THE THIRD TIME IN MY TWO YEARS IN OFFICE, THE CITY'S BOND RATING HAS BEEN UPGRADED BY NATIONAL RATING AGENCIES."

On the flip side, the Mayor says that the city budget will be "balanced" for the third consecutive year. The distinction between a merely balanced budget and our two consecutive structurally balanced budgets of years past is as yet unclear.

Council's finance chair, Bill Peduto, urged Ravenstahl to develop a five-year financial recovery plan with state overseers that puts Pittsburgh on stable financial ground permanently.

"We cannot operate a city government the way that we have in the past and expect anything less than budgets that continue to go into the red," Peduto said. (Trib, Jeremy Boren)

There does seem to be general agreement that budgets will return to the negative in several years as pension obligations come due -- but there is as yet no consensus on whether, when, how and to what degree anybody should concern themselves with that. As such, it's hard to make it an issue.

Mr. Ravenstahl had planned to put $54 million in the fund next year, or 15 percent more than the state-mandated minimum. Now he's scaled that back to $49.7 million, or slightly more than 5 percent more than the minimum.

"I wish they would have stuck with the 15 percent commitment," said Mr. Lamb. (P-G, Rich Lord)

Elsewhere, Our Controller speaks of bank balances "getting crushed," and of our not being out of the woods quite yet.

Although the mayor's budget address, coming as it does after the oversight boards approve his budget proposal, lends his proposal the air of finality, that blueprint must still be ratified by City Council. It will be interesting to see if anyone finds room in this for improvement.