All Articles Tagged "ethics"
Atlanta Cheating Scandal: Should Educators Face Jail for ‘Robbing’ Kids?
(Christian Science Monitor) – With Atlanta in the middle of an unprecedented teacher cheating scandal where at least 178 teachers and principals in more than half the city’s elementary schools changed test answers in order to make themselves and the district look good, the looming question now is whether those educators could, or should, face jail time. Three county prosecutors are now perusing an 800-page report released Tuesday by Gov. Nathan Deal’s office which describes how educators altered government documents and lied to investigators – crimes punishable by as many as 10 years in prison – in order to get bonuses, raise the district’s profile, and pad the résumés of top administrators.
Ethics Report Targets Pr. George’s
(Washington Post) — Prince George’s County should strengthen its ethics regulations and get tough on government officials who try to make backroom deals or throw business to undeserving cronies and political supporters, a task force said. In a sweeping examination of ethics rules in Prince George’s, the task force, led by Howard University Law School Dean Kurt L. Schmoke urged county officials on Monday to help the county shed its reputation as a place where businesses must “pay to play” by creating an independent inspector general’s office, retooling its weak ethics board, setting up an anonymous tip line and overhauling the county’s contracting procedures to ensure that awards are based on merit, not cronyism.
Kwame Brown Proposes Sweeping Ethics Reform
(Washington Informer) — D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown introduced sweeping ethics reform legislation on Tuesday that would create an accountability office tasked with investigating and penalizing city employees and council members for ethical breaches. Ethics reform was a key component of Brown’s campaign platform, but it appeared Brown didn’t have support for the initiative during a council retreat in January. Much has changed since then. Brown himself has been caught asking taxpayers to foot the bill for a “fully loaded” Lincoln Navigator, his campaign finances have been questioned by an audit, and Mayor Vincent Gray has become the subject of two federal investigations into his campaign and hiring practices. City leaders — D.C. Council members among them — have been left to remake their image in the public’s eye, and Brown’s ethics bill gives them the chance to do that.
In DC New Mayor Stays on the Defense
(New York Times) — When Vincent C. Gray campaigned for mayor last fall, he promised to bring character, integrity and leadership back to the District of Columbia. But 100 days into Mr. Gray’s tenure, he is battling the perception that his administration has brought anything but, mostly because several staff members have been accused of helping their children get jobs in his administration and of receiving inflated salaries. Mr. Gray’s supporters say that the allegations are overblown, and that salary caps were exceeded by small amounts and involved only a few people. But they nevertheless have cast a harsh light on the city just as it has become a target for Republicans in Congress over abortion and school vouchers. This is all bad news for a city trying to overcome its past, Mr. Gray’s critics say. They argue that the headlines created by his missteps are reviving bad memories of the 1980s, when the city, under Mayor Marion Barry, bungled its affairs so badly that it was taken over by a federally appointed control board.
D.C. Council Member’s Finances Probed
(Washington Post) — The District’s campaign finance office told D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) Tuesday that it would investigate allegations that he did not fully disclose financial dealings with organizations he ran. The office, which enforces the city’s financial disclosure laws, is looking at the purchase of an Audi sport-utility vehicle bought by a company affiliated with Thomas and then re-registered in Thomas’s name. The company, HLT Team Thomas/SwingAway LLC, also collected more than $10,000 in payments from Thomas’s 2006 campaign committee. Furthermore, Thomas said in November that his now-defunct nonprofit organization, Team Thomas, paid for travel he made after he was elected.
Ethics Panel to Probe APS
(AJC) — An ethics panel related to the Atlanta school board decided Wednesday to investigate whether board members Courtney English, Yolanda Johnson and Nancy Meister improperly considered a contract with an outside communications firm last year at the same time the firm did “pro bono” work on their behalf during a lawsuit that split the board.
Ex-Todd Stroger Aide Gets Jobless Pay Despite Corruption Charge
(Chicago Sun Times) — A former top Cook County official awaiting trial on public corruption charges has been collecting unemployment benefits despite her arrest, county officials confirmed Wednesday. Former County Board President Todd Stroger approved the payments to his former deputy chief of staff Carla Oglesby before he left office — even though she had been ousted from her job after she was accused of multiple felonies for allegedly doling out no-bid, no-work county government contracts to a firm she owned and others owned by her pals. “This was approved before we were in office,” said Jessey Neves, spokeswoman for newly elected board president Toni Preckwinkle. County commissioners asked Stroger to fight Oglesby’s application filed with the state’s unemployment office. County records show Oglesby collected at least $3,465 in unemployment payments in the final months of last year.
Report Critical of Kwame Brown’s Wheels – and Those of Others
(Washington Post) — D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown “inappropriately requested” a Lincoln Navigator and District officials violated the law by leasing the luxury SUV, according to a council report released Monday that raises new questions about how some local leaders may be getting around the city. The report, issued by the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, concludes that Brown (D) requested the SUV despite a 2004 city law that prohibits the leasing or buying of city vehicles that get fewer than 22 miles per gallon. According to the Web site for Navigator, the SUV gets 14 miles a gallon in city driving and 20 miles a gallon on the highway.
The committee found that the Department of Public Works, which is in charge of the city’s non-emergency fleet program, disregarded the law in Brown’s case and in the acquisition of dozens of other vehicles in recent years. DPW has purchased or leased at least 28 SUVs since 2004 for District employees for reasons “not related to security” or emergency response, the report stated.
Fulton Chairman Fires Back at ‘Thief’ Claim
(AJC) — Commission Chairman John Eaves said he was trying to fight the perception Fulton County has a dysfunctional government. But the way he went about it got him lambasted and accused of improprieties. Commissioners said he bucked county policy by hiring a personal media liaison and using a voucher to pay her $2,499.99 — one cent below the threshold that would land the payment on a report viewed by the board.
Under a 2002 resolution, Fulton commissioners are allowed four full-time employees. Commissioner Emma Darnell charged Eaves violated that, too. “You’re a thief when you send in a voucher for $2,499 to get a fifth employee,” she said at Wednesday’s commission meeting, after Eaves left early.
Atlanta Councilman Willis Gets Ethics Fine
(AJC) — Offering a strong rebuke, the Atlanta Board of Ethics fined H. Lamar Willis one of the largest amounts levied against an Atlanta city council member, ruling that he accepted money for his foundation that was provided by companies and people doing business with the city. The board voted 7-0 to fine Willis $3,500, with $500 due on March 1. In 2009, Ceasar Mitchell and Kwanza Hall had to pay $15,000 and $11,200, respectively, in fines. From 2002 to 2007, Willis operated the H. Lamar Willis Foundation, largely out of his city council office and off the largess of people with something to sell to the city, said Ginny Looney, city ethics officer.
