The Committee of Seventy
Eight Penn Center
1628 JFK Boulevard
Suite 1002
Philadelphia, PA 19103
p. 215-557-3600
f. 215-557-3608
info@seventy.org

Overview of Ethics Reform

It may sound like this is just an effort to make life more difficult for sticky-fingered politicians, but this term actually covers multiple initiatives intended to remedy a wide range of governmental failings.

In a philosophical sense, ethics reform is about right and wrong and about ensuring that those in government meet their responsibilities to the public. In a practical sense, ethics reform is about raising citizen expectations regarding the quality of municipal services, ensuring equal opportunity when it comes to public employment and contracting opportunities, and eliminating discriminatory treatment, which favors the "connected" over everyone else.

Ultimately, ethics reform is about dollar and cents - tax dollars wasted or stolen, potential residents turned off by stories of municipal corruption, and corporate investment directed to jurisdictions lacking our now infamous "pay-to-play culture."

Why is Ethics Reform Needed ?

Although it's hard to nail down an accurate individual or total cost, government waste occurs at every level of government, in every state, county and municipality in America, regardless of which political party is running the show. Sometimes it's a case of outright corruption, but much more frequently it's simply the political winners and their allies taking advantage of the "spoils of victory."

Ethical misconduct takes place in every type of institution from borough councils to the federal government, from the richest countries to the poorest, and in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Unfortunately, Philadelphia has a more notorious image than most cities for our corrupt and unfair political system, which inhibits the city's growth on many levels. For the Philadelphia region to return to national and international economic prominence, we need to trim the political fat and use this significant savings to both reduce city taxes and improve services. We also need to lose, once and for all, our reputation for being "corrupt and contented" as described by Lincoln Steffen in 1903. The reality is that with our industries and amenities we are very well positioned for the 21st Century, but we are held back by the national perception we at least tolerate and arguably celebrate 19th Century machine politics

Street Picks 5 for Ethics Board Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) Copyright 2006 The Philadelphia Inquirer October 19, 2006 'Street picks 5 for Ethics Board' By Marcia Gelbart, The Philadelphia Inquirer Minutes before critics were set to assail him for ignoring a deadline that passed 45 days ago, Mayor Street yesterday announced his five nominees to the soon-to-be-launched Philadelphia Board of Ethics. The announcement of the nominees - City Council now has 90 days to confirm them - triggers the formation of the board, which city voters approved overwhelmingly in May after three years of political corruption scandals. In 2004, in his first action to strengthen public confidence in government amid the scandals, Street issued an executive order to reconstitute what for decades had been a largely dormant city ethics board. The new one does not report to the administration, has a guaranteed budget next year of $1 million, can impose financial penalties, will oversee campaign-finance reporting by city candidates, and has the authority to hold hearings. The board also has jurisdiction over Council and offices, such as the Sheriff's Office, with independently elected leaders. Among the nominees, who will serve staggered terms, are lawyers Richard Glazer, a "dollar-a-year" city assistant managing director who helped found the Cozen O'Connor law firm and sits on the board of the Committee of Seventy political watchdog group; Richard Negrin, vice president and associate general counsel for the Aramark Corp.; and Stella Tsai, of Christie, Pabarue, Mortensen & Young, who previously worked in the city Law Department. Street's other two nominees are Pauline Abernathy, a deputy director for policy initiatives at the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Rev. Alyn Waller, senior pastor at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. More than 12 people were considered, Street spokesman Joe Grace said, and Street interviewed at least six. "We went through a process to come up with the best names in terms of diversity and experience," Grace said. Of the five, two are white, one is Asian, one is black, and one is Latino. Street's nominations followed weeks of criticism that he was ignoring legislation that required them within 90 days after the election's certification. The deadline was Sept. 3. But day after day, no names were put forth, with Street at one point explaining that more "political work" had to be done. "It's been a real slap in the face to citizens of the city to play these types of games," said Democratic mayoral candidate Michael A. Nutter, a former councilman. Nutter had appeared on a City Hall sidewalk yesterday expecting to participate in a 2:30 p.m. news conference - joined by Zack Stalberg of the Committee of Seventy, Brett Mandel of tax-cut-advocacy group Philadelphia Forward, and Mark Stier of the activist group Neighborhood Networks - criticizing Street for being so tardy in naming his appointees. Then, at 2:23 p.m., came the news release from the Mayor's Office. "There's not much I can really say," Stalberg said. "I'm glad he finally did it." 10/19/06 By: Marcia Gelbart  Source: Philadelphia Inquirer  Sections. / Reform--October 2006