{"id":339,"date":"2010-12-15T22:30:17","date_gmt":"2010-12-16T04:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=339"},"modified":"2010-12-15T22:45:23","modified_gmt":"2010-12-16T04:45:23","slug":"ethics-board-stumbles-over-right-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=339","title":{"rendered":"Ethics Board Stumbles Over Right & Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you were to guess which state agency represented the best example of transparent government the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (IECDB) would, or should, be toward the top of the list.\u00a0 Unfortunately, that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n

Last month, the agency\u2019s executive director and legal counsel, Charlie Smithson, resigned to become the new chief clerk of the Iowa House of Representatives.\u00a0 \u00a0In a copyrighted article by Jason Clayworth in the Des Moines Register, the IECDB moved quickly to have \u201ca rather seamless transfer.\u201d\u00a0 But is seeking a seamless transfer the best reason for neglecting openness and best practices?\u00a0 Other principles should be considered equally in the process of hiring an individual to a position overseeing the high ethical standards we have come to take for granted in Iowa.<\/p>\n

According to the minutes of the IECDB Board, at \u201c4:40 p.m. it was moved by Harper and seconded by Sullivan that in accordance with the provisions of Iowa Code section 21.5, the Board will move into executive session to discuss personnel matters. Any action taken in executive session will be disclosed upon return to open session. Motion carried unanimously in roll call vote.\u00a0 The meeting returned to Open Session at 5:05 p.m.\u201d\u00a0 There are several problems with this motion, and the lack of ethical procedure is major.<\/p>\n

First of all, Iowa Code Section 21.5 subsection 3 states that \u201c[f]inal action by any governmental body on any matter shall be taken in an open session unless some other provision of the Code expressly permits such actions to be taken in closed session.\u201d\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s not what happened, exactly.\u00a0 As the minutes continue to disclose, the next item in the minutes is a heading entitled:\u00a0 \u201cACTION FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION\u201d\u00a0 It may be the secretary\u2019s rendition of what occurred, but there can be no action from an executive session.\u00a0 Although the next order of business is a motion \u201cby Sullivan, second by Walsh to authorize Chair and Vice Chair to offer the executive director\/legal counsel position to Megan Tooker\u201d, it can only be assumed that the action was taken during the executive session and the motion in open session was a formality to rubber stamp the \u201cnon-action\u201d of the 25-minute executive session.<\/p>\n

Second, why did the board go into closed session in the first place?\u00a0 There was no legal authority for the board to retreat to a closed forum.\u00a0 The best guess you can find is in Iowa Code Section 21.5, subsection 1, paragraph \u201ci\u201d, which states that a governmental body may go into a closed session \u201c[t]o evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation and that individual requests a closed session.\u201d\u00a0 That brings up two more questions:\u00a0 Did Megan Tooker request a closed session?\u00a0 And, was it necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to her reputation?\u00a0 If the latter is true, you have to ask if Ms. Tooker would be capable of being the best candidate.<\/p>\n

As it is, a 34-year-old Megan Tooker has compiled a record of 3 speeding violations and a minor in possession of alcohol offense.\u00a0 Granted, the latter offense occurred during her days at the University of Iowa, where most intelligent young people have brushed up against the law on this very same charge.\u00a0 But let\u2019s get real.\u00a0 One speeding violation might be considered a mistake.\u00a0 Three violations in an 8-year period is a disregard for the law. She was not a lawyer at the time of the first two, but she was upon conviction of the third.<\/p>\n

Truly, the Board might have unearthed a plethora of extremely qualified candidates had it advertised for at least a week.\u00a0 Recruitment of a general practitioner lawyer with an emphasis on family law doesn\u2019t seem to me as the \u201cbest\u201d candidate.\u00a0 Perhaps she is.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know her.\u00a0 But I have to weigh the fact that she was recommended by the board chair, a law professor who doesn\u2019t seem to understand Iowa\u2019s open meeting law.\u00a0 What this board really needed at the time was an attorney to explain the legalese of the \u201cclosed meeting\u201d law.\u00a0 It should have sought legal advice from the attorney general, the Iowa Citizen\u2019s Aide\/Ombudsman, the Iowa Newspaper Association, the Iowa Freedom of Information Council (located on Drake\u2019s campus where the Board Chair James Albert teaches) or other expert on Public Records\/Open Meetings.<\/p>\n

Further, the Board should have created an interim position.\u00a0 Anyone with interest in acquiring the position on a full-time basis would have been thrilled to serve for a brief period, if appointed, until a successor was hired using a thorough background check (which is required for just about every position in state government), a fair and open recruitment process, and the opportunity for public praise and criticism.\u00a0 As it is, the board should have a tough time of living with this decision.\u00a0 It lacks the appearance of being an ethical one.<\/p>\n

eth\u00b7ics<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013plural noun<\/p>\n

1. ( used with a singular or plural verb ) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.<\/p>\n

2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.<\/p>\n

3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.<\/p>\n

4. ( usually used with a singular verb ) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Copyright 2010.\u00a0 Fawkes-Lee & Ryan.\u00a0 All rights reserved. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you were to guess which state agency represented the best example of transparent government the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (IECDB) would, or should, be toward the top of the list.\u00a0 Unfortunately, that\u2019s not the case. Last month, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,65],"tags":[142,149,146,144,141,151,150,148,143,147,145],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issues","category-open-meetingspublic-records","tag-charlie-smithson","tag-citizens-aideombudsman","tag-closed-session","tag-des-moines-register","tag-iecdb","tag-iowa-freedom-of-information-council","tag-iowa-newspaper-association","tag-james-albert","tag-jason-clayworth","tag-megan-tooker","tag-open-meetings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}