North Carolina starts to solve corruption woes with transparency

Many people, including Senior Editor of Sunshine Review Kristinpedia, really dislike empty, optimistic phrases. For example, “something good always comes out of something bad.”

This may turn out to be the case in North Carolina, however. The state has seen its share of political scandals in the last few months with several executive officers facing accusations of impropriety and criminality. The former governor, for example, is under federal investigation for his personal relationships and use of taxpayer money. It is in this context that Governor Bev Perdue’s “Good Government Package” is being presented to the General Assembly. The package includes legislation and executive orders to “strengthen ethical guidelines in state government.”

The plan, announced April 5, is part of a “15-month push for stronger ethics, transparency and accountability in state government,” according to a press release from the Office of the Governor.

The legislation involves transparency regarding ethics and relationships, not transparency in spending. It calls for the following list of rules for government officials:
*A one-year cooling off period before high level state employees can register as lobbyists
*A 75 percent attendance requirement for appointees to boards and commissions, and a forced resignation for those failing to meet the requirement.
*A requirement that persons identify any conflicts of interest they have not covered by the State Ethics Act
*A ban on accepting gifts from a company and organization government employees do business with.
the power of the governor to remove governor appointments to a board or commission at will, without cause
*An executive order that calls for full disclosure of an applicant’s background.
*Forced resignation if accused of a felony and not cooperating with related investigations

Increased transparency in any shape is an excellent tool in the fight against corruption. It helps expose corruption and serves as a warning to prevent future indiscretions because of the promise that those actions will be made public.

While its great that the state is addressing its transparency problem head on, there is room for improvement elsewhere. Sunshine Review rates the North Carolina official website, NC.gov, a “C-” for transparency. Current state contracts are not provided on the site, and it does not provide lobbying information or how to request public records under the North Carolina Public Records Law. (It also does not have ethics information, but of course, the state is working on it.) As far as local governments in North Carolina go, we rate North Carolina county websites an average of “D.”

Since North Carolina is working on opening its government, it can look to seize this opportunity to become more transparent from the ground up. Transparency and light can come from corruption and darkness. We wish the state luck in continuing to address its corruption issues, and see room for the state to embrace proactive disclosure.

FOIA and text messages

Perhaps the immediately obvious effect of government transparency is transparency as a tool to battle corruption and to uncover unethical behavior.

Social media, the internet, and technology in general consistently change the scope of public records. So it makes sense that most people don’t consider text messages when using open records laws, since it is a relatively recent technological development.

Of course, many government officials use government-issued phones to fulfill their daily duties. And because of the casual nature of text messages, they can be particularly revealing as to the nature of relationships.

In Illinois, the Daily Herald was able to confirm suspicions that two Elgin police officers were breaking ethics rules by having a romantic relationship. They did this by requesting text messages exchanged between the officers’ phones. Being able to FOIA for those text messages, and the city’s ability to fulfil that request, was crucial to uncovering that scandal.

But not every city is able to provide those records. In Des Plaines, Illinois, the city mayor had to bar text messages between city employees after the city was unable to fulfill a FOIA request asking for text message records. Until the city figures out how to resolve that issue, communication must be in an archivable format. It makes sense for the mayor to take the issue seriously, because when questions of openness aren’t resolved locally, they will be resolved in other ways. In Pennsylvania, the Wind Gap requested text messages from police Chief Craig Armitage and in March of this year, Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has ruled that the borough must get a copy from its cell phone provider of a record with the text messages. Kudos to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records for making the city accountable to its citizens. The borough originally responded that it did not keep such records. If no such text message record exists, the open records office ruled, the borough is required to provide an affidavit saying that.

There seems to be much that isn’t decided yet on the matter of open government and text messages, and it seems many governments aren’t prepared to make such records available. Please share any experiences or information you have regarding text messages and open records requests.

(I began researching the matter after joining today’s #FOIAchat, a live chat on Twitter every Friday from 2-3 pm EST. I’ve found it to be a thought-provoking, and it’s a great resource for speaking with open government advocates and FOIA experts.)

Iowa Association of School Boards facing corruption and secrecy problems, could benefit from transparency

The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa Association of School Boards spends $6 million a year of taxpayer dollars. However, it describes it as a “privately run nonprofit organization.” This begs the question: how is an organization “privately run” when it’s run on $6,000,000 taxpayer dollars?

The Iowa Association of School Boards fired its Executive Director Maxine Kilcrease last week, and thus showed some responsibility on behalf of the taxpayers whose money fund its activities. Kilcrease being fired came six months after she allegedly raised her own annual salary to $367,000 without the knowledge or consent of the organization’s governing board.

The association is an advocacy organization for school boards in Iowa. Sunshine Review labels these sort of organizations “taxpayer-funded lobbying organizations,” because they work to advocate on behalf of local governments and are funded by dues paid by those governments. Governments are, of course, funded by taxpayers.

Because the Executive Director did not consult the board on her pay increase, the board stated it felt “misled and blocked from information.” The board fired the now-former executive director under a clause in her contract that allows the association to withhold her remaining contract amount in the case of “moral turpitude.” Additionally, Kilcrease will be required to reimburse the organization for roughly $50,000 in pay, in addition to the $59,000 Kilcrease repaid earlier this month.

The association is also paying for handwriting analysis on IASB documents related to Kilcrease’s employment, a possible indication that there’s some question as to their legitimacy.

Kilcrease’s unauthorized pay increase is worse in context, and seems to be deserving of the label “moral turpitude.” Kilcrease laid off several association employees, supposedly in order to help address a $1.5 million budget shortfall. Kilcrease, meanwhile, raised her own pay and gave major pay raises to three other IASB officials close to her or responsible for her being hired.

But the IASB has even more problems, making some school districts question their membership in the organization. The FBI, the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Education, and a team of forensic auditors are all looking into a variety of allegations related to IASB. There are also allegations of nepotism and conflicts of interest.

Even more than mere allegations, there is an actual history of misconduct and incompetence in the organization. Former Chief Financial Officer Kevin Schick allegedly used an association credit card to help pay for a vacation in Bora Bora.

The association board’s treasurer, expressing shock and dismay about Kilcrease’s actions, stated that until recently the board had a long-standing policy that barred the board from accessing any information on the salaries of staff members other than the executive director. The association does not even have internal transparency.

All of the problems these association is having could have been avoided. In New Hampshire, a recent court case has made it so that groups like the Iowa School Board Association have to fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests. Iowa should consider legislation that would do the same. The secrecy, even within the association, has allowed problems to fester, and the saying “sunshine is the best disinfectant” may be overused, but it’s absolutely true. A persistent journalist or a regular citizen armed with a FOIA could have prevented some, if not all, of the problems the Iowa Association of School Boards is facing.

More importantly, an organization spending $6 million in taxpayer money is not a private nonprofit. The IASB should consider some affirmative disclosure as a responsibility it takes upon itself, a responsibility to the taxpayers who unwittingly fund it, even without legislation or a court case compelling it to do so.

Organizing Committees for Transparency

In an effort to educate those wishing to take a closer look at local government, Dr. Fusco, former superintendent in Branford, Connecticut put together a manual on forming a Citizen’s Audit Committee (CAC).

Dr. Fusco’s work in combination with the Yankee Institute reinforces the need to form citizen committees in order to tackle larger problems within local and state government. Too often investigative citizens tackle issues as single units but there are huge benefits of combining efforts. Simply put, more ground can be covered than any one individual is able to accomplish, especially when dealing with the complexities of local governments or school boards.

“A Citizens Audit Committee can do what school boards and town officials are either unwilling to do for political reasons or unable to do because of a lack of skill, information, and time.”

An additional benefit of CACs is that they will provide, “independent and objective oversight to budgeting and spending practices by assessing whether there is efficiency or effectiveness.”

This document was also written in order to help explain confusing terminology, which often is where concerned taxpayers end up hitting a roadblock. Even motivated individuals can get tripped up with the jargon used in many of the government forms.

The report also provides strategies of where to begin to look for discrepancies and then ultimately what citizens should do once they have found meaningful data. Reaching those who can utilize the findings becomes the next important step so that problems can be amended and preventative measures can be put in place for the future.

Through the efforts of the Yankee Institute more citizens will have the tools to effectively expose problems that exist in public offices and combat corruption by alerting those who pay for it- the everyday taxpayer.

What is a greater call for transparency?

Kate Campaigne asks from the Illinois Policy Institute’s Open Illinois blog, “Transparency would help inject direly needed sunshine into government spending and shine a light on the pay-to-play politics, corruption, and insider deals swallowing up our state. After this monumental arrest, how can elected officials say no to implementing transparency?”

Good question. There has been the usual parade of outrage from public officials from both sides of the aisle, and a growing call for a special election instead of an appointment (as stated in the IL Constitution now) but no major elected official is talking transparency.

So the real question becomes, who will step up to the plate to take a leadership role in implement the transparency legislation needed? The IL governor’s race will be a crowded event. Candidates: Show IL voters your commitment to them (and all taxpayers) by working to pass comprehensive transparency legislation. The Illinois Policy Institute, Americans for Prosperity Illinois, and For the Good of Illinois have been local champions- seek them out, and get it done.

For non-elected officials: Look here for ideas on how you can help the Sunshine Review Open Government project, and keep your politicians’ feet to the fire. Fighting corruption should be up to every citizen, not just the US Attorney.

PA Legislative Candidates Answer Questions on Reform & Ethics

In the wake of continued scandalous in the Pennsylvania State Legislature, the Patriot-News asked Legislative Candidates a series of questions on ethics and reform.

Here were the questions asked by the paper:

It’s certainly on the minds of people running for the Legislature. In a follow-up to conversations with state officials on legislative reforms, The Patriot-News asked their challengers their thoughts on the matter. What specific reforms do you support? Do you agree with state Attorney General Tom Corbett that a culture of corruption exists in Harrisburg? Do you support a special legislative session on ethics reform? Should House Majority Leader William DeWeese, D-Greene, should resign from leadership.

It is good to see the mainstream media ask candidates for office their opinions on issues facing the voters.

Here are their answers:

JUDY HIRSCH, a Democrat seeking the 15th state senatorial seat held by Republican Jeffrey Piccola Reforms: “Make budget negotiation transcripts public; impose limits on campaign contributions of $2,500 for individuals and $10,000 per candidate for political action committees; require lobbyists to disclose all expenditures; put a nonpartisan body in charge of redistricting; and increase funding for the State Ethics Commission to ensure they have the resources to investigate complaints.” Culture: “I can’t speak to the ‘culture’ of the Legislature. The appearance is that there’s too many people that think they’re above the law. I think it’s time we have new blood and new energy.” Special session: “I’m not sure what would be accomplished in a special legislative reform session that couldn’t have been accomplished over the last term, where bills were sitting in [Piccola's State Government] committee.” DeWeese: “I think he probably has a tough sell as to why he should remain in the leadership post. It will be dependent upon his caucus and what his caucus decides.”

SUSAN KISKIS, a Democrat seeking the 31st state senatorial seat held by Republican Patricia Vance Reforms: “I don’t know anything right now that’s currently being drafted. Over the past several years, 51 reform bills have been stalled on issues ranging from posting government salaries online to preventing state agencies from hiring lobbyists with tax dollars. I support those bills.” Culture: “It is a cultural matter. I think it’s very widespread.” Special session: “Yes. It’s a fortunate moment to have it because it should have been done years ago.” DeWeese: “I’m not prepared to answer that. I’m not familiar with the specifics of individuals. I’ve been trying more or less to run my campaign focusing on reform overall and not trying to be bogged down by the politics that is happening right now.”

MARGIE STUSKI, a Democrat seeking the open 88th state House seat Reforms: “A complete a review of leadership accountability; open all legislative accounts for complete disclosure; expand the Freedom of Information Act; create a stronger barrier between government and campaign work for state employees who are also on campaign payrolls; mandate that the legislature work 12 months a year; and rotate leadership positions and committee chairs every few years.” Culture: “From the time I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, I’ve said it’s not a culture. It’s individuals who are trying to get their own power and putting their own preferences above everyone else’s.” Special session: “No. I would have very serious caucus meetings during this downtime, reorganize every caucus and have the caucuses become the models for how to do things. They’ve got to sit down and figure out how to operate the Capitol. Special sessions are a press stunt.” DeWeese: “Two years ago, I said he is not my choice for House leader. I certainly would not vote for him. It’s in the best interest for him to step aside and handle the allegations, similar to what Sen. [Vincent] Fumo just did.”

SHERYL DELOZIER, a Republican seeking the open 88th state House seat Reforms: “Consider reducing the size of the Legislature, consider implementing ideas from the Speaker’s Commission on Legislative Reform, possibly limit the amount of time someone can serve as committee chair, and make sure bills that need to get out of committee, get out of committee, and let legislators debate them.” Culture: “I hate to cast a wide brush because I don’t think it’s the entire culture. It’s the few that didn’t abide by the rules.” Special session: “Yes, there are changes that are needed, and I think we have to take that first step.”

PATRICIA GARCIA, a Democrat seeking the 104th state House seat held by Republican Sue Helm Reforms: “Remove influence of special interest lobbyists; eliminate the perk lifestyle; … reduce legislators’ monthly allowance; eliminate bonuses; provide full transparency of all caucus accounts.” Culture: “Yes, but a lot of things are hearsay, so we don’t know until people are really brought to justice.” Special session: “Yes. Also, there are a number of things that could be addressed just among the members themselves. For instance, the people need to be present when they’re voting. I think there are a lot of rules that are in place, but no one’s really policed them.” DeWeese: “I would wait until I had all the facts. Nothing against your paper, but I don’t count the paper all the time as my resource for all the facts.”

GREG SCUDDER, a Democrat seeking the 199th state House District seat held by Republican Will Gabig Reforms: “I would support stepped-up enforcement of existing measures. As a candidate, I don’t know inside the Legislature what the rules are in terms of financial reporting requirements, but we should really audit those records and take a look at where the money is coming from and to watch for inconsistencies or patterns that would indicate some form of abuse.” Culture: “It’s isolated to a few powerful individuals. I mean that in the broadest sense, across the federal, state and local governments.” Special session: “I don’t know the specifics enough to really say yes or no. I support anything that is going to improve the ethics of our Legislature, but I think it’s a matter of enforcing the current laws that are related to campaign finance.” DeWeese: “If a court found that there were crimes committed and he was one of the people that was looking the other way, then yes, under those circumstances. But until it’s all shown and proven, I don’t have a statement one way or the other.” Some responses were edited for space.

Two candidates did not return three calls from The Patriot-News for this report: Phyllis Bennett, a Democrat running for the 106th state House seat held by Republican John Payne; and Daniel Stephenson, a Democrat running for the 98th state House seat held by Republican David Hickernell.

Click Here to read the original story.

New York: The new windy city?

New York state seeks to produce 25% of its energy from renewable sources by 2013. Great goal- it reduces our dependence on foreign oil, helps use new technologies for clean energy, and develops a renewable resource. What’s not to love? Call me crazy, but maybe it’s the palm greasing, conflicts of interest, and corruption involved with closing the deals with local town boards.

According to the Democrat and Chronicle, Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne investigated allegations of corruption and found seven town board members that had conflicts of interest in his one county. Town boards have the ultimate say in whether wind farms come to their communities, and some board members have made the unfortunate choice of seeking to lease their own land to wind farm companies. Critics wonder if wind energy companies are actively seeking to do business with town board members in order to facilitate approval for their proposals.

With Champagne’s assistance, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is now getting involved.

Champagne has turned over his cardboard box of documents on cases across the state to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Last week, Cuomo issued subpoenas to two of New York’s major wind-farm developers, saying that “if dirty tricks are used to facilitate even clean-energy projects, my office will put a stop to it.”

The investigation comes as wind-farm companies are lining up at town halls with deep pockets and the promise of economic development for governments starved for new revenue to fund schools, fix roads and pay for emergency services.

So what is the moral of this all-too-familiar story? All taxpayer-sponsored programs need to be open to public scrutiny, and elected officials need to be held accountable when they have ethical lapses. Visit Sunshine Review to shed some light on your community.

US Senate Budget Chair Caught Up in Sub-Prime Mortgage Scandal

This scandal is getting scant attention by the mainstream media but it appears that Chairman of the US Senate Budget Committee U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) got a sweetheart deal from the mortgage firm Countrywide. This scandal comes as a blow to Conrad who has always campaigned on his ethics and honesty. I guess Kent Conrad is just like every other Washington politician!

According to news reports Conrad, appears to have changed his story numerous times about his ties to the CEO of Countrywide and the kickbacks he received on his mortgage.

Fellow Democrats Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) are caught up in the same scandal.

North Dakota’s finest political blog, sayanythingblog, has been on top of this scandal since it broke. I encourage you to read each of these posts and become informed.

The Case for Kent Conrad’s Resignation

Conrad Doesn’t Even Beleive His Own Story About How He Got His Mortgage
Kent Conrad Friend of Angelo

Kent Conrad Changes His Story on the Mortgage Scandal AGAIN

Did Kent Conrad’s VIP Loan Violate Senate Ethics Rules?
Senators as Confused, Victimized Borrowers?

Kent Conrad’s Countrywide Mortgage Deceptions Making National News

More on Kent Conrad’s VIP Loan from Countrywide Mortgage CEO Angelo Mozilo
Kent Conrad Lies About Never having Met Angelo Mozilo

Kent Conrad Benefits from Unethical “Sweatheart” Loan Deal From Subprime Lender

The story has gotten some attention on Fox News. This clip is courtesy of sevenload.com

Link: sevenload.com

This just proves that you do not need to be from a big state to have politicians with ethical lapses in judgment.

OK Auditor: GUILTY

The corruption trial and political career of Auditor Jeff McMahan and his wife, Lori, came to a close Saturday with a guilty verdict on three of the eight felony counts. Each will likely to serve time for accepting cash, trips, jewelry, and campaign contributions from Steve Phipps (the Tony Rezko of Oklahoma) in exchange for favorable treatment for Phipps’ businesses from the Auditor’s office.

Amid threats of impeachment, McMahan stepped down from office today. Talks of replacement Auditors have been circulating widely throughout the state in the last few weeks, with Gary Jones, Republican Party chairman who lost to McMahan in 2002 and 2006, publicly promoting himself for the appointment.

The Oklahoman has the story:

State Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones, who lost to McMahan in statewide elections in 2002 and 2006, has been openly campaigning for the auditor job recently. Jones publicly questioned the financing of McMahan’s campaign during this past election cycle.

“I knew there were some things that had happened that had affected the outcome of the race,” Jones said this afternoon.

Jones said the jury’s verdict shows that McMahan stole the election. He said that puts Henry in a unique position “to fix a wrong” by appointing him as the next state auditor and inspector.

Jones had asked to speak with the governor about the possibility of replacing McMahan before the conviction and said Monday that he will renew his call to Henry to discuss the issue.

Sund didn’t rule out the possibility that Henry could appoint a Republican to the post.

“The bottom line is he’ll pick who is the best person for the job,” regardless of party, Sund said this morning.

However, the three statewide elected officials Henry has appointed in his time in office are all Democrats: Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland, State Treasurer Scott Meacham and Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth.

Another sad day for Oklahoma with more Phipps-fallout likely to come.

If corruption inspires YOU to get involved with your community’s transparency, please visit Sunshine Review to learn how you can help track your tax dollars and hold your officials accountable.

McMahan: FBI agents are liars- I did nothing wrong

There was more news from the trial of OK state Auditor Jeff McMahan in today’s Oklahoman. McMahan proclaimed his innocence when he took the stand in his own defense yesterday, claiming the FBI agents were not telling the truth.

And add a little thwarting of democracy to the rap sheet:

Much of the auditor’s two hours under cross-examination focused on the $77,600 Phipps admitted giving Jeff McMahan’s 2002 campaign through “straw donors” to avoid the $5,000 contribution limit.

Line by line, contributor by phony contributor, Guthrie went over Jeff McMahan’s 2002 campaign contribution reports, making him acknowledge all 46 contributions that Phipps made were illegal.

“You stole that election, didn’t you?” Guthrie asked.

“I didn’t think I was stealing anything at the time,” Jeff McMahan said.

He said he felt uncomfortable with many of the contributions he received that year, including a $5,000 donation from former state Sen. Gene Stipe, whom the auditor referred to as “a bad man.” He said he didn’t return the contribution because he was told his campaign needed the money.

Hey, McMahan, even if you close your eyes really tight and say “Sally Jesse Raphael” 40 times backwards, the Feds will still be at your doorstep if you take dirty money. Can someone PLEASE tell me why Oklahoman taxpayers are STILL paying this guy’s salary?

Next Page »