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Non-Ethics Commission Ethics Oversight
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Robert Wechsler
All ethics oversight cannot be done by an ethics commission. Much
oversight needs to be done outside of the complaint process. Even when
complaints are made, a lack of proper oversight can leave a big hole in
the facts available to an EC. I came across such a situation in yesterday's
Bristol
(VA) News.
No complaint has been filed, but there appears to be a concern that the owner of a car towing company is using his position as a volunteer firefighter, and the connections he makes on the job, to give his company more business. According to the article, on fire and police calls (the fire chief is also a police officer) either the driver chooses the towing company or it is chosen from a sequential list. This seems fair, but there are two possibilities for abuse: recommending a company to drivers and ignoring the list.
The Virginia Association of Towing and Recovery Operators' executive director is quoted as saying that "tow operators prize any friendships made with first responders, because of the potential to drum up business. It’s based on the dream of having the first person on the scene place a business card in the hands of the distressed." In other words, recommendations can make a big difference.
Sadly, the Virginia Municipal League representative focuses on the fact that there are no state laws on relationships between tow companies and uniformed officers.
The big problem, according to the article, is that no one will take responsibility for oversight. The county's 911 system keeps a record of all calls, including the selection of tow companies. The sheriff insists that the 911 emergency operations center should be monitoring the system. The sheriff has received complaints about police officers funneling business to a particular tow company, but he said the accusations were false and apparently did not investigate.
The emergency operations center director says that the sheriff is the only person with the authority to police the 911 records.
As long as no one takes authority, there will be no oversight. And without oversight, it would be difficult for anyone to prove an allegation were an ethics complaint filed. It would seem that oversight should be given to an office that is not involved in the situation at all, an auditor or inspector general, perhaps.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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No complaint has been filed, but there appears to be a concern that the owner of a car towing company is using his position as a volunteer firefighter, and the connections he makes on the job, to give his company more business. According to the article, on fire and police calls (the fire chief is also a police officer) either the driver chooses the towing company or it is chosen from a sequential list. This seems fair, but there are two possibilities for abuse: recommending a company to drivers and ignoring the list.
The Virginia Association of Towing and Recovery Operators' executive director is quoted as saying that "tow operators prize any friendships made with first responders, because of the potential to drum up business. It’s based on the dream of having the first person on the scene place a business card in the hands of the distressed." In other words, recommendations can make a big difference.
Sadly, the Virginia Municipal League representative focuses on the fact that there are no state laws on relationships between tow companies and uniformed officers.
The big problem, according to the article, is that no one will take responsibility for oversight. The county's 911 system keeps a record of all calls, including the selection of tow companies. The sheriff insists that the 911 emergency operations center should be monitoring the system. The sheriff has received complaints about police officers funneling business to a particular tow company, but he said the accusations were false and apparently did not investigate.
The emergency operations center director says that the sheriff is the only person with the authority to police the 911 records.
As long as no one takes authority, there will be no oversight. And without oversight, it would be difficult for anyone to prove an allegation were an ethics complaint filed. It would seem that oversight should be given to an office that is not involved in the situation at all, an auditor or inspector general, perhaps.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
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