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Procuring Trouble
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Robert Wechsler
When I heard about the ACORN sting, when two people posing as
pimp and prostitute asked for help in getting a loan to open a brothel,
I thought: what would happen if a local government official and a prostitute
visited a local government attorney to ask for help in giving the prostitute a
contract, so that the local government, rather than the
official, could pay for her services?
One big difference is that it is not legal to open a brothel, but it might be legal to use your office to get a local government to give a contract to a prostitute.
Imagine the video on You Tube: A procurement manager (procurer?!) walks into a city attorney's office with a woman dressed like a prostitute. The procurer asks, "Is it legal for me to give this woman a contract doing public relations work for the city?"
The attorney says, "There's nothing in the city's laws that makes it illegal for an official to give a contract to a prostitute."
The attorney might leave it at that, but then again, he might see his role as providing the full legal picture to the official. "Don't forget that there's a $10,000 limit on no-bid contracts, so if you want to give her more than that, you'll have to break it up into multiple contracts."
"And be sure that, if you have relations with her, they are very occasional or not for pay, or you could be seen as 'doing business' with her. Then there would be a conflict of interest, and you would have to disclose the relationship."
"And don't let her move in with you, because she could be considered a 'domestic partner,' as defined by Section 5-555.5, and then there would be a conflict of interest, and you would have to disclose the relationship."
"And if you have some sort of deal with her, so that you get services free in return for what she's paid by the city ... and don't let me know if you do, because I don't want to know ... well, if that sort of deal came out, the least of your problems would be a violation of the gift provision!"
Of course, there is another possible You Tube video, where the city attorney thinks that his client is not the procurer sitting before him, but instead either the city (which is to say, the public interest) or the position of procurement manager, which happens to be filled at the moment by this bum. Such an attorney might say instead:
"The legality of giving this woman a contract is irrelevant. Ethics laws cannot account for every misuse of office. Ethics provisions are minimum rules, not laws that you look for loopholes in. If you think something is wrong, if you know it'll look bad, then don't do it. That's all that I can tell you. If you go ahead and give a contract to her, I can't report you, since you have the benefit of lawyer-client confidentiality -- although I could very well argue otherwise. But I can promise that I won't defend your conduct and I can also promise you that I will recommend strict oversight regarding procurement practices."
ACORN employees aren't the only people who give out the wrong sort of advice regarding prostitution, or its metaphorical equivalents.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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One big difference is that it is not legal to open a brothel, but it might be legal to use your office to get a local government to give a contract to a prostitute.
Imagine the video on You Tube: A procurement manager (procurer?!) walks into a city attorney's office with a woman dressed like a prostitute. The procurer asks, "Is it legal for me to give this woman a contract doing public relations work for the city?"
The attorney says, "There's nothing in the city's laws that makes it illegal for an official to give a contract to a prostitute."
The attorney might leave it at that, but then again, he might see his role as providing the full legal picture to the official. "Don't forget that there's a $10,000 limit on no-bid contracts, so if you want to give her more than that, you'll have to break it up into multiple contracts."
"And be sure that, if you have relations with her, they are very occasional or not for pay, or you could be seen as 'doing business' with her. Then there would be a conflict of interest, and you would have to disclose the relationship."
"And don't let her move in with you, because she could be considered a 'domestic partner,' as defined by Section 5-555.5, and then there would be a conflict of interest, and you would have to disclose the relationship."
"And if you have some sort of deal with her, so that you get services free in return for what she's paid by the city ... and don't let me know if you do, because I don't want to know ... well, if that sort of deal came out, the least of your problems would be a violation of the gift provision!"
Of course, there is another possible You Tube video, where the city attorney thinks that his client is not the procurer sitting before him, but instead either the city (which is to say, the public interest) or the position of procurement manager, which happens to be filled at the moment by this bum. Such an attorney might say instead:
"The legality of giving this woman a contract is irrelevant. Ethics laws cannot account for every misuse of office. Ethics provisions are minimum rules, not laws that you look for loopholes in. If you think something is wrong, if you know it'll look bad, then don't do it. That's all that I can tell you. If you go ahead and give a contract to her, I can't report you, since you have the benefit of lawyer-client confidentiality -- although I could very well argue otherwise. But I can promise that I won't defend your conduct and I can also promise you that I will recommend strict oversight regarding procurement practices."
ACORN employees aren't the only people who give out the wrong sort of advice regarding prostitution, or its metaphorical equivalents.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
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