The Miami-Dade County ethics commission has been a leader in reaching out to the community. In 2011, it co-sponsored a local government ethics conference [1], which attracted people from all over Florida. In 2012, it organized the first Ethical Governance Day, according to an op-ed in the Miami Herald this weekend [2], written by the EC's executive director, Joseph Centorino. This year the second Ethical Governance Day [3] will be held on Tuesday, October 22.

Ethical Governance Day's principal activity involves civic leaders going into the county's public schools to talk about ethical governance and the value of citizen participation in government. It is a great thing to openly acknowledge that citizen participation in government is a major long-term goal of a government ethics program. It is also a great thing to have something like this available when bad things happen, such as the arrest of three mayors in the county in August. And it is a great way for an ethics commission to go beyond what it is required to do and make a big difference in the community.

Here is an excerpt from the op-ed piece:

There is a direct correlation between the quality of civic engagement and the integrity of government. ... We may bemoan the parade of corrupt officials on display in the recent and not-so-recent history of this county. We could condemn them, perhaps even feel relieved by their comeuppance. But we cannot escape the fact that we elected and re-elected them.

We all share a collective responsibility for the integrity of local government. We need some legal reforms, but virtue in public life cannot really be legislated. It can, however, be inculcated through education and practice. ... [This day continues] our effort to build a stronger civil society in a county that has yet to develop the civic institutions and citizen involvement that mark a healthy political community.

Many, perhaps most, of our cities and counties lack a healthy amount of citizen involvement and healthy civic institutions that provide the support needed for informed citizen involvement. An ethics commission should recognize that it does not need to be passive, that it can join together with civic organizations, professional and business associations, and schools and universities to get a dialogue going about ethical conduct and about the role of citizens in providing and supporting the oversight that is needed, both during and between elections.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research, City Ethics

203-230-2548