Ethics in Jacksonville: Revisions to be made to city's Ethics Commission

It seems to be a rare occurrence when groups like Tea Party and the Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. agree on an issue, but groups on both sides of the metaphorical aisle are coming together to call for improvements to the City's ethics commission. According to Steve Patterson's of the Florida Times Union, the bill will:

"set new rules and standards for selecting an unpaid Ethics Commission and give commissioners new power and duties, including hiring some key ethics staff. It would also set up a system to coordinate handling complaints about issues including waste, fraud and conflicts of interest and would give city employees some due-process protection."

A council subcommittee reviewed the ordinances and proposed several changes, including provisions for clearer parameters for investigations and that commissioners should be registered to vote in Duval county.

The call for an ethics commission becomes increasingly justified with each conflict of interest uncovered in Jacksonville politics. There are conflicts of interests like Rick Mullaney's pension and Jack Web's dealings with Republic Waste during the Trail Ridge debate; shady no-bid contracts and over-budget projects like the new Jacksonville Courthouse. An ethics commission embedded in the City Charter would be a key tool and institution to fight government corruption, increase transparency and accountability, and build up the citizen's trust of the city government.

Ethic is an important thing to have in government. Without it, one risks losing the trust of the people and the legitimacy of that government. This can lead to civil unrest and revolt in the worst case - civic disengagement in a less that worse case. The low voter turnout of 29.63% in the first election of this year could be a symptom of civic disengagement.


There is much debate over the causes for the lack of civic participation in America. Some say the primary cause is lack of civic knowledge - evident in the large number of native born American citizens that can not pass the citizenship exam. According to this article from Newsweek, 38% of Americans failed. 


There is however the argument about the rising levels of distrust in government; evident on both sides of the aisle in groups like the Tea Party and MoveOn.org. According to this 2010 Reuters article only 22% of Americans polled said they trust the Federal Government. If government truly wants to build civic participation, they need to rebuild that trust. To do so we will need reforms in ethics, transparency, accountability and civic education.


Distrust is not only an affliction at the Federal level, but at all levels of government. Jacksonville has seen its share of unethical behavior in Sunshine Law violations, shady last-minute campaign contributions, no-bid contracts and other various questionable actions. That is why I feel it is important that Jacksonville has a strong ethics commission that can hold our representatives and public administrators accountable to the people of this city.

There are three bills pertaining to the Ethics Commission that appeared before the subcommittee. Below are highlights from the summaries of the proposed bills.

2011-167 - In Rules Committee

• Change term lengths for commissioners from 2 to 3 years
• Specific employment/experience qualifications are created for the 9 members
• Attorney with litigation experience
• Certified public accountant with forensic audit experience
• Former elected official
• Former judge
• Higher education faculty member or former faculty member with experience in ethics
• Former law enforcement official with experience in investigating public corruption
• Corporate official with a background in human resources or ethics
• Former board member of a City of Jacksonville independent authority
• Former government executive with ethics experience
• Prohibition against service
• Elected or appointed officials
• Employees of the City
• Assistant public defenders
• Officers of a political party
• Filed candidates for public office
• Any elected or appointed official or employee of an agency subject to the Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction
• Selection committee
• Dean of Florida Coastal Law School
• Director of the University of North Florida Ethics Center
• President of the Jacksonville League of Women Voters
• President of the Perkins Bar Association
• Director of JCCI
• President of Florida State College of Jacksonville
• The 6 appointees to the commission shall choose 3 additional members.
• Duties of the Commission 
• Investigate and issue findings with regard to any alleged violation of Chapter 602
• Operate a “hotline” to take tips and complaints about potentially unethical conduct
• Provide training and education to public employees and elected officials on the state and local ethics laws
• Levy civil fines and penalties as authorized in the Ordinance Code
• Act as a hiring committee for the administrative staff of the ethics oversight and compliance office
• Establish and post rules and procedures for the conduct of its investigations and provide for due process in the charging and prosecution violations of Chapter 602
• Exercise and utilize all procedures and processes available to City agencies as authorized by ordinance, City Charter or Florida Statute to secure the production of documents and testimony relevant to charges being investigated
• Ethics Commission may dismiss any complaint at any stage of its disposition when it determines that the public interest would not be served by further proceedings or when it determines that an alleged violation was inadvertent, unintentional or insubstantial
• Prohibited from interfering with any ongoing criminal investigation of the state or U.S. attorney
• Statute of limitations is established by which the Ethics Commission may not take action on complaints filed more than 2 years after the alleged violation occurred, unless the alleged violation was concealed by fraud or other device

2011-197 - In Finance & Rules committees

• Office of Ethics, Compliance and Oversight to be housed in the Office of General Counsel, but to be separately budgeted and accounted for within the OGC
• Director of the Office of Ethics, Compliance and Oversight who shall be appointed by the Ethics Commission for a 5-year term and whose employment may be terminated early by the Commission only for cause after a public hearing
• Development of an ethics plan and annual ethics report
• Investigation of ethics complaints
• Cooperation with other ethics investigatory agencies
• Response to requests for interpretations and opinions on matters related to the Ethics Code
• Requires the Mayor, Council President, City department heads, constitutional officers and independent agency directors to appoint an Ethics Officer for each governmental entity to help in the development of agency internal ethics plans and to serve as liaisons to the Ethics Commission and Ethics Office
• The bill provides for “whistleblower” confidentiality and protection.

2011-232 - Ready for Council

• Reorganizes and renumbers the chapter sections and removes redundant or unnecessary sections in preparation for implementation of the changes that will be caused by the recently approved City Charter amendment on ethics
• Unless otherwise specifically set forth in another section, any violations of Chapter 602 shall be a Class C offense