The Oakland town council will soon be attending a seminar on “ethics” with a standard that assures violations of the law are avoided; but the last town council meeting provided an opportunity to examine a more layman’s perspective of what might be considered ethical and unethical behavior.
One issue addressed at this meeting concerned an Oakland council member utilizing their official position to solicit legal advice from the borough attorney – advice regarding personal, partisan and political matters.
The communications sent to the Oakland borough attorney included a 12 page dossier on an Oakland resident, and it sought legal advice as to how the Oakland council person might “go after” this individual.
In addition, the council member provided the borough attorney with advice as to how the attorney might give this Oakland resident “food for thought” should the resident choose to speak during the course of the open session of the council meeting .
Mayor Schwager was aware of what had transpired with the council member and the borough attorney, but made a decision not to share this information with all the members of the town council, nor share it with the residents of Oakland.
The mayor focused purely on any violations that may have occurred, and failed to address any ethical issues regarding a council person seeking legal advice from the borough attorney on how to “go after” an Oakland resident.
In choosing to investigate this matter solely on her own, the mayor denied the council an opportunity to address their own ethical standards. It also denied the citizens of Oakland an opportunity to apply their own principles.
While Mayor Schwager made assurances that the borough attorney did not bill for whatever time was devoted to the 12 page dossier, the ethical issue as to whether Oakland endorses elected officials utilizing their office like this was brushed aside.
In order for Oakland to define itself, to set standards that rise above avoiding violations – residents and elected officials need to publicly voice their opinions on what our standards should be. Santa Clara, CA has been proactive in defining the values of their community, and has become a national model for ethics in local government; Oakland should become a model community also.
Miscreants are often hesitant to commit an unethical act if they believe that everyone else around them knows it is wrong, and it is up to the governing body and the people of Oakland to have the necessary information needed to define Oakland’s ethics.
Mayor Schwager’s approach to dealing with a problem of morals and ethics by reducing it to whether Oakland was billed for the borough attorney’s time failed Oakland as a community. It denied both the town council and the residents of Oakland an opportunity to apply their own principles; and, her silence lays the groundwork for future dossiers being compiled by elected officials in an effort to “go after” Oakland residents.
While not necessarily a layman, Potter Stewart ,United States Supreme Court Justice , defined ethics in a manner accessible to the average person. “Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.”