Panel wants ethics to trickle down
Thursday, January 24, 2008By Bruce Eggler
Staff writer
Whatever new ethical restrictions the Legislature imposes on state officials at a special session next month should also be applied to local officials, the New Orleans City Council is expected to declare today.
The council will take up a resolution introduced by President Arnie Fielkow saying any new state financial disclosure rules or other ethical standards should apply to all officials, including the council.
The resolution was approved Wednesday by the council’s Governmental Affairs Committee and was sent to the full council.
The committee also approved a resolution asking the Legislature to support proposals by city Inspector General Robert Cerasoli that would give state authorization for his office, reaffirm its powers and establish his authority to subpoena witnesses and testimony. Questions have been raised about whether the City Charter allows the council to give Cerasoli that power, particularly for contractors based outside New Orleans.
In yet another action, the committee laid the groundwork for a potential renewal of a 2007 confrontation with Mayor Ray Nagin’s administration over the council’s power to compel testimony by members of the executive branch.
The committee approved a resolution by Councilwoman Stacy Head that would “require” the directors of the city’s information technology and communications departments to appear before the council next month and explain why inaccurate and outdated information on the city’s Web site has not been corrected, as the council requested in November.
All the resolutions will be presented to the full council for action today. All passed without objection at the committee meeting, which at various times was attended by six of the seven council members.
Also in attendance for much of the session were several members of the area’s legislative delegation, who pledged their support for ethical reforms.
Sen. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, said he and his colleagues “look forward to sending out the message that it’s a new day in Louisiana.”
Financial disclosures
Gov. Bobby Jindal has not said what measures he will propose during a special session on ethics starting Feb. 10, but a transition advisory council he named has offered many suggestions, including making financial disclosure requirements apply to all levels of government, including judges and local officials.
Questions about who should be forced to disclose their income helped doom a disclosure bill during the 2007 legislative session, and Jindal’s campaign platform called for disclosure only by legislators and statewide elected officials.
“It would be disingenuous to have ethics laws apply only to state legislators and not to local officials,” Fielkow said.
Jindal’s task force also recommended barring legislators from receiving free tickets to concerts and sporting events; banning legislators from entering into new state contracts, including those that are competitively bid, during their terms in office; requiring lobbyists to list all their income sources and any business relationships with legislators or appointed officials; and overhauling campaign finance laws to require more detailed reporting and to prohibit candidates from using campaign money to employ their relatives.
The state legislation proposed by Cerasoli and backed by the committee would apply only to New Orleans and Baton Rouge and would designate those cities’ ethics review boards or inspector general’s offices as “a law enforcement agency under state law,” giving them access to information on the criminal histories of individuals.
It also would affirm their right to investigate any public or quasi-public body or official and any contractors, licensees or groups receiving public money, whether nonprofit or for-profit, “in any legally appropriate manner,” including the right to examine all their books, records, computers and e-mail messages. It specifically affirms the right to issue subpoenas for such material.
The legislation also provides that ethics boards and inspector general’s offices can keep their activities and records confidential during “preliminary investigations.” After investigations are completed, the records would be subject to disclosure laws.
Several legislators, including Reps. Jeff Arnold, D-Algiers, and J.P. Morrell and Walker Hines, both D-New Orleans, pledged to support Cerasoli’s legislation, though they warned it might be amended during the legislative process. Cerasoli said he understands that.
Sparring over subpoena
The vote to require appearances before the council by two top administration officials threatens to renew a September showdown that was defused at the last minute. In that case, Fielkow issued a subpoena to compel testimony by the director of the Property Management Department over a malfunctioning air conditioner at a police station in Head’s district.
The Nagin administration challenged the legality of the subpoena, prompting the council to threaten contempt charges against the official, Pamela Smith. The two sides finally resolved the matter, and Smith met privately with Head.
In this case, Head said, the administration has failed to correct problems with the city’s Web site that the council pointed out in November and has offered no explanations for the failure.
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Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3320.