The Battle Against Public Corruption

01/27/2013

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I attend the lawyer's lunch with the Ethics Commission each month.  Joseph Centorino is the executive director of the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.  The Commission does a good job educating lawyers that represent local governments.  I enjoy the lunches because I look at it as a lawyer and as a public official.  The speakers are always interesting.

Mr. Centorino does not only educate lawyers, he also crusades for the enactment and enforcement of ethics provisions.  Our current laws are weak and do not do enough.  In his most recent opinion piece, he concluded with the following:

Public servants do not need to be heroes. They need to treat people honestly and fairly and act as loyal employees to earn their constituents’ respect. But they also need to understand the public’s frustration toward government due to improper appearances that lie beyond enforcement. Everyone in public service today faces that challenge.

Well said, Mr. Centorino, well said.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/25/3201035/the-battle-against-public-corruption.html#storylink=cpy
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Ethical Governance Day

10/12/2012

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    Friday, October 12, 2012 was Ethical Governence Day.  We [lawyers, public officials, city employees -- I got hit up twice] were asked to speak at local schools by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics.  While I asked to speak in Miami Springs, I was told that MSSH was not participating.  Kind of a shame.
    I had a great experience at Hialeah Gardens High School.  Because of block scheduling, I spoke to two  Honors Government classes taught by Mr. Chait.  Only one or two students were falling asleep (I am sure it is because they were up late doing homework).  The students and the teacher were interested and engaged.
    I was also impressed with the facility.  I am not sure how long it has been open, but it was clean and well organized.  Kind of reminded me of my days in the classroom.
    Some of the things we discussed were the significance of the First Amendment; what the Sunshine Law means and how to access public records; why it is important to vote; and the difference between community service and public service and how each benefits our government.  The Ethics Commission also included a short case study to discuss, which was short on facts and created more questions than answers -- but that is a good thing, it means the students were paying attention.
    Thank you to the Commission of Ethics for putting this event together.  I am not sure how everyone else did, but I enjoyed it and would be willing to speak again in the future.
   
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Ethics in Public Office: Good Government Initiative

09/19/2011

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Long Key Nature Center, Davie, Florida
    On Saturday, September 17, I attended a full day seminar with the Good Government Initiative.  The topic was Ethics: Principles, Conduct, and Rules. Lawyers are required to go to a lot of ethic training and I did not have high expectations.  
    The meeting was held at the Long Key Nature Center in Davie, Florida.  The location itself was very interesting.  Long Key Nature Center is located just east of I-75 and just north of Griffin Road.  It is very close to Flamingo Gardens.  It is a Broward County park with a meeting room and a ballroom.  While we were there, there was even a wedding!  The on-site building also contains a lot of information about the history of the area.  In a nutshell, the area was wetlands with some "keys" on them and the wetlands were drained in the 40s.  Much of the property in the area is now developed (and we wonder why they have had flooding and sinkhole problems).  However, some of the area near the nature center has been returned to a more natural state.  The history includes maps from the three time periods and a walk-through history exhibit that has information from when the Indians inhabited the area through the times of development, into present day.  Very interesting indeed!
    The day was divided into three parts:  UM professors who teach ethics in the morning (Dr. Fiore, Anita Cava, and Dr. Goodman), lobbyists at lunch time (Ron Book, Jess McCarty, Crystal Conner, and Steve Marin), and Dr. Watson, an American History professor from Lynn University, in the afternoon, who provided a historical overview of American Government with a focus on decision-making.  
    While three ethics professors promised to be a "big-yawn," I could not have been more wrong.  The professors were interesting and engaging.  We discussed not just what was ethical, but how to deal with behavior that is either flat-out unethical or legally ethically but does not pass the smell-test.  
    The lobbyists were intersting as well.  I know Jess McCarty -- his sister is one of my sorority sisters and we lived in the sorority house together.  But I did not know the other panelists.  Ron Book certainly has a huge reputation, and his passion and personality make it easy to see why.  
    The last speaker was Dr. Watson from Lynn University.  I did not anticipate how interesting or intense he would be.  Almost like watching a hurricane move across the Atlantic toward South Florida, you just could not tear yourself away.  Another participant in the program commented that he was like a sponge that just kept giving more information.  He shared a lot of personal and ancedotal information about American presidents and their inner circles.  He also talked about characteristics of great leaders and lessons on leadership that we can learn from history.  Toward the end of his talk, someone asked if he thought that the greatest leaders were "great men" or were "ordinary men" that did great things.  He said "ordinary men that did great things," but included the caveat that the most minor thing could have set the course of history in another direction.   In other words, even those with the greatest skills ended up as those we remember, in part, because of unforeseen circumstance.  Another interesting thing he said was that the greatest leaders reveled in criticism and the biggest failures were those that refused to accept criticism.  In other words, the great presidents surrounded themselves with people that disagreed with them (and often with each other) and the weakest presidents surrounded themselves with "yes men."  Wow!
     A great seminar is one that you think about for days after.  This was one of those days.  I am lucky to have been chosen for the Good Government Initiative.  It was an honor and is a privilege.  The residents of Miami Springs are lucky too.  I am learning a great deal that will benefit our citizens for many years to come.
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