Editorial

CITY READY TO REGULATE ETHICS

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The Cape Girardeau City Council has taken the second step toward establishing an ethics commission within city government. Voters approved the notion of such a commission back in April. A proposed ordinance patterned after the state ethics statute has been drafted and will shortly be considered by the council.

Establishing such commissions and their attendant ethics police seems to be the order of the day, even though it previously has been argued here that ethics among public officials seems to vary inversely with the growth of such measures. That is to say, it could be argued that the more of these measures there are, the more ethics problems there seem to be -- not the fewer. The voters said they want an ethics commission, so an ethics commission it will be.

In the proposed ordinance, the commission would consist of seven members. No members may be employed by any city, state or political subdivision of the state. A commissioner can't serve on any other public board, be an officer of any political organization or make contributions to support any candidate or proposition. As if this weren't enough to ensure commissioners cleaner than Caesar's wife, all members will be required to make full financial disclosure within 30 days of taking office and annually thereafter.

Wow!

One wonders -- after reflecting on all the good folks the proposed ordinance excludes -- just exactly who among those left will be willing to serve? Let's hope this analysis is wrong.