The Imperial Irrigation District conducted an ethics workshop for its officials this week. Now it is time for other public boards and councils in the Imperial Valley to do something similar.
We are not saying public officials in the Valley are any more challenged ethically than anywhere else. What we are saying is there are tremendous ethical challenges in being a public official.
There is much that can go ethically awry when one is elected to public office. There are expense accounts and travel accounts, friends and relatives looking for jobs, people employed by the agency looking for a promotion or break, and vendors and others seeking an advantage and willing to spread a little cash to get it.
It all can be a little daunting for someone new to a board, and it can be more than a little tempting to someone jaded or compromised.
We have seen many local officials lured into doing things they knew were wrong, and we have seen countless local leaders treat public money like it is a personal bank account. We have seen more than a few corrupted by power. And we have seen more than we could ever count doing business in private that is legally required to be done in public.
We have witnessed public officials who end up serving the few instead of the many. One of the boards on which that has happened, in fact, is the IID board.
So we were overjoyed that IID sponsored the ethics workshop, just as we were happy that the district hired an ethics officer. Yes, it will cost IID to pay the salary and benefits of such an officer, but the specter of such a watchdog should help keep IID folks in line and may save money for the district in the long run.
More than anything, though, we, the voters, must elect people to office who we are convinced won’t be corrupted by the temptations of public office and won’t get caught up in the power they will wield.
Sadly, by the time it is discovered such folks have fallen to the lure of power, temptation, or both, it often is too late to repair all the damage.
THE ISSUE:
IID ethics workshop.
WE SAY:
All aboard.
WHAT DO YOU SAY?
Send us your thoughts on this topic to www.ivpressonline.com/letterstotheeditor
We are not saying public officials in the Valley are any more challenged ethically than anywhere else. What we are saying is there are tremendous ethical challenges in being a public official.
There is much that can go ethically awry when one is elected to public office. There are expense accounts and travel accounts, friends and relatives looking for jobs, people employed by the agency looking for a promotion or break, and vendors and others seeking an advantage and willing to spread a little cash to get it.
It all can be a little daunting for someone new to a board, and it can be more than a little tempting to someone jaded or compromised.
We have seen many local officials lured into doing things they knew were wrong, and we have seen countless local leaders treat public money like it is a personal bank account. We have seen more than a few corrupted by power. And we have seen more than we could ever count doing business in private that is legally required to be done in public.
We have witnessed public officials who end up serving the few instead of the many. One of the boards on which that has happened, in fact, is the IID board.
So we were overjoyed that IID sponsored the ethics workshop, just as we were happy that the district hired an ethics officer. Yes, it will cost IID to pay the salary and benefits of such an officer, but the specter of such a watchdog should help keep IID folks in line and may save money for the district in the long run.
More than anything, though, we, the voters, must elect people to office who we are convinced won’t be corrupted by the temptations of public office and won’t get caught up in the power they will wield.
Sadly, by the time it is discovered such folks have fallen to the lure of power, temptation, or both, it often is too late to repair all the damage.
THE ISSUE:
IID ethics workshop.
WE SAY:
All aboard.
WHAT DO YOU SAY?
Send us your thoughts on this topic to www.ivpressonline.com/letterstotheeditor
