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BY PAULA A. FRANZESE
COMMENTARY
Another Election Day reminds us that democracy, as Winston Churchill put it, "is the worst form of government, except for all those others that have been tried.
During the just-concluded campaign, voters expressed disappointment at the bitter tone, complaining to pollsters about what they perceived to be unnecessary negative assaults and misleading television ads.
Although each candidate attempted to impugn the character and independence of the other, exit polls revealed a certain modicum of hopefulness among the electorate. In response to the question, "Which quality mattered most in deciding how you voted for governor?" voters overwhelmingly answered: "Can bring needed change."
At the same time, while the economy was decidedly the one issue that mattered most, corruption in government ranked closely behind, with property taxes and health care, as problems in need of solutions.Even in the midst of some abysmal ethics lapses, the public continues to yearn for assurances that it can rely on the integrity of its elected and appointed leaders. They want to see leaders who will guide managers at all levels to do the right thing when faced with tough decisions.
Mark Twain once offered this advice: "Always do right. This will gratify some of the people, and astonish the rest."
This vantage point presents Gov.-elect Chris Christie with an opportunity that is all too rare in American politics today - the opportunity to do the right thing.
The governor-elect, known for his formidable anti-corruption efforts, is armed with a clear mandate to forge a bipartisan coalition that can reclaim the public trust.
During our tenure as special ethics Counsel, Justice Daniel J. O'Hern and I concluded that an effective system of advancing integrity in government requires a tripartite approach that includes regulation of legislative and executive lobbying, rules of conduct for government officials and campaign practices and finance.
Since our report was issued in 2005, significant strides have been made toward implementing parts of our blueprint for reform. The independent State Ethics Commission was created, vested with powerful enforcement mechanisms and the authority to impose stringent penalties for noncompliance.
The Uniform Ethics Code was enacted, with its rigorous anti-nepotism laws, zero-tolerance policy on gifts and strict post-employment restrictions to close the revolving door of influence.
Top-to-bottom ethics training and ethics compliance is now in place. Public officials' financial disclosure statements are posted on a searchable public database, as is the plain language ethics guide. Third parties who do business with the state are now regulated, and vendors must comply with the provisions of the business ethics guide.
The problem is, this template is in place only for the executive branch of state government.
It does not apply to the legislative branch, whose ethics rules are administered by the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards, a largely toothless enterprise, or to local government, where the vast preponderance of abuse is known to occur.
Justice O'Hern and I recommended — and continued to reiterate the need for — uniform ethics laws, expectations and penalties across all levels of government.
The State Ethics Commission, which works, should be the single, unifying enforcement authority for both the executive and legislative branches, as well as for New Jersey's counties, municipalities and school boards.
Local government must be reined in. One of the blessings and curses of New Jersey is the proliferation of small units of government. We simultaneously have the Jeffersonian ideal of a system
of hands-on government, and the unwieldy Wild West of a system that does not lend itself to easy supervision and control.
Significant reform of local government is attainable.
Specifically:
Replace the local government ethics laws, which are sorely lacking, with the Uniform Ethics Code. That code, which has real muscle and which now applies to the executive branch of state government, would redress the glaring deficiencies of the Local Government Ethics Law.
That law contains, among other shortcomings, no clear ban on gifts, no explicit ban on nepotism, insufficient disclosure requirements for business interests, no significant penalties for transgressions and no direct power to cause removal from office.
Bring local government within the jurisdiction of the State Ethics Commission.
Currently, local ethics laws are without a meaningful enforcement authority equipped to mete out real penalties for serious infractions. Moreover, there are no comprehensive ethics training or compliance protocols in place at the local level.
Centralizing the ethics laws and rendering the State Ethics Commission the unifying authority would remedy those deficiencies and promote the laudable aims of clarity, consistency and, most essentially, zealous enforcement.
Make real the promise of the Open Public Records Act and the Open Public Meetings Act at every level of government.
Too often, citizens meet closed doors and studied inaction in response to requests for access and information. Corruption thrives in secret, and sunlight remains "the best disinfectant."
Loopholes must be closed to disallow incumbents from holding more than one government position at the same time.
Similarly, the practice of elected officials holding non-elected public sector posts should be banned at every level of government. The NJ Policy Perspective reported that nearly 700 elected officials hold such posts.
The practice creates the potential for significant personal enrichment at public expense and all sorts of influence-peddling.
Make the Business Ethics Code, which regulates entities who do business with state government, applicable to local government. Recent experience makes plain that it is not enough to impose strictures on government employees. Most ethics violations do not occur without the participation and consent of third parties.
A uniform system of ethics laws would make the Business Ethics Code binding on those who do business or aim to do business at the local level of government.
Streamlining the administration of the state's ethics laws at every level of government has worked effectively in other states, including Pennsylvania and Illinois.
In New Jersey, centralizing the ethics rules would also allow for top-to-bottom mandatory and uniform ethics training, routine monitoring and public postings of financial disclosure forms.
When all is said and done, good government depends on accountability and transparency. Integrity is advanced when the rules of the game are fair, clearly understood and consistently applied.
Building and sustaining ethical cultures is a formidable enterprise. But the core premise is simple: public office is a public trust.
That public trust is now in the hands of our governor-elect. Our new governor should "gratify some of the people, and astonish the rest."
Paula A. Franzese, a law professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, is chairwoman of the state Ethics Commission.
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