Mayors as Exemplars--fact or fiction?                                December 2005

Elected officeholders can be but too often are not exemplary leaders. Suppose you were the mayor of a city, population 31,580, and ran successfully for office on a platform of bringing ethical government to the community. You are a genuinely committed mayor and you are also a devoted father. You find yourself in a situation in which you need to get your daughter to summer camp and at the same time, negotiate an agreement for a local option sales tax. What would you do? Your assistant speaks up: "Oh, I can get your daughter to summer camp. No big deal!" Done deal.

Forty-five minutes later you realize that you have violated the city's ethics code by allowing your assistant to transport your daughter to camp while on duty. Embarrassed by this ethical lapse, you take out your pen and file an ethics complaint against yourself.

Fantasy? Not so. This is a real case of Mayor Steven Brown of Peachtree City, Georgia. After due deliberation, the Ethics Board found that no formal reprimand was necessary but that Mayor Brown should reimburse the city for the employee’s time. Mayor Brown readily complied and reimbursed the city $8.94.

Source: “Managing Municipal Ethics”, November 5, 202, www.gmanet.com