ASPA'S Code Makes a Difference!                                July 2001

As a mid-manager in a mid-sized US city, I keep a modestly framed copy of
the ASPA code of ethics cut from the back cover of the PAR on the coffee
table in my office. In the last year, three different colleagues from
another department, presumably uncomfortable approaching the available
leadership in that department, have come to me with ethical concerns. Each time I asked them whether there is a professional code of ethics they prefer to use, and having none, I used the ASPA code as a framework for talking through the issue at hand. Each time I also copied the
code for my colleague to take back to the office with her and each was
satisfied that it gave her a useful tool she did not have before.

In two cases we concluded that the employee had fulfilled her professional
obligations. In the third case we concluded that it was indeed necessary to
remedy the behavior in question even if that required whistle blowing. We
monitored the situation until that had happened and the harm was rectified.

Our city does not lack for administrative regulations covering gifts and
gratuities, nepotism and similar procedural issues. But, I find such practical
guidelines are not a substitute for a statement of principles. The ASPA code
has served me and my colleagues well.

And yes, I'd like to see it back on the back cover of PAR.

---name withheld by request.