San Diego on the Move! Ethics Moment July 2007

In case you missed it, the San Diego Mayor’s Office of Ethics and Integrity (OEI) opened its doors in early 2006 in response to a string of ethical scandals that brought down top ranking city officials. The city’s website states that the OEI has been established to promote a strong ethical work environment for City employees. Operating alongside an existing Ethics Commission, the OEI conducts training for city employees in departments under the jurisdiction of the Mayor. The Ethics Commission has no jurisdiction over classified City employees nor do the provisions of the Ethics Ordinance regulate the activities of classified City employees. Investigations of alleged violations of the city’s ethics code as well as enforcement of the code are the responsibility of the Ethics Commission which was established in 2001. Both units conduct training programs, albeit aimed at different audiences. Confusing? Perhaps. Visitors to each unit’s website find links that explain “how we differ from the Ethics Commission/Mayor’s Office of Ethics and Integrity.”

To its credit, the new OEI contracted with the Ethics Resource Center to assess the ethics culture of city departments. Online and paper surveys were employed to canvass 10,992 city employees. The survey results found that (1) many city employees are unsure about the city’s ethics policies and procedures and (2) employees do not trust the city’s confidential process for reporting misconduct. Among the other findings, 41 percent report that they had observed unethical behavior at work, a much higher percentage than the 26 percent reported by the Ethics Resource Center’s National Business Ethics Survey.

City administrators say they will use the findings to strengthen their ethics cultures. Should more cities assess their ethics cultures? Without question.

Sources: http://www.sandiego.gov/oei/about/index.shtml; www.ethics.org