We make these conflict of

interest demands on our full-time employees and yet we do

not expect the same of our City Attorney who provides us

with our legal opinions regarding Council decisions, law

and city policy?

In 1980, The Hastings

Center (Institute of Society, Ethics and the Life

Science) consulted with the U.S. Senate Select Committee

on Ethics on a multi-year project on legislative and

representative ethics. One of the main ethical principles

that was identified was to "remain free from

improper influence" (The Ethics of Legislative Life,

New York, 1985).

Political scientist Alan

Rosenthal points out that, "Virtually every

professional group [attorneys and governments included]

has a code of ethics, the purpose of which is to provide

guidance to members relative to actions that might arouse

public suspicions of violations of trust, impairment of

independence of judgement, and favoritism" (A.

Rosenthal, Drawing the Line, University of Nebraska

Press, 1996).

How can we not look at our

City Attorney in midst of a lucrative business

arrangement with the largest developers in town and not

be suspicious and worry about an impairment of

independence of judgment and favoritism?

If Mayor Lenox continues

touting the many wonders of Peachtree City, perhaps he

should also promote a higher ethical standard when it

comes to appointing a City Attorney. I agree with the

words of Fredrick Herrmann when he asserts that "...

the great weakness in the regulation of ethics in this

country is not so much the provisions of the law but the

lack of concern for their administration and

enforcement" (F. Herrmann, Bricks Without Straw: The

Plight of Governmental Ethics Agencies in the United

States, Public Integrity Annual 1997, Vol. 56, No. 6).

Watch for Councilman Brooks

and Mayor Lenox to say that an appointment under such

circumstances is "technically" not illegal at

the first meeting in March.

There is a chance that the

behavior may be legal but it is most certainly not

ethical. Let's reach for a higher ethical standard and

save some considerable taxpayer dollars in the process.

Steve Brown

Peachtree City

[email protected]