RALEIGH -- Gov. Beverly Perdue rightly put pressure on the legislature to create the Ethics Act clarification bill that she signed Monday, so pointing out holes in the revision may not be pleasant, but it certainly is not difficult.
The law does make some aspects of campaign finance more transparent, which is a notable improvement. In doing so, it makes violations of the new requirements punishable for donors, but makes no mention of tougher punishment for recipients of illegal donations. Donors are accountable to the level of a Class I felony, but a hole exists in the law regarding politicians who knowingly receive the donations. Rather self-serving, don't you think?
Under the new act, so-called public servants - essentially executive branch employees at a certain level of responsibility - no longer are required to swear, at the risk of perjury, that their Statement of Economic Interest (a listing of financial matters and conflicts of interest) is true and complete. It would appear that now the Ethics Commission can hold no one accountable for submitting a knowingly false or incomplete statement, at least to the level of perjury.
The irony is that state officials required to submit conflict of interest information need not swear to their truthfulness, but citizens who level serious allegations against state officials covered by the Ethics Act are held to a perjury standard and must be placed under oath. This appears to weaken, not strengthen, prior statutes and certainly would stop anyone shy or timid.
Preliminary inquiries by the Ethics Commission must now be completed in 20 days. If the complaint "does not allege facts sufficient to constitute a violation, or is determined to be frivolous or brought in bad faith," then the Ethics Commission "shall dismiss the complaint" (NCGS 138A-12(f)).
With no substantiated investigations pending after four years already, does anyone suppose that the new 20-day deadline will spur more action with fruitful results for the citizens? Will this cause the Ethics Commission to become even more staff-driven, since the commission meets only every 90 days? Sadly, the General Assembly is practically exempt from higher ethical accountability under this statute, and judicial officers are scarcely mentioned. The holes are apparent.
Fighting corruption requires tough measures and vigilant enforcement, and neither is heightened by what the governor signed this week. Wouldn't it make sense to have investigative grand juries in North Carolina? Why not require the Ethics Commission to accept anonymous complaints? Shouldn't the state form public corruption task forces to clean up our own mess?
When will the term "ethics" stop meaning one thing in the minds of North Carolina politicians and another - with more meaningful connotations - in the minds of the residents?
While well-intended, the new and improved ethics and campaign reform and self-dealing measures signed by Perdue still need work to tighten the loopholes.
Roddy Jones, a Raleigh businessman, is chair of the Foundation for Ethics in Public Service. N&O President and Publisher Orage Quarles III is a member of the group's advisory board.
