[StBernard] Bill would identify ethics complainants

[Westley Annis]

Let me add to this.  I wonder if Nita is aware that the Ethics Board gets
countless complaints anonymously that never amount to anything and are
discarded.  That's because upon a simple investigation if the Board realizes
there wasn't anything substantiating the complaint, it is discarded.  Thus,
the public official who was the subject of the complaint was never aware of
it.  This way the public official's reputation remains intact and no harm
came from the filed complaint.  Only when the Board's investigators do find
substantial evidence is the official notified and a formal hearing follows.
With a little common sense anyone, particular legislators, should realize
this.  We need to give the Ethics Board a little more credit that they do
not publicize any frivilous complaint.

When proponents of the bill say something like "isn't fair an accused
official should be able to know who his accuser is?"  Well, that sounds
good, in the traditional political rhetoric sense, but once you become
educated as to the process by which the Ethics Board investigates a
complaint without taking it public until an investigation substantiates the
claim, then do we realize the "isn't it fair" logic doesn't hold much water.

At the end of the day, we can trust the Ethics Board and its process as to
whether an anonymous complaint is legitimate or can be discarded without
ever knowing the complaintant.

John



-----Original Message-----
-----------------------------------------------------
The Chilling Effect on Residents.  Even with public participation, citizens
know the chilling effect of making their name public.  Too often, if
citizens place their name on a petition in opposition -- then they will
receive a visit from the property owners or councilman -- and that is
perceived, by most, as intimidating.  Before you know it, the property
owners claim no one is in opposition; we visited every one of them and they
assured us there will be no problems with what we're trying to do.