WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Harry Jaffe: D.C. Council passes a toothless ethics code
By: Harry Jaffe
Examiner Columnist
September 23, 2009
Up on the dais, there were huzzahs all around Tuesday when the D.C. Council passed its new "Code of Official Conduct."
I use the term "new" very loosely; the code passed yesterday is an amalgamation of various rules and regulations and suggestions that have been around for some time. I would have at least added "don't talk on your cell phone during meetings." I have seen council members questioning a witness with a cell phone to their ear.
Nevertheless, many of the 12 members praised Chairman Vincent Gray for his "leadership" in trying to assemble a "new" ethics code. Gray's code reads like the one you can find on the city council's Web site; but like all the old codes, it lacks one crucial component -- consequences, as in penalties, as in pain.
To continue reading go HERE.
For more Congress Heights and River East news visit The Congress Heights Examiner website, http://www.examiner.com/x-13507-Congress-Heights-Community-Examiner
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Examiner Columnist
September 23, 2009
Up on the dais, there were huzzahs all around Tuesday when the D.C. Council passed its new "Code of Official Conduct."
I use the term "new" very loosely; the code passed yesterday is an amalgamation of various rules and regulations and suggestions that have been around for some time. I would have at least added "don't talk on your cell phone during meetings." I have seen council members questioning a witness with a cell phone to their ear.
Nevertheless, many of the 12 members praised Chairman Vincent Gray for his "leadership" in trying to assemble a "new" ethics code. Gray's code reads like the one you can find on the city council's Web site; but like all the old codes, it lacks one crucial component -- consequences, as in penalties, as in pain.
To continue reading go HERE.
For more Congress Heights and River East news visit The Congress Heights Examiner website, http://www.examiner.com/x-13507-Congress-Heights-Community-Examiner
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