Ethics training for public officials

I retired as a manager from the federal government a couple of years ago. As an acquisition professional I had authority to sign contracts up to $100 million. I was required to take annual ethics training.

One of my old bosses told me that I shouldn’t do anything that I wouldn’t want to see on the front page of the newspaper. Unfortunately, I regularly see items in the newspaper that inform me many do not follow that advice. Every acquisition employee, highly placed manager, and elected official in Fresno County government should have to take annual ethics training and be held accountable.

It is not enough to think you cannot be bought. That’s not the point. The point is how it looks and what it does to your reputation and your effectiveness as a public official. From appearances, the government officials, elected or otherwise, in this county are generally about as corrupt as you can get. My experience in assisting with prosecutions of ethical violations convinces me that when you smell smoke, there is fire somewhere.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 5:49 AM with the headline "Ethics training for public officials."