Tough Choices - Florida Counties Bridge the Ethics Policy Gap

7/30/2019 Tough Choices - Florida Counties Bridge the Ethics Policy Gap

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Tough ChoiCes:Florida CounTies Bridge

The eThiCs PoliCy gaP

nvmb 2012

ExEcutivE Summary

Florida has long been ethically challenged. Supporting data confrm that the state has had a large numbeo ederal public corruption convictions and recently received a ailing grade on a report card rom the StateIntegrity Investigation or ethics enorcement o state-level laws laws that have not been revisited sinceReubin OD. Askew was governor in the 1970s.

While the bad news is that Floridas state-level ethics laws and enorcement are essentially rozen in timeoutdated and ineective, the good news is that local governments in the state are not waiting or thelegislature to address the states public corruption problems. Counties across the state are acting as ethicsreorm laboratories, addressing their unique experience with public corruption through innovative ethicsreorm solutions.

This report rom the LeRoy Collins Institute at Florida State University and Integrity Florida outlines wha

counties have done in areas dealing with ethics policy, ethics enorcement, lobbying, campaign fnancingand procurement. It also contains brie case studies o the exemplary policies in place in several Floridacounties, including: Broward, Duval, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Sarasota. The data inthis report are based on a survey o counties conducted in the all o 2012; 45 o Florida's 67 counties arincluded in the analysis.


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In short, the results show that a majority o the counties surveyed provide ethics training or electedcounty ocials, have adopted local ordinances regulating procurement practices, and have put in placerestrictions on gits rom lobbyists to county ocials. Further, close to hal o the 45 counties havedesignated a point person or ethics issues.

Other areas o ethics are not as widely adopted. Only 12 counties have adopted an ethics code that ismore stringent than the state code (Chapter 112, Florida Statutes) and only 10 require lobbyists and theirprincipals to register. Only a handul o counties have adopted local ordinances regarding voting conficts

or elected ocials, have their own ethics commission, have local ordinances regulating the nancing ocounty campaigns, or require lobbyists to report their compensation.

As might be expected, some o the counties that are leaders in local-level ethics reorms are those thathave already experienced their own ethical meltdowns. Palm Beach County, named the Capital o FloridaCorruption by Time magazine in 2009, is a case in point. Ater three county commissioners resignedollowing elony convictions related to their time in oce, business leaders and citizen activists led aneort to adopt major reorms that now serve as a model or other counties in Florida, and across thecountry.

As more counties consider working proactively to curb ethical issues by putting in place governmentethics programs that promote integrity and address potential public corruption, this report can serve as a

roadmap to local ethics reorm success.

Background

Florida has a well-documented problem with public corruption at every level o government. In act,according to U.S. Department o Justice data, the state led the country in ederal public corruptionconvictions rom 2000 to 2010. While there have been some convictions o state-level public ocials,many o Floridas convictions are o local-level ocials, oten public servants in county or citygovernments.

The State Integrity Investigations Corruption Risk Report Card gave Florida an overall C-minus grade or

corruption risk. In the report, Florida received its only F grade or ethics enorcement agencies, primarilybecause o weaknesses in state ethics laws and the structure o the state ethics commission. A majorcontributor to the ailing grade is the act that the state ethics commission cannot initiate an investigationinto a possible ethics violation until a complaint has been led by a member o the public.

Even as recently as this year, Florida public corruption continues to make headlines. While rankingAmericas most miserable cities, Forbes magazine placed three Florida cities in the top ten: No. 1 Miami,No. 4 West Palm Beach and No. 7 Fort Lauderdale. While the rankings were based on several actors,public corruption was a key component o the criteria.

The Florida Legislature has done very little to revisit and update the basic statewide ethics reorms thatwere adopted in the 1970s under ormer Governor Askew. Those initial reorms made Florida a nationalethics leader and earned the reputation as the Sunshine State or open government. Since that time, anincrease in exemptions to Floridas open records laws, and the unwillingness o lawmakers to continueethics reorm, have caused the state to all behind the nation in the areas o ethics enorcement andgovernment transparency.

According to the Florida Commission on Ethics, the primary code o ethics or all state and local publicocers and employees was adopted by the Legislature as Part III o Chapter 112, Florida Statutes.It contains standards o ethics conduct and disclosures applicable to all public ocers, employees,candidates, lobbyists, and others in Florida state and local government, with the exception o judges.(The ethical standards or members o Florida's judicial branch are contained in the Code o JudicialConduct, adopted by theFlorida Supreme Court.)
http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/ethics/Chapter_112.htmlhttp://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/ethics/index.shtmlhttp://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/ethics/index.shtmlhttp://www.ethics.state.fl.us/ethics/Chapter_112.html


3/182 | Tough Choices Facing Florida's Governments

This report provides a snapshot o ethics laws in 45 o the states 67 counties. The inormation is basedon responses to a survey sent electronically to all county administrators and county attorneys in the allo 2012. The 45 responses refect both small and large counties, urban and rural counties and those romthe various regions o the state. (See Methodology section or a map showing the location o the countiesresponding to the survey.)

The next section summarizes the results in three areas: ethics policy and enorcement; lobbying andcampaign nance; and procurement. Case studies o seven counties that have adopted exemplaryethics provisions ollow. An appendix, including links to the codes o responding counties, is availableelectronically on the LeRoy Collins Institute and Integrity Floridawebsites.

analysis

E P Efeme

Six elements make up the category o ethics policy and enorcement: having an ethics code, limitingvoting conficts, establishing an ethics commission, oering ethics training, and having an inspectorgeneral or other point person responsible or implementing ethics provisions.

According to Figure 1, 12 counties report having an ethics code that contains local regulations in addition

to state requirements. Local governments are not allowed to utilize ethics policies that are weaker thanPart III o Chapter 112, Florida Statutes, but they can adopt provisions that are tougher than the state law.The additional requirements generally deal with more stringent practices or voting conficts, gits andnancial disclosure.

Figure 1: Has your county adopted an ethics code that is dierent rom the state ethics code

contained in Chapter 112 o state law?

Yes Counties: Broward, Clay,Duval, Escambia, Indian River,Lake, Miami-Dade, Orange,Palm Beach, Sarasota,Seminole and St. Johns

While Chapter 112 contains state laws regarding voting conficts or local and state ocials, ve countieshave adopted even stronger local ordinances regarding voting conficts (See Figure 2).

Figure 1
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Figure 2: Has your county adopted an ordinance regarding voting conicts or elected ofcials?

Yes Counties: Hillsborough, Liberty,Miami-Dade, Orange and Seminole

Miami-Dade and Orange Counties have the most comprehensive county-level voting conficts policy. In

Miami-Dade County, the Miami-Dade County Confict o Interest and Code o Ethics Ordinance in Sec.2-11.1 contains a prohibition on transacting business within the county that applies to "commissioners,""autonomous personnel," "quasi-judicial personnel," "advisory panel," "department personnel" and"employees." According to the Ordinance, individuals in these categories shall not enter into any contractor transact any business, with limited exceptions, in which he or she or a member o his or her immediateamily has a nancial interest, direct or indirect, with Miami-Dade County or any person or agency actingor Miami-Dade County. The burden to seek a confict o interest opinion rom the Miami-Dade CountyCommission on Ethics and Public Trust is on the individual with the potential confict and must be soughtprior to submitting a bid, response or application o any type o contract with the county. (See OrangeCounty case study or a detailed explanation o that countys confict o interest policy).

The counties o Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Duval (consolidated government with City o Jacksonville)have established their own local ethics enorcement agencies (See Figure 3) with added responsibilitiesbeyond the Florida Commission on Ethics.

Figure 3: Does your county have its own Ethics Commission?

Yes Counties:Duval, Miami-Dadeand Palm Beach

Figure 2

Figure 3



Five counties have put in place independent inspector generals as internal government watchdogs toinvestigate wasteul spending and public corruption (See Figure 4).

Figure 4: Does your county have its own independent inspector general?

Yes Counties: Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Pinellas and St.

Johns

In Hillsborough County, the charter puts in place an internal perormance auditor to serve in a similarcapacity as an inspector general. Manatee Countys Clerk o the Circuit Court's Internal Audit Departmentacts, in part, as an independent inspector general. The audit director regularly investigates, on anindependent basis, allegations o corruption or other ethical or illegal conduct by county sta or ocials.Sarasota Countys ethics and compliance ocer and Duval Countys ethics ocer both serve in dual roleswith unctions similar to an inspector general. In Sarasota, the Clerk o Court is responsible or internalaudits. In addition, several counties have whistleblower ordinance or hotlines.

County attorneys are the most requently utilized point person or ethical issues (See Figure 5). Full-timeethics ocers are on sta in Duval, Sarasota and Miami-Dade Counties.

Figure 5: Does your county have a designated point person or ethics issues?

Yes Counties:Broward, Charlotte,DeSoto, Duval, Escambia, Hardee,Hendry, Hillsborough, Leon, Manatee,Marion, Miami-Dade, Okaloosa,Okeechobee, Orange, Pinellas,Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St.Lucie and Sumter

Figure 4

Figure 5



Ethics training, a critical component o creating an ethical culture in government, was the most commoncounty government ethics program component cited by survey takers, though no counties stated that itwas mandatory. Sixty percent o the counties surveyed oered ethics training or elected county ocials(See Figure 6).

Figure 6: Does your county oer ethics training or elected county ofcials?

Yes Counties:Bay, Bradord,Broward, Charlotte, Duval,Escambia, Hendry, Lake, Leon,Levy, Manatee, Marion, Martin,Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okaloosa,Okeechobee, Orange, Palm Beach,Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota,Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie and

Sumter

Ethics training programs, oered through the Florida Association o Counties and administered by countyattorneys, were the most common types o ethics training cited. The ocus o the training curriculum isprimarily on Chapter 112, Florida Statutes, Code o Ethics provisions. Training on Floridas Sunshine Lawsor public meetings and public records are oten combined with ethics training at the county level. TheFlorida Commission on Ethics and the Florida Institute o Government at Florida State University alsoprovide ethics programs or county governments.

lbb de cmp Fe

The third most cited local government policy topic in the survey responses was restrictions on lobbyistgits to county ocials. More than hal o the responding counties (24) had such restrictions (See Figure 7)

Figure 7: Has your county adopted restrictions on gits rom lobbyists to county commissioners and

county employees?

Yes Counties:Bradord, Brevard,Broward, Clay, Duval, Hardee,Hendry, Hernando, Hillsborough,Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Marion,Martin, Okaloosa, Orange, PalmBeach, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota,Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie andTaylor

Figure 6

Figure 7



Some 10 counties out o the 45 surveyed require lobbyist registration (See Figure 8).

Figure 8: Does your county require lobbyists and their principals to register?

Yes Counties:Broward, Duval,Hillsborough, Lake, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach,Pinellas and St. Lucie

Only Leon County requires lobbyists to report compensation (See Figure 9).

Figure 9: Does your county require lobbyists to report their compensation?

Yes Counties: Leon

Local campaign nance regulations (See Figure 10) are in place in three counties: Broward, Miami-Dade and Sarasota. Leon County responded other to the survey question, but indicated that a charteramendment was adopted in 2010 reducing the amount that can be contributed to county commissionercampaigns per election to $250.

Sarasota County has the most extensive county-level limits on campaign nance in the state. In 1990,Sarasota County voters approved a measure that prohibits county candidates rom accepting more than$200 rom individual contributors and limits total campaign contributions to $40,000.

Figure 9

Figure 8



Sarasotas contribution limitations or county campaigns are set in their charter. According to the charter,no candidate or any County oce or which compensation is paid shall accept any contribution rom anycontributor, including a political committee, as dened by state law, in cash or in kind, in an amount inexcess o $200 (Amended Nov. 7, 2000).

Figure 10: Has your county adopted any ordinance regulating the fnancing o county campaigns?

Yes Counties: Broward, Miami-Dadeand Sarasota

Peme

The nal requently cited policy component at the county government level, according to the survey, waslocal ordinances regulating procurement practices (See Figure 11).

Figure 11: Has your county adopted any ordinance regulating procurement practices such as a

"cone o silence" during bidding?

Yes Counties: Bay, Bradord, Broward,Charlotte, Clay, DeSoto, Dixie,Escambia, Hillsborough, Indian River,Leon, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-

Dade, Okaloosa, Orange, Palm Beach,Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, St.Johns, Sumter and Walton

Fity-six percent o county governments have adopted procurement practices that go beyond state law.Cone o silence policies that limit communications between prospective government contract biddersand local governments were mentioned regularly in the survey responses. Some counties practice a coneo silence or implement a no contact period or vendors and lobbyists during procurement processes,though some do not have these practices mandated in an ordinance or code. Indian River County requires

Figure 10

Figure 11



competitive bidding on all vendor contracts above $25,000 and mandates disclosure o any vendorrelationships with county commissioners or sta. Some counties added that they have local preerenceordinances designed to support local vendors.

In 2009, at the state level, ormer Chie Financial Ocer Alex Sink launched the Sunshine Spendingwebsite to allow citizens to track which companies were receiving state tax dollars. The website wasdesigned to enable Floridians to hold ocials accountable or spending. Floridas current Chie FinancialOcer, Je Atwater, has expanded online procurement tracking initiatives with Transparency Floridaandthe Florida Accountability Contract Tracking System. While not specically covered in this study, somelocal governments in Florida are also beginning to deploy similar websites or procurement tracking.

casE studiEs

While tabulations o county actions are an important part o understanding the local ethics law landscape,it is also helpul to look deeper into the instances o exemplary county eorts. This section examinesthe ethics reorm eorts o Broward, Duval/Jacksonville, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach andSarasota Counties. In each o these counties, the reorm eorts were initiated by ethical charges orviolations, but in each case the counties stepped up to deal with the problems. The publics role in thesereorms is also key. The case studies cover a 15-year time rame, ranging rom Miami-Dades eorts in1996 through Leon Countys 2010 reorms.

Figure 12 provides a summary o the breadth o the actions the seven counties have undertaken. None othe counties enacted all 11 o the ethics provisions we identied, although each o the provisions was inplace in at least one o the counties in the study. The case studies ollow in alphabetical order as shown inFigure 12.

Figure 12: Summary o survey responses rom case study counties

County 1 . E th ics Code

2. Voting

Conflicts

Policy

3. Ethics

Commission

4.

Inspector

General

5. Ethics

Point Person6. Training 7. Gifts

8.

Lobbyist

Registry

9.

Lobbyist

Comp. Report

10. Campaign

Finance

11.

Procurement

Broward Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

Duval Yes No Yes Other Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Other

Leon No No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Other Yes

Miami-Dade

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes

Orange Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Other Other Yes

PalmBeach

Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes

Sarasota Yes No Other Other Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes

Bw c

Broward County, perhaps most notably in its Sheris Department, has had its share o public corruption,but it also has a history o taking action to remedy it. In 1996, the Oce o Proessional Standards wascreated to investigate complaints led under the Countys Whistleblower Program and to assist in ethicsand confict o interest training o county employees.

In 2009 and 2010, Broward County citizens saw a parade o government ocials indicted or corruption,including their sheri, Ken Jenne, who was sentenced to a year and a day in ederal prison or tax evasionand mail raud conspiracy. O the 14 criminal cases led against ormer Broward public ocials and theirspouses, there have been six convictions. Six other cases have yet to be resolved.

Figure 12
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Ater this wave o scandal and public corruption, county ocials and Broward County voters demanded

new ethics reorms. Broward County created its own Ethics Commission, that has since been disbanded,

with a charge to write a new ethics code. Voters approved the new ethics code in 2010, and it became

eective in January 2012. The ethics code contains a strict ban on gits to board members rom lobbyists,

vendors and contractors. It also prohibits county commissioners and their amily members rom lobbyingmunicipal governments within the county. The ethics code requires registered lobbyists in Broward County

to complete a contact log listing each elected ocial the lobbyist or their principle meets with or intends

to meet or communicate with. The disclosure must be made prior to any vote being taken on any matter

that was the subject o the lobbying activity. The code also places strict disclosure requirements oncampaign contribution undraising, as well as charitable contribution undraising by elected ocials.

The code also goes urther than the state in the area o nancial disclosure. The Broward County ethicscode mandates that ocials post nancial disclosure orms which are required by state law to an

online, searchable database or the public to see. This online component is an extra step that is not

required by the state ethics commission.

And nally, the ethics code species that all elected ocials will undergo ethics training and education

when they are rst elected to oce and then continuing on an annual basis. The training is ocused on

the topics o the Sunshine Law, public records and public service ethics. Elected ocials are required to

have eight hours o training and education each year and must acknowledge that they have completed thetraining by ling a orm. Ater accomplishing its purpose, the Broward County Ethics Commission is now

listed as inactive.

O the urban counties in Florida that have recognized a need to go beyond the enorcement o ethics laws

provided by the state ethics commission, Broward County has taken a unique approach. Broward County

voters chose to create the Oce o Inspector Generalwith the authority to investigate allegations o

misconduct, gross mismanagement and violations o local, state and ederal law.

Ater a public hiring process, John Scott was selected in 2011 as the rst inspector general o Broward

County. The Oce o Inspector Generalhas subpoena and investigative powers over all county

commissioners, every city ocial in Broward, all government employees and all vendors who do businesswith Broward's city and county governments. The county charter requires the Oce to unction as an

independent agency and the Broward County Commission is required to provide sucient unds or the

oce to carry out its duties.

The Oce o Inspector General issues requentreports on its investigations into misconduct and eorts

to enorce ethics laws. Most recently, the Oce released its rstannual reportwhich describes the

establishment o the oce as Browards independent government watchdog and its eorts to investigate

raud, corruption and mismanagement. In the report, it states the Oce ound 121 elected ocials in

Broward County ailed to comply with the requirement that their nancial disclosure statements be posted

online. It wasreportedthat Oce sta worked with county and municipal ocials to address the lack o

compliance and, as o Sept. 28, 2012, 100 percent o the elected ocials were in compliance with theposting requirement.

dv c/c f Jve

The evolution o ethics reorm in the consolidated government o the City o Jacksonville and Duval

County is primarily due to the eorts o Carla Miller, the head o the Citys Oce o Ethics, Compliance

and Oversight. Miller is a ormer ederal prosecutor who began prosecuting white collar crime when she

was resh out o law school at the University o Florida. Miller helped drat the Citys ethics code that wasadopted in 1999 and served as the Citys volunteer ethics ocer or eight years. Ater a wave o public

corruption in 2006, then Mayor John Payton hired her as the Citys ethics ocer in 2007.
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Like its east coast neighbors, Duval County has a long history o public corruption. In act, it wascorruption in the 1930s, and the resulting 75 indictments, that prompted the Florida Legislature to amendthe constitution to give Jacksonville and Duval County the ability to consolidate their governments.

Even though it had the ability to consolidate, it wasnt until 1968 that consolidation actually took place -ater yet another wave o public corruption. Four City Council members were indicted, along with otherpublic ocials, or a total o 142 counts o bribery and larceny. On Aug. 8, 1967, Duval County votersapproved the consolidation reerendum by an overwhelming margin creating a strong mayor who

is elected at-large but is term-limited to two our-year terms. The new government also included a19-member City Council with ve at-large seats and the rest rom districts.

While Jacksonville had an ethics code in its charter when the consolidated government was created, itwas removed in the 1970s to avoid potential conficts with state ethics provisions that were being enactedat the time. Jacksonville adopted another code o ethicsin ordinance that went beyond Chapter 112,Florida Statutes in 1999.

In 2006 and 2007, there were new allegations o public corruption in Jacksonville. A grand jury wasinvestigating violations o state open meetings laws and the F.B.I. was looking into allegations o cronyismand infuence-peddling at the Jacksonville Port Authority. Then Mayor John Peyton was also caught up

in scandal ater it was revealed that two close riends had received lucrative city contracts without goingthrough proper bidding procedures.

The mayor publicly apologized or the ethical lapses and proposed several reorms designed to restorethe publics trust. The reorms included the hiring o a paid ethics ocer and establishing a hotline or thereporting o ethics violations. Mayor Peyton hired Miller as the Citys ethics ocer and gave her a numbero new responsibilities. In addition to providing ethics training to government ocials and employees,monitoring the ethics hotline, ensuring compliance with git reporting and lobby registration, Peyton alsoasked Miller to watchdog the Citys procurement and bidding process.

While these reorms were a step orward, problems remained. Miller was a part-time employee with noull-time support sta and many responsibilities. Her position also lacked the independence that is criticalto be an eective watchdog as she was required to report to the mayor and city council president.

Miller and others continued to push or new reorms that would create a strong culture o ethics in citygovernment. Miller also continued her work as the president o City Ethics, an organization she oundedin 2001, that is devoted to the establishment o government ethics programs across the U.S., Europe and

Australia.

In 2010, the Jacksonville Charter Revision Commission made a number orecommendations or ethicsreorm including reinserting language into the charter providing or an ethics code and an independentethics commission. In June 2011, Miller, the Jacksonville Ethics Commission and community groups,including the League o Women Voters and the tea party, were successul in their eorts to convince the

City Council to give the commission and the ethics ocer the independence they need to do their jobeectively.

The City Council ollowed the Charter Commissions recommendation and inserted language in the charterthat included a revised ethics code.It also included a more independent ethics commission and providedthat the ethics ocer be appointed by the ethics commission subject to approval by the City Council.The ethics code also has stronger provisions than state law relating to gits, as well as a requirement thatlobbyists and their principals register with the city.

Miller deserves much o the credit or creating a culture o ethics in Jacksonville government. It shouldbe noted, however, that with the exception o the passage o the original consolidation reerendum,
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Jacksonvilles ethics reorms were not driven by ballot reerendum. To its credit, the City Council hasshown a willingness to proactively address its public corruption problems by passing meaningul ethicsreorm.

le c

Most notable among Leon Countys ethics provisions are those relating to lobbyists and elections. Thecounty requires registration o lobbyists and reporting o compensation they receive on a quarterly basis.

A 2010 vote amended the county charter to limit campaign contributions to county commissioners to$250 per election. The spending limit was overwhelmingly approved by 65.5 percent o the voters.

In 2004, the County Commission adopted a policy requiring lobbyists to register and pay an annual eeo $25. In 2007, with encouragement rom the League o Women Voters o Tallahassee and CommonCause, the county revisited the ethics policy. The policy was enhanced and began requiring lobbyiststo pay $25 or each principal annually, and to le compensation reports each quarter giving the nameo each principal and the compensation provided that quarter. In that year, the board decided against apolicy that would have required every commissioner to keep a written log documenting each oral lobbyingcommunication or meeting with lobbyists.

There are more than 125 registered lobbyists listed on the Clerk o Court website, but this includes manywho paid in previous years but are not current. Only 12 lobbyists were considered active, meaning theyhave paid through Sep. 30, 2012 (site checked Oct. 17, 2012).The 2007 provision was promoted by the County Commission Chair, Ed DePuy, who had been criticizedor his own lobbying activities. DePuy cast the deciding vote to approve a comprehensive planamendment that allowed a controversial development to be built near Lake Jackson. DePuy startedworking or a lobbying rm, SCG Governmental Aairs, representing the developer o that project onMar. 1. The county commission vote was on May 8. DePuy claimed that the rm had stopped lobbyingon the county level on Feb. 28 and that he did not have to disclose the inormation, nor recuse himsel.Opponents o the plan disagreed and a complaint was led against DePuy beore the Florida Commissionon Ethics concerning his vote. While the Commission dismissed the complaint with a nding o noprobable cause, the Commission did nd that DePuy violated requirements o the Florida Constitutionby ailing to disclose certain income on his disclosure orms or 2007, and he was ned $1,000 in 2011.Commissioner DePuy was deeated in his reelection bid in Nov. 2008.

The 2010 provision reducing the amount county commissioners can receive in contributions was one osix amendments to the home rule charter proposed by a 2009-2010 Citizens Charter Revision Committee.County Commissioner Cli Thaell strongly urged the charter committee to adopt this provision arguingthat it would orce candidates out into the community to meet more people and hear more diverseconcerns. Unortunately, Commissioner Thaell had ethics problems o his own. In Dec. 2010 he agreedto pay a $2,500 ne ater settling with the Florida Commission on Ethics or ailing to report income andvotes on a development in the county. Thaell lost his bid or reelection in 2010.

Mm-de c

Miami-Dade is another southeast Florida county with a decades-long history o public corruption. From itsearly reputation as a haven or gangsters like Al Capone, to the public corruption that resulted in a 1965

grand jury report, to the cocaine-ueled crime epidemic that swept Miami in the 1970s and the 1980s, toOperation Greenpalm that ensnared a number o public ocials in the 1990s, Miami has seen plenty ohigh prole corruption cases.

The county also has a long history o addressing its public corruption problem, starting with a conficto interest law that was adopted in 1972 and subsequently revised in 1986. In 1996, ater a wave o
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public corruption, the citizens o Miami-Dade voted to create the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust,

and became the rst county in Florida to create its own ethics commission. The structure, charge and

jurisdiction o the Commission are established by an ordinance.

In 1996, as a result o a citizen vote to amend the home rule charter, the Miami-Dade Countys

Commission on Ethics and Public Trust was created. It is the oldest local ethics commission in the state

and is empowered to subpoena and investigate the acts and persons related to any complaint it chooses

to investigate. A complaint must be led beore the Commission can begin to investigate, although

the commissions advocate can le a complaint based on an anonymous tip. Miami-Dade also has anindependent inspector general charged with rooting out raud, waste and abuse o power in government

programs and contracts.

The Commission is an independent agency with advisory and quasi-judicial powers. It is composed o

ve volunteer members who serve staggered, our-year terms. Its current executive director,Joseph

M. Centorino, took over or the original executive director, Robert Meyers, in 2011. The Commissions

jurisdiction extends to the municipalities o Miami-Dade County as long as the subject involves one o the

our ordinances under its authority. Those ordinances include the confict o interest and code o ethics

ordinance,the citizens bill o rights, the ethical campaign practices ordinance and the election campaignnancing trust und ordinance.

The process to initiate an investigation into a possible ethics violation is complaint-driven. Complaints can

be led by members o the public with personal knowledge o a violation and must be signed under oath

or armation by the complainant. Complaints can also be led by the county inspector general, the state

attorney or the commissions advocate. The Commission also oers ethics training to elected ocials and

the Executive Director o the Commission is the designated ethics point-person or Miami-Dade County.

Ater the creation o the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, the County Commissioners continued

to address the countys public corruption problems when they established the Oce o the Inspector

General(OIG) in 1998. The OIG is authorized to detect, investigate and prevent raud, waste

mismanagement and abuse o power. The ordinance creating the OIG provides it will be suciently

independent to assure that no intererence or infuence external to the Oce adversely aects theindependence and objectivity o the Inspector General. The Oce operates a raud reporting hotline that

accepts anonymous complaints and is one o a ew OIGs in the country that has jurisdiction to investigate

ocials at any level, including elected ocials.

In its most recent2011 report, the current inspector general, Christopher Mazella, notes that since 1998

the OIG has identied over $143.6 million in questionable costs, losses, damages, and lost revenues

and achieved over $44 million in uture savings, prevented losses, and restitution. It also notes that its

investigations have resulted in the arrests o 212 individuals and the indictment o 12 companies.

In Miami-Dade, these two county-level ethics enorcement agencies receive help in criminal corruption

cases rom other law enorcement. The Miami-Dade Police Department has a Public CorruptionInvestigations Bureau and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Rundle maintains a public corruption unit

in her oce.

Miami-Dade has also made other unique attempts through the years to address corruption. The county

has adopted a Confict o Interest and Code o Ethics Ordinance that goes beyond what is provided

in Chapter 112, Florida Statutes. Within that ordinance is a requirement that lobbyists register with

the county within ve days o being retained, and complete an ethics training course provided by the

Commission on Ethics and Public Trust within 60 days o registering. Miami-Dade does not require

lobbyists to report their compensation, as some other counties do, instead lobbyists are required to report

any lobby expenditure over $25.
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The Confict o Interest and Code o Ethics Ordinance also addresses bidding and procurement practices.

Most notably, the ordinance provides or a cone o silence that begins at the time a proposed bid is

advertised. The cone o silence prohibits oral communication in all directions, between and among

bidders, lobbyists, elected ocials and county sta. The cone o silence remains in place until the city

or county manager makes a recommendation to the County Commissioners or City Council. The purposeo the cone o silence is to insulate county ocials and employees rom pressure that bidders and their

lobbyists try to exert on decision-makers to win county and city contracts.

In the area o campaign nancing reorm, Miami-Dade has also gone urther than any other Florida countyIn 2000, Miami-Dade voters approved a ballot initiative that created the Election Campaign Finance

Trust Fund. In 2001, the Fund was established along with a system o public campaign nancing. The

ordinance requires candidates who hope to receive public unding to raise a specic number o $100 to

$500 contributions. They also must agree to limit their campaign spending. The public campaign nancingoption was popular among candidates initially, but because o instances where raudulent candidates

received public unding, a number o amendments have been adopted in recent years. Now, it is rare that

candidates choose the option o public campaign nancing.

The abundance o reorms that Miami-Dade County adopted has not completely eliminated its public

corruption problem or the desire o its citizens or an ethical government. In January 2012, Forbes

magazine named Miami one o Americas most miserable cities, based in part on the number o publicocials who are convicted o crimes. In April 2012, it wasreportedthat Miami Beach residents protestedpublic corruption in ront o the city hall ollowing the arrest o seven city employees or taking bribes and

kickbacks rom local businesses.

oe c

On June 14, 2012, Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs sent a letter to Robert J. Snien, Chair o the

Florida Commission on Ethics, outlining signicant loopholes in the State Code o Ethics or Ocers and

Employees. According to Mayor Jacobs letter, in 2008 the Board o County Commissioners addressed

some o them by passing an ordinance that resulted in additional transparency and local disclosure

requirements at the county level.

The County's Charter Review Commission also put a measure on the 2008 ballot that solidied local

disclosure and reporting requirements in the county charter. Voters passed the measure by 87 percent. In

June 2011, the Board o County Commissioners unanimously passed tighter disclosure rules and whistle

blower protections.

According to Mayor Jacobs, state law prohibits local elected ocials rom voting on matters benetting

themselves or their business associates. Jacobs states that this language is ineective because statelaw does not clearly dene when a business relationship begins or ends, thus creating an easy loophole

or elected ocials who wish to circumvent the intent o the law. For example, a local elected ocial can

vote on an issue and shortly thereater enter into a business relationship with the beneactor o that votewithout violating the state's voting confict law. Likewise, a local elected ocial can enter into a business

relationship, make a sizable prot, but then severe the relationship prior to a vote in order to avoid a voting

confict. According to Jacobs, such actions deceive the public and should not be legal.

In Orange County, the Board o County Commissioners closed voting confict loopholes by requiringboard members to declare previous business relationships prior to casting a vote that will benet a recent

business partner. In the county's code, an elected ocial must disclose, prior to a vote, any business

relationship that existed within the previous two-year period. Furthermore, any member o the board

who enters into a business relationship with anyone or whom they have cast a benecial vote within the

previous 12-month period must publically disclose that relationship.
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According to Jacobs, no such timerames or disclosure requirements exist in state law. For this reason,Jacobs recommends that Chapter 112, Florida Statutes be amended to eliminate the perception, andsometimes the reality, that an elected ocial may be oered a uture stake in a business or real estateventure contingent on the outcome o his or her vote.

Orange County addressed some shortalls in the state law through enhanced quarterly nancialdisclosure. This disclosure must be led within 30 days o the close o each calendar quarter and requiresthe ollowing to be disclosed by elected ocials:

Disclosureofallbusinessassociates;

Disclosureofallbusinessentitiesinwhichthedisclosingpartyhasasignicantinterest,including

any LLC and all subsidiary entities o such business entity; Disclosureofallassetsandliabilitiesheldanytimeduringthequarter,notmerelyasnapshotofthe

assets and liabilities on a particular date chosen by the ling party; Disclosureofallsourcesofincome.

Supplemental disclosures o subsequent business associates, which occur during any quarterly period,are required to be disclosed within seven days o the association.

Pm Be c

With the inamous 2009 branding by Time magazine as the Capital o Florida Corruption, Palm BeachCounty has continuously tried to improve its tarnished image. The countys reputation tumbled in 2007when a domino eect propelled the resignation o several county ocials and their subsequent prisonstints:

CountyCommissionerTonyMasilottiwaschargedwithprotingofflanddeals.Masilottiplead

guilty and was sentenced in 2007. PalmBeachCountyCityCommissionerJimExlinewassentencedinJune2007forfailingtoreport

a $50,000 land deal in which he hid the earnings rom the IRS. WarrenNewell,whoservedasacountycommissionerfrom1992-2007,protedbynearly

$500,000 rom schemes in which his business partners proted rom his votes. Newell pled guiltyand was sentenced in 2007, but received a reduced sentence when he helped prosecutors convictyet another county commissioner.

CountyCommissionerMaryMcCartywaschargedwithreceivingkick-backs,suchasfreeresort

stays rom a company she helped win a county construction contract. She pled guilty in 2009 andwas later sentenced to three and a hal years in ederal prison.

Understandably, the string o corruption cases enraged the public. In 2009, a grand jury recommendedreorms to the county and called or an independent watchdog agency to supervise activities o countyand city commissioners. The jury examined the series o convictions and accordingly recommendedthe creation o an inspector generals oce. That summer, with three ormer County Commissioners in

ederal prison, the county commission accepted the recommendations and created an ethics commission,adopted a new code o ethics and established a new Oce o the Inspector General.

The countys Commission on Ethics was established in May 2010. The ethics commission receives andinvestigates complaints and is charged with enorcement o the Palm Beach County Code o Ethics,lobbyist registration and post-employment ordinance. The post-employment ordinance states: no ormercounty commissioner shall knowingly represent anyone other than the county or another public entity inconnection with any matter or a period o two years ater ending his or her term o oce. The commissionis composed o ve volunteer members who were appointed by various non-political civil, educational andproessional organizations representing police, the Hispanic Bar, CPAs, the Palm Beach League o Citiesand Florida Atlantic University. The members serve terms o our years each.



In June 2011, Palm Beach County adopted a more detailed Code o Ethics. The code reads in part:

Ocials and employees in the public service shall be conscious that public service is a public trust, shallbe impartial and devoted to the best interests o the people o Palm Beach County, and shall act andconduct themselves so as not to give occasion or distrust o their impartiality. The purpose o the codeo ethics is to provide urther and more rigid ethics standards as authorized by 112.326, Florida Statute.The Code o Ethics requires ethics training or county ocials and employees. In 2011, the Commission

on Ethics conducted 92 in-person trainings and provided more than 150 training DVDs to countymunicipalities. Also part o the Code o Ethics, the county adopted a lobbyist registration ordinance thatrequires all lobbyists to register and report their expenditures annually.

Finally, the Code o Ethics established an independent inspector general to promote eciency andprevent and detect raud and abuse in the county. In June 2010, the doors o the Palm Beach CountyInspector General's Oce opened. The oce consists o three services: investigations, audits, andcontract oversight. The inspector general has the authority to make investigations o county or municipalmatters and publish the results.

The inspector general may also obtain sworn statements o all individuals who may be under investigationas well as witnesses. He or she is also allowed to prepare reports and recommendations to the

Commission on Ethics. Sheryl Steckler, Palm Beach Countys current inspector general, was previouslythe inspector general or the State o Florida, Department o Children and Families.

In 2011, in recognition o its extensive ethics reorm measures, Palm Beach County received anAchievement Award rom the National Association o Counties. This annual, prestigious award programwas launched in 1970 to honor innovative county government programs. Palm Beach County hastransormed its role in the monitoring o county ocials, and since its notable transormation no chargeshave been led against an elected ocial.

s c

Sarasota County does not have an ethics commission but does employ a ull-time ethics ocer whoreviews and monitors ethical practices or Sarasota County, provides sta training in ethical standardsand operations, and investigates allegations o ethical violations or the county. All Sarasota Countyemployees, including the Board o County Commissioners, receive ethics training rom the ethics andcompliance ocer with a ocus in situational awareness and raud detection. The training outlinesemployees duties to report suspected violations and instructs them on how to anonymously report inecessary.

Sarasota County has a hotline, managed by an independent reporting company, set up or citizens toanonymously report raud, waste, and abuse such as the ollowing:

Deliberatemisrepresentationofnancialmatters

Embezzlement

Falsicationofcontracts,reportsorrecords

Misuseofassetsorservices

Theft

Corruption:conictofinterest,bribery

Inormation provided regarding an allegation may be considered a public record unless condentialpursuant to Section 112.3188, Florida Statutes, or other applicable law. Calls do not constitute adisclosure pursuant to the Florida Whistleblowers Act. Those who preer not to use the hotline may alsoreport suspected raud, waste, and abuse directly to the Sarasota County Clerk o the Circuit Court andCounty Comptroller.



Tough Choices: A research series focused

on state and local government relationships

from the LeRoy Collins Institute.

conclusion

A window o opportunity may be opening or ethics reorm in the 2013 Florida Legislature as new leadersplace it high on their priority list or action. This study nds that, in addition to legislative interest inrevisiting the states 1970s-era law, localities are also recognizing the importance o ethicsand notsimply in response to embarrassing scandals. A ew o the jurisdictions beginning to discuss ethics reormat the time o publication o this report include Charlotte, Okaloosa and Pinellas Counties. This report willhelp those localities and others that wish to enhance and strengthen their ethics laws. It highlights both

the scope o counties ethics laws and the breadth o these programs in a ew counties with exemplaryprograms. It serves as recognition o ethics activity and a challenge o the possibilities or other countiesand the state. Florida need not be ethically challenged in the uture, but rather has the opportunity toserve as an example or the rest o the nation.

MEthodology

The LeRoy Collins Institute, in partnership with Integrity Florida, emailed the 11-question survey at leasttwice to county administrators and county attorneys in all o Floridas 67 counties in the all o 2012.Follow up phone calls were made to the county administrator oces o the counties that did not respondvia email. An online appendix is available containing the complete set o survey questions, responses andcomments that oten include website links to specic ordinances and codes on the LeRoy Collins Institute

website, collinsinstitute.su.edu, and the Integrity Florida website,integrityforida.org.
http://collinsinstitute.fsu.edu/http://integrityflorida.org./http://integrityflorida.org./http://collinsinstitute.fsu.edu/


18/18

LEROY COLLINS

LeRoy Collins Institute - FSU CampuP: 850 644 1441 F: 850 644 144

Chairman Allison DeFoor, D.Min., TallahasseeVice Chairman Lester Abberger, Tallahassee

Director Carol S. Weissert, Ph.D., Tallahassee

Clarence Anthony, West Palm Beach

Jim Apthorp, Tallahassee

Jane Collins Aurell, Tallahassee

Jerey Bartel, Miami

Colleen Castille, Tallahassee

Betty Castor, Tallahassee

Rena Coughlin, Jacksonville

Richard Crotty, Belle Isle

Sandy DAlemberte, Tallahassee

Brian Dassler, New Orleans, LARick Edmonds, St. Petersburg

Joel Embry, Fernandina Beach

Pegeen Hanrahan, Gainesville

Patricia Levesque, Tallahassee

Jim Ley, Sarasota

John Marks, III, Tallahassee

Mike Michalson, Ph.D., Sarasota

John Padget, Key West

David Rasmussen, Ph.D., Tallahassee

Don Slesnick, Coral Gables

Established in 1988, the LeRoy Collins Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, non-prot organization which studies and

promotes creative solutions to key private and public issues acing the people o Florida and the nation. The Institute,

ocated in Tallahassee at Florida State University, is aliated and works in collaboration with the State University System o

Florida.

Named in honor o Florida Governor LeRoy Collins, the Institute is governed by a distinguished board o directors, chaired

by Allison DeFoor, D.Min. Other board members include executives, local elected ocials, and senior proessionals rom

hroughout the state.

Beginning in 2005, the Institute produced several reports in a series called Tough Choices: Shaping Floridas Future. These

publications provided an in-depth analysis o Florida tax and spending policy and concluded that Floridas pattern o low

spending and low taxes conficted with the growing demands o the states residents, predicting trouble might be ahead.

Recent work in this series has examined local retirement benets, including both pensions and other post-employment

benets, including health benets. The most recent report, Years in the Making: Floridas Underfunded Municipal Pension

Plans, traced trends in Floridas municipal pensions, nding that the problems were long-standing and not likely to be

quickly resolved.

This report, Tough Choices: Florida Counties Bridge the Ethics Policy Gap, is the latest eort to gauge state-local

relationships in the state. It relies on a survey o Florida counties, supplemented with seven case studies, and points

out that a number o Florida counties have taken the lead in ethics policy in the absence o state law. The report was a

collaboration o the LeRoy Collins Institute and Integrity Florida. Contributors include Dan Krassner, Ben Wilcox and Carol

Weissert. Stephanie Carlton, an FSU student, provided assistance in gathering data and writing the Palm Beach case study.

Lindsay Potvin and Stacie Linley contributed to the editing, proong and production o the report.

The Tough Choices research series is unded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. Future reports in the series will examine local

health benets, state intergovernmental aid, and best practices in local pension administration.

All publications rom the Institute can be ound on the Institutes website: http://CollinsInstitute.su.edu.

LeRoy Collins Institute Board of Directors: