Ethics and Accountability

As Bobby Jindal transitions into the Governor's Mansion, the rumors and questions are flying concerning the Special Session he promised to call to address ethics reform. There are those who wonder if he will adopt the initiatives outlined by Blueprint Louisiana — if he has a broader scope of ethics reform — and what he believes can really be done in a single session?

If the governor-elect were sitting in my office right at this moment, I would encourage him to do one thing that many folks have not talked about with regard to ethics reform: Strengthening the state's public notice laws.

Most folks see "public notices" as those insignificant government "legal ads" run in tiny type, usually in the back of the newspaper, along with the classified ads. Oh, how wrong they are.

Those "tiny ads" represent one of the last true forms of accountability left in local government. The required publication of minutes and other notices in a third-party printed publication provide a permanent record of action taken (or to be taken) by government bodies.

At a time when the actions of public bodies are under continuous scrutiny, public notices provide a forum when those actions are recorded without bias.

The permanent nature of the printed word is key to the accountability factor. Once printed, minutes cannot be changed to suit the desires of an elected official whose political future may be affected by the decision he or she made. No changing votes after the fact.

The use of a third-party official journal provides a check and balance to government. It greatly reduces (if not eliminates) the influence of a government body on the publication of notices. Following the law is not a matter of choice or interpretation - a third party sees to that.

And what about the "small type?" Well, the minimum size of type in a public notice is determined by state law. If state law allowed smaller type, I am sure the size would be even smaller in official journals. Increasing the type size would probably require an act of the state legislature. However, many official journals in Louisiana (including this one) are uploading their public notices to a searchable database on the Internet. There, the size of the type can be anything the reader wishes.

Louisiana has a long way to go in the area of ethics reform, I just hope they strengthen one of the the good things we currently do.

May the Blog Be With You.