Ethics: moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity.
Most of us use the term to describe honorable behavior on the part of someone, many times a politician. We judge our leaders to have ethics or to lack such a trait.
The city of Española has surely had ethical challenges, as have most municipalities. You give someone the keys to a place and a comfort settles in that tells the key-holder they’re in charge and their actions can’t be questioned.
Many politicians feel that way. It’s an entitlement. People elected them, they chose them over others so they’re better. And because they believe they’re better than the rest of us, they take liberties.
Ethics commissions have become vogue. A majority of us voted in the 2018 midterm election that we wanted a state ethics commission. We were tired of the Phil Griegos and Diana Durans, elected officials who thought they were above it. The Albuquerque Police Department has problems rooted in ethical lapses, which they struggle with today.
The city has a process to create an ethics commission. It was not properly followed at the city council’s Aug. 28 meeting when the fire chief held a hat with names in it and the city manager drew them.
Any ethics commission should start with an outline of desired qualities in its members. We won’t get Mother Teresa nor the Dalia Lama, but it would be nice to have some people looking at our ethics complaints who actually have some ethics.
That didn’t exactly happen Aug. 25.
The fact that three councilors who have ethics complaints against them were allowed to submit names (unvetted names) of people to serve on the committee is outrageous.
This could have been a simple, transparent and well-executed process. Instead we have people submitting names of people with nefarious pasts to serve on this commission.
We can’t let Ricky Serna’s name go by without reminding readers of the devastation he, Nancy Barcelo, Domingo Sanchez and Bernie Padilla left in their collective wake at Northern New Mexico College. Current President Rick Bailey is only now seeing the light of day climbing out from under this group’s wreckage and horrendous audits. Serna was a major factor in the College’s many problems as he ran out the door off to raze another college.
He has no business judging the ethics of another human being.
Always one to fall backwards into manure but rise smelling like a rose, he’s now risen to the proper Peter Principal level of deputy cabinet secretary at New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions. The fact he snowed someone there into hiring him speaks volumes to the Department’s shortcomings.
The mayor said Monday he did not like the selection process but also didn’t stop it.
“This ethics board selection was a joke on all fronts,” he said.
He suggested the city use another municipality or organization, but the city attorney said ordinances do not allow that. He felt that was the only way for anyone to look at issues objectively.
“Calling this an ‘ethics’ board is an affront to the definition,” he said.
Amen.
He also owned not creating the ethics board at the organizational meeting.
He agrees with our take on the board’s membership.
“Some of the names on that list, I just have to shake my head.”
This needs to be addressed at the next meeting. Drawing names from a hat is not a proper way to create a committee of any kind, but especially when choosing someone to look at ethics complaints.