Citizens Leadership presentation

1. GOT ETHICS?
Citizens Leadership Class
April 2, 2011
Session #7

2. WHAT IS ETHICS?

3. WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Dealing with what is good or
bad
 Dealing with moral duty and
obligations
 Set of moral principals or
values
 Principles of conduct
governing and individual or
group

4. WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Ethics are the values and behaviors that would
make the world a better place, especially if
everyone engaged in them
 Ethics is simply…
Doing the “right” thing....

5. ETHICS GONE BAD…..
 8 Officials Charged in Bell, California Scandal
Prosecutors are charging former City Manager Robert Rizzo
and seven others with corruption and fraud tied to their
lavish salaries. – CBS NEWS, September 2010 –
 Irwindale city officials charged with misappropriating public
funds
Four [members of the City Council] have been charged with
misappropriation of public funds after they allegedly
attended Broadway shows and baseball games during trips
to New York to get a better bond rating for the city, a
spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District
Attorney's office said. – San Grabiel Valley Tribune, October
2010
 Mark Sanford's Emails Detail His Argentine Affair
Mark Sanford coyly sang the praises of his mistress's body
and agonized over their "hopelessly impossible situation of
love" in emails to the woman that emerged today, just hours
after the teary-eyed South Carolina governor admitted that
he had an affair. – ABC News, June 2009

6. ETHICS GONE BAD…..
 Blagojevich Arrested
Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris,
were arrested Tuesday for what U.S. Atty. Patrick
Fitzgerald called a "political corruption crime spree" that
included attempts to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by
President-elect Barack Obama. – Chicago Tribune,
December 2008
 Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleads guilty to felonies,
resigns – LA Times, September 2008
 Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring
Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who gained national prominence
relentlessly pursuing Wall Street wrongdoing, has been
caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-
priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month,
according to a law enforcement official and a person briefed
on the investigation. – New York Times, March 2008

7. UNDERLYING COMPONENTS OF
PUBLIC SERVICE ETHICS
 Elected Officials Hold the Power of the Collective
 The actions of elected officials and staff must serve the
best interests of the community, not narrower personnel
or political interests.
 Elected Officials are Stewards of the Public Trust
 Elected officials and staff are stewards of the public’s
trust and confidence, and must avoid not just
improprieties, but perceptions of improprieties.

8. THE TWO DIMENSIONS OF PUBLIC SERVICE
ETHICS
 Ethics Laws - what we must do
And
 Ethics - what we should do

9. PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS LAWS
 Three Principles of Ethics Laws
 Personal financial gain cannot appear to influence
decisions
 Personal advantages and perks relating to office are
illegal.
 Fairness, impartiality, and open government are
essential.
 Article III. Chapter 2-61: Officers and Employees
 Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.
 Employees be independent, impartial and responsible
 Public office not be used for personal gain
 Public have confidence in the integrity of its government.

10. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHICS LAWS AND
ETHICS
 Compliance challenges with ethics laws
 Complexity or breath of the law
 Ambiguity of the law
 Overcoming tendencies to discount the importance of
the law
 Ethics laws are often just the starting point for most
ethical analysis
 Teaching the law versus creating internal alarms
 The law is the floor, not the ceiling
 Just because it’s legal, does not mean it is ethical

11. ETHICAL VALUES
 Ethics is based on fundamental values that we all
share regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or
background.
 Trustworthiness
 Loyalty
 Responsibility
 Respect
 Fairness
 Compassion

12. ETHICAL DILEMMAS
 Personal Cost
 Doing the right thing will or may come to significant
personal cost.
 Right vs. Ethically Right
 There are two conflicting sets of “rights” values.

13. SORTING THROUGH DILEMMAS
Level I: First Three Questions
 Is this a right-versus-wrong situation?
 Ethics involves doing the right thing
 Is this a situation where one course of action
arguably conflicts with your legal obligations?
 Do what the law requires
 Remember, the law is only the minimum standard
 Would you be embarrassed to read about your
action in your local newspaper?

14. SORTING THROUGH DILEMMAS
Level II: Additional Helpful Questions
 Which course of action will most build/preserve the
general public’s confidence in your agency and your
personal leadership?
 Which course of action is most consistent with your
agency’s ethics code?
 Which decision would your mother be most proud of you
for making?
 Which decision would you prefer other people in you
situation to make? What should be common place?
 Is one decision more consistent with the Golden Rule?
 Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
 Are there stakeholders or other members of the public
who should be invited to be part of the decision making
process?

15. SORTING THROUGH DILEMMAS
Level III: For More Complex Situations
 Which ethical values are in conflict (honesty,
compassion, loyalty, responsibility, fairness,
respect)?
 Difficult situations often involve competing sets of “right”
values.
 What are the facts? What are the benefits to be
achieved or the harm to be avoided by a particular
decision?
 What are your options? Is one course of action
most consistent with both sets of values? Is one
course of action more consistent with a value that is
particularly important to you?

16. GOT ETHICS?
 Lead by example
 Promote a culture of ethics
 Do the right thing…..
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes
to ruin it.”
- Warren Buffett