In light of the recent public corruption scandals, how does Cincinnati move forward and how do we restore trust in local government? Many have offered suggestions including: changes to our charter, campaign finance laws, or ethics rules. Laws are already in place, and if people are so inclined, they will figure out ways around the spirit of the rules. I wish that there was a simple answer. Unfortunately, we aren’t Harry Potter, and we can’t wave a magic wand and eliminate public corruption.
The council-city manager form of government that Cincinnati pioneered in the 1920s came about because of public corruption in Cincinnati’s governance back then. No form of government is perfect, but in my opinion, the council-city manager model remains the best way to run a city. No form of government is a magic bullet. All forms of government are imperfect and rely on the people to prevent corruption and undo influence.
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In one of the Harry Potter books, in order to fight against the Dark Lord Voldemort, the students are taught by purported Professor Alistair "Mad Eye" Moody that "eternal vigilance" is the best defense against evil. Moody’s lesson is just as important to us in the real world as it was to the fictional students of Hogwarts.
We can put additional rules in place to keep public officials in line. We can pass additional laws that clarify the parameters of political fundraising. We can hold elected officials to the highest standards by exercising our right and obligation to vote. None of these solutions will solve the problem. The recent public corruption cases demonstrate that there is a consciousness of wrongdoing, even if the actors believe that their fundraising activities are legal. If people didn’t think they were doing something wrong, why work so hard to hide these political contributions?
Cincinnati has a campaign finance contribution limitation of $1,100 per person and corporations are forbidden from making any contributions. The theory behind this limitation is that allowing additional contributions beyond this amount would allow the contributor to have too great of an influence on the council person or mayor. Candidates skirted this limitation by having contributors set up numerous limited liability companies.
LLCs are not expressly forbidden to contribute, even though LLCs are functionally equivalent to corporations, and each LLC was allowed to contribute an additional $1,100. Cincinnati changed its charter to eliminate this loophole. Unfortunately, this change did not eliminate the problem but just drove it deeper underground.
Skirting campaign finance laws may or may not violate the letter of the campaign finance law, but such activities violate its spirit. We can continue to make more rules, but a determined public official will either violate or avoid the rules and the city will be constantly fighting the same battle.
Our city’s charter, even though written a century ago, provides most of the guidance we need to restore Cincinnati to its position as a city to be emulated in governing. The charter describes the roles that the City Council, the mayor, the city manager, the city solicitor, and the rest of the city administration should play in conducting city business. Educating everyone on those appropriate roles is a first step.
Keeping a balance in those roles, so that no one branch has too much power, is an important second step.
The third and most important step is making sure that each part of our government is staying within their appropriate role, and is the responsibility of everyone (law enforcement, the media, people conducting business with the city, and all of the Cincinnati community.) Mad Eye Moody‘s advice of eternal vigilance is the best way to fight public corruption. Everyone needs to pay attention to what our elected officials are doing.
People have to care about the actions our elected officials take concerning incentives to development in the city, as well as spending your tax dollars, not just when there is a scandal, but all the time. If people care enough to keep an eye on the actions of public officials, it becomes harder for those public officials to take actions that are in in their self-interest rather than in the interest of the public good.
Rebalancing the roles each part of city government plays and a little effort from everyone to do the right thing (and calling out inappropriate actions) will help restore Cincinnati as the beacon of good government it once was. We don’t need a magic wand for that.
Kevin Flynn lives in Mount Airy and is a former Cincinnati councilman.
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