Coral Gables Government Needs a New Code and Culture of Ethics

Strengthening ethical standards in Coral Gables is a prime need of a new commission.  There has been a total lack of interest in transparency and too much of a tolerance of unethical behavior and indifference to community participation.  What passes as transparency is a weak system of one way communication with the community.

“There is an atmosphere that is a pressure-bubble building,” said Roy Rogers, CEO of Lighthouse Point and chairman of the commssion. Across the state, there “is a need as expressed by the community to do better ethically.”

He warned that amid the ethics scandals in local communities, many local governments have  been “coming up with their own interpretation of how ethics shold be dealt with” and absent a strong state standard that “haphazard” approach to ethics reform could have a unintended result: repressing people with “the right stuff” to seek public office.

via Ethics Commission tells legislators ‘do better ethically’ | Florida politics blog: The Buzz | tampabay.com & St. Petersburg Times.