Local Government Academy

Published March 20, 2006

Better have ethics policy to attract new business

By Edward Charbonneau
Post-Tribune guest columnist

We have entered that time of year when candidates for office, as well as incumbents hoping to remain in office, ask the voters of Northwest Indiana to trust them.

How do we trust anyone? How do we know with any certainty that someone we vote for can be trusted? How do we know one person will be any better or worse than the next?

There is no way we can know for sure.

So what do we do? Watch their actions after the election and demand a lot from elected officials. Our system fails when the public is disengaged.

In a study several years ago in Northwest Indiana, it was reported that citizens didn’t trust their elected officials and that elected officials didn’t even trust one another. NWI isn’t alone, however, as that answer seems to be fairly universal. Poll after poll has detailed the fact that the average citizen just doesn’t hold public officials in very high esteem when it comes to trust.

For that reason alone, you might think all elected officials would welcome the chance to show they are different and they, unlike the masses, are trustworthy.

More and more, the public’s attention is being directed to the importance of having a well-run, efficient and ethical government. It has been long established that there is a direct connection between good government and economic development. This translates to job creation and an improved quality of life.

Understanding all of this makes it difficult to comprehend why some elected officials do the things they do.

I have met the mayor of Lake Station several times and have always found her to be a very pleasant person. That is why I found it disconcerting when I learned she had stated publicly in a City Council meeting that she was not in favor of an ethics policy in Lake Station. That statement alone could give an outsider considering investing in an economic development project in the city reason to pause.

I’m betting someone willing to drop a sizable amount of money into a project in Lake Station might look for something more than a proclamation by the mayor that her city doesn’t need an ethics ordinance, although she can be trusted.

So how does this help the public’s perception of Lake Station? Why would the chief administrator of any community want to go on record having made such a statement? I don’t know; maybe the mayor just received some poor advice.

What makes it all the more puzzling, however, is the fact that a little over two years ago, the mayor was supportive and, in fact, signed the original ethics ordinance passed by the Lake Station City Council in January 2004.

The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority has developed an application for financial support. Any entity seeking funding from the RDA will be required to complete the form. The last item on the application is a request for the applicant to attach a copy of the ethics guidelines to which the applicant adheres.

I don’t know if Lake Station would ever consider seeking funding from the RDA for an economic development project. If it does, one can only imagine the reaction when the mayor goes before the commissioners and responds that although Lake Station doesn’t really adhere to a set of ethics guidelines, they can trust her.

That won’t fly, trust me.

Edward Charbonneau is executive director of the Northwest Indiana Local Government Academy. Contact him at .