The implementation of a code of ethics at the City of Santa Clarita sounds like a no-brainer to put in place. In some sense it would actually just be expanding what is currently listed under the City of Santa Clarita Philosophy.

Under the City’s philosophy there is a claim of “We Value Ethics” in which there are two statements listed; 1) “We value the soundest basis for judging the rightness of an action is a test of its morality, legality, and its effect on human rights.” and 2) “We treat our fellow employees and community members fairly and equally, without prejudice and bias.”

Right off the bat I have a problem with “judging the rightness of an action is a test of its morality, legality” because there are glaring examples of a broken moral compass by some in the City. Please do not construe that as a blanket statement about everyone who works at or is an elected official of the City. That is not the case; there are many good people working in the City of Santa Clarita who are honorable and do behave ethically.

But there are a few rotten apples in the bunch which cast a pall over the entire preverbal barrel. There are some that are knowingly engaging in behavior that does not pass the morality test; does not fall into the area of ethical conduct. These are the individuals, for whatever reason, that are creating a hostile atmosphere of mistrust within the Santa Clarita Valley.

As an example of this of this mistrust and apparent questionable ethics is the following email, copies of which were handed out at a community ethics meeting, that was sent out to a couple that had written to City of Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean:                                                                                                                                     

Sent Friday, July 27, 2007 

Subject: Re: Alleged Collusion

Dear Mr. & Ms. XXXXX,

I would like to clarify a miscommunication that occurred recently. An email response was sent to you from Mayor McLean in response to a Hospital question/ concern. Your original email was sent to staff for a response and then mistakenly sent out from the Mayor’s email. The Mayor did not have the opportunity to review and/ or approve the response. The response reflected a technical perspective from staff and certainly did not mean to imply a decision on the Hospital has been made. The Hospital issue remains an open issue for the City Council’s review.

The continued public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday August 28, 2007 at City Hall. Once again I apologize for the mistake and ask that you forward this clarification to others it may have been forwarded to.

Sincerely,                                                                                                                                                        Ken Pulskamp

City Manager

Certainly I can understand if a City staff member was asked to draft a response to the email query. That is something that is rather common in the business world; a staffer or public relations person will draft a response for an executive or official and then give it to that person to review. It is the individual executive or official who will then review, edit or modify before sending it out.But one has to ask why emails are being sent out from the Mayor’s email account without her knowledge. Who sent out that email? Someone at the City has access, the ability to log on, to the Mayor’s email account with the capability to send emails without her approval! Is that appropriate? Is that ethical?  Is simply apologizing when this transgression is uncovered enough to correct the matter?

I have to wonder now just how many emails coming from City employees are being sent by the actual individuals. This coupled with other ethically challenged behaviors have increasingly raised eyebrows around town. It is no surprise that some City residents are calling for a Code of Ethics.

Just look at the last City Council meeting in which Councilman Frank Ferry accused a resident, Bruce McFarland, of “politicizing” the ethics issue and went on to say that Mr. McFarland’s only reason for wanting a Code of Ethics is to get Democrats elected. Mr. Ferry then stated that he would be more than happy to look at the suggestion after the next city council election. Those responses spoke volumes about the state of ethics in the City of Santa Clarita.

Rather than getting red-faced and screaming about the motives behind calling for a code of ethics, how about embracing the idea? It would be very low cost to implement. There are plenty of City residents, from both party affiliations, to form a volunteer committee to formulate an acceptable code of ethics. If the various City Council members stepped back for a moment and thought before they spoke, a code of ethics could be in place by this time next year.

Instead, the valley gets to witness more poor behavior by some City officials and staff. This is conduct that continues to reinforce the continued mistrust that many have towards the City of Santa Clarita and some of its officials and management who do not treat “community members fairly and equally, without prejudice and bias.”

Dave Bossert                                                                                                                                      Commentary

Dave Bossert is a community volunteer who serves on a number of boards and councils. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.