It Is Time For Mayor To Reinstate Ethics Hearing Board
Joe Weinroth, 2005 Republican candidate for Mayor, wrote the following op-ed piece concerning Pittsburgh's Ethics Hearing Board, which was shelved years ago. The City GOP has been asking for this hearing board to be reinstated for years; however, in recent weeks it has been reported that once city council member, Twanda Carlisle, has given nearly $60,000 of taxpayer dollars to one friend and to her mother's live-in love.
Below is Joe's editorial:
Day after day, year after year we read about or hear about another abuse of power, breach of fiduciary duty, malfeasance in office, self-serving political deal or outright criminal investigation aimed at or involving one of our local elected officials. There are several ways to end such abuses but one helpful tool is already available and required by the Pittsburgh Code. Our Mayor and City Council must merely appoint and approve five impartial community members to sit on the Ethics Hearing Board.
Former Mayor Tom Murphy has been under investigation for some time now in connection with the 2001 pre-primary contract with the Fire Fighters Union. We have two current members of City Council who have literally fled local television reporters on camera in order to avoid answering questions that we as taxpayers have a right to have answered. Councilman Jim Motznik and now Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle have behaved like common criminals running from reporters and hiding their faces on camera to avoid answering some difficult questions.
The City Solicitor is currently investigating the most recent of these shameful and quite possibly illegal schemes. Whatever the outcome of the legal review, these City Council members have a higher standard to meet. They represent us. They are the face of our City and they have disgraced themselves as well as every resident of Pittsburgh. This type of behavior needs to stop now and those elected officials with character must step up now and begin to enforce these higher standards. We all deserve better from our elected leaders.
On January 16, 2006 the Pittsburgh Republican Party sent a congratulatory letter to our newly inaugurated Mayor offering our help to get Pittsburgh “back on the right track”. In that letter we also formally requested that Mayor O’Connor comply with Article XI, section 197 of the Pittsburgh Code and reinstate the required City of Pittsburgh Ethics Hearing Board. The Ethics Hearing Board must consist of five members appointed by both the Mayor and City Council.
In light of these recent events, we are reiterating our request to have a fully functional Ethics Hearing Board in place to deal with elected officials who stray off course, either legally or ethically. These appointments are unpaid positions so there are no budgetary issues involved here. It is important to appoint men and women with the utmost reputations for character and from all political parties to fill these positions.
The power of incumbency is great and the voters of Pittsburgh have been, and probably will continue to be, much too forgiving when it comes to re-electing those who have let us down in the past. An independent Ethics Hearing Board will go a long way toward keeping our elected officials focused on true public service rather than self-service.
Joe Weinroth, Esquire, 2005 Republican mayoral candidate
Vice-Chairman, Republican Party of Pittsburgh
Below is Joe's editorial:
Day after day, year after year we read about or hear about another abuse of power, breach of fiduciary duty, malfeasance in office, self-serving political deal or outright criminal investigation aimed at or involving one of our local elected officials. There are several ways to end such abuses but one helpful tool is already available and required by the Pittsburgh Code. Our Mayor and City Council must merely appoint and approve five impartial community members to sit on the Ethics Hearing Board.
Former Mayor Tom Murphy has been under investigation for some time now in connection with the 2001 pre-primary contract with the Fire Fighters Union. We have two current members of City Council who have literally fled local television reporters on camera in order to avoid answering questions that we as taxpayers have a right to have answered. Councilman Jim Motznik and now Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle have behaved like common criminals running from reporters and hiding their faces on camera to avoid answering some difficult questions.
The City Solicitor is currently investigating the most recent of these shameful and quite possibly illegal schemes. Whatever the outcome of the legal review, these City Council members have a higher standard to meet. They represent us. They are the face of our City and they have disgraced themselves as well as every resident of Pittsburgh. This type of behavior needs to stop now and those elected officials with character must step up now and begin to enforce these higher standards. We all deserve better from our elected leaders.
On January 16, 2006 the Pittsburgh Republican Party sent a congratulatory letter to our newly inaugurated Mayor offering our help to get Pittsburgh “back on the right track”. In that letter we also formally requested that Mayor O’Connor comply with Article XI, section 197 of the Pittsburgh Code and reinstate the required City of Pittsburgh Ethics Hearing Board. The Ethics Hearing Board must consist of five members appointed by both the Mayor and City Council.
In light of these recent events, we are reiterating our request to have a fully functional Ethics Hearing Board in place to deal with elected officials who stray off course, either legally or ethically. These appointments are unpaid positions so there are no budgetary issues involved here. It is important to appoint men and women with the utmost reputations for character and from all political parties to fill these positions.
The power of incumbency is great and the voters of Pittsburgh have been, and probably will continue to be, much too forgiving when it comes to re-electing those who have let us down in the past. An independent Ethics Hearing Board will go a long way toward keeping our elected officials focused on true public service rather than self-service.
Joe Weinroth, Esquire, 2005 Republican mayoral candidate
Vice-Chairman, Republican Party of Pittsburgh
posted by Thomas Leturgey at 5:10 AM
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