In Ethics, Appearances are Important

On May 7, 2008, the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission charged Seattle City Councilmember Richard McIver with violating the City’s conflict of interest laws. McIver awarded a $37,000 consultant contract to Griffin Hill & Associates, the same firm that a good friend of his, Joann Francis, works for. For at least a decade, McIver has been a guest of Francis and her husband at their Virgin Islands condominium, including in December 2006. The $37,000 contract that was subsequently amended to $42,000 was awarded shortly after McIver’s 2006 stay at the Francis’ condominium.

Whether McIver actually violated the City’s ethics laws will be determined based on facts. The critical thing to take away from this situation is that, regardless of the facts in McIver’s case, elected officials and contracting and procurement officials, in particular, have an obligation to ensure that their actions do not create even the appearance of a conflict of interest. As stewards of the public’s trust and confidence, it is important to think twice about actions that may appear to a reasonable person as creating a potential conflict of interest.

More information about the charges against McIver may be found in the Seattle Times and on the website of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.

Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) 4.16.070.1. that was cited in the charges against McIver provides that “No current City officer or employee shall…engage or have engaged in any transaction or activity, which is, or would to a reasonable person appear to be, in conflict with or incompatible with the proper discharge of official duties, or which impairs, or would to a reasonable person appear to impair, the officer's or employee's independence of judgment or action in the performance of official duties and fail to disqualify him or herself from official action in those instances where the conflict occurs.”