In this political season, where “Left and Right” have never been so far apart from one another, we must sometimes allow that good things can come from unexpected places and not everyone is “the enemy.” So when you think of governmental ethics – is it time for the goverment to police itself for ethics violations?
The new Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is going after sexual predators in his own department. He has sent a letter on what he expects as proper ethical behavior to the 70,000 employees under his “command.” The letter was prompted after a “senior law enforcement official” with the Department of the Interior was accused of multiple accounts of sexual harassment. The official was accused of touching, hugging, text-messaging and flirting with six women, and of discussing “inappropriate” subjects.
The women filing the complaints mostly work on a direct basis with the official. The agency is reviewing the case, but already other Republican lawmakers are demanding prompt action. Governmental ethics in action apparently.
“This person should be fired and should have been some time ago,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). “This is a new administration. If you want to send the right message, show zero tolerance and fire these people. It’s inexcusable.” Perhaps governmental ethics now has some legs to stand on – or does it?
Naturally, Excuses
The person who is accused of inappropriate behavior at first denied the harassment, but when confronted he did admit to inappropriate behavior. The fact that six women stepped forward kind of traps him in his behavior. It was not only the inappropriate touching, but in the things he would say. He said some pretty stupid things – and weird things too.
It is hardly an isolated incident. There have been numerous sexual harassment cases brought against National Park Service personnel. It obviously did not start with the Trump administration. The Obama administration – and before, heard complaints of this unethical nature. In typical government fashion, the Obama administration started a survey. I am not critiquing the former president, I am critiquing an unethical pattern being met by bureaucracy rather than ethical training. Governmental ethics just like medical ethics and accounting ethics can be trained!
The person who is accused of the harassment was already counseled in regard to his actions to another employee. One wonders what the hold-up on taking action toward this employee might be!
Both Republicans and Democrats have been calling for stronger penalties for federal employees for unethical behavior.
Lawmakers for both parties have pressed for stronger action against such misconduct by federal employees. The progress has been at a snail’s pace. Harsh action is needed to hold federal employees accountable, just as if these employees were in the private sector. Although it seems that policing governmental ethics is no easier than policing ethics in the private sector.
The culture of unethical behavior in government, and in this case the Department of the Interior, may have come about because of the lethargy of government and frankly, an inability to hire and train people who understand what harassment means. Government can be frightfully behind the times because the bureaucracy is so dense. Paperwork and surveys become more important than the people who are the recipients of unethical behavior.
As the Trump administration is so new, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke does not yet have multiple levels of supervisors in place under his management. This becomes the perfect time for him to review the case and take swift action. If the new administration wants to make the difference they claim they want to make, let Zinke review the case as soon as possible and terminate the employee.
Ethics failures in government are not new. It is not a matter of partisan politics, but of our demanding – as citizens – the kind of people we expect our leaders to hire. No matter who is being harassed, or who is doing the harassment, we have a right to demand high ethical standards. Governmental ethics need to be enforced!
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