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Editor, The News-Gazette: On Thursday, City Council will consider a request from Councilor/Washington and Lee University spouse Leslie Straughan, which would narrow the city’s code of ethics, adopted in 2015. She would eliminate use of the phrase “appearance of a conflict of interest,” which is fundamental to the concept of ethics and public trust, as well as the language “in which they have a material interest.” Her request no doubt stems from the need for recusals during the Council vote that affected W&L’s master plan last spring.
Straughan’s argument for limiting interpretation of the word “conflict” to, presumably, the city attorney in office at the time, may be summarized as follows: she believes that concern for appearances is “overly broad,” that several terms used in our code are not specific to the state code (ignoring the role of case law), that the three categories excepted by the state code should swallow the rule, that the city has not always followed its code anyway, and that it is in the public interest to have all councilors voting because that way “better outcomes are achieved.” She worries that the public perception of a conflict “could be used to disqualify ... in nearly any situation.” Overly broad indeed.
The current city code of ethics asks for compliance with both the spirit and the letter of the law, and makes it quite clear that “stewardship of the public interest is of primary concern.” The current Virginia state Code 2.2-3100 cites maintenance of “highest trust” and uniformity of conflicts policy throughout the state, “liberally construed” to that purpose. The exceptions to 2.2-3112, however they may be rationalized to grant W&L free reins, do not permit a plausibly conflicted councilor to vote.
Ironically, this request only further erodes fragile public trust. Please do not fall for it. MOLLY McCLUER Lexington
