Column

County ethics hotline invites fishy behavior

By JEFF WEBB, Editor of Editorials
Published August 22, 2007

It is news to no one that more and more people don't trust the government. But now government is giving its employees a reason not to trust each other.

In a decision that might be called "government gone snitchy," to bastardize a phrase that is getting a lot of ink these days, Hernando County officials have quietly implemented a so-called Ethics Hotline. The intent is to identify waste, fraud and abuse in government by urging callers or e-mailers to report - anonymously - any dishonest deeds, corrupt conduct or gratuitous goofing-off.

My condemnation of this program lies in its anonymity. All the accusations, or suggestions, or complaints, or whatever else one might choose to call an allegation that requires no accountability or evidence, will be public records. Anybody - your spouse, your boss, your rival, a shyster attorney, a politician or a nosy newspaper reporter - can demand to see the text from the calls or e-mails, even before the allegations have been reviewed or investigated. Responsible people will handle that information responsibly. But the irresponsible ones who have an agenda won't give a hoot who gets hurt, which could undermine legitimate investigations or damage reputations.

There might be some good that will come out of this. Maybe someone will reveal that vendors are buying lobster dinners for county employees or that our tax dollars are being used to buy $1,000 drill bits that can only be used to put holes in $10,000 machines by employees who make $100,000 a year.

But I doubt it.

Instead, I predict this tattlephone line will be jammed with accusations about the guy who got promoted because he invited the boss to his daughter's wedding. Or about the woman who got a 2 percent merit raise instead of just 1 percent because she wears her clothes too tight. Or about the wasted electricity that comes from having the thermostat set too low in the office. Or the co-worker who takes 20 minutes every morning to read the paper and sip a cup of coffee.

And that sort of inane finger-pointing might be a relief compared to the personal, malicious attacks that could ensue. The tipsters could be much more personal and malicious, stooping to gossip about who might be sleeping around, whose work might be suffering because they are ill, or who might have received a pornographic e-mail.

This system leaves a lot of - no, make that all - the power in the hands of the three people who are members of the so-called response team. They are audit services manager Peggy Prentice, Sheriff Richard Nugent and County Administrator Gary Kuhl. They alone will decide which calls require further investigation and which ones should be ignored. A safeguard is built into this system; if any complaint involves one of those three, it will be hidden from them and decided by the other two.

Clerk of the Court Karen Nicolai said Tuesday that the hotline is a one-year trial program and it will cost $3,500 for an outside company to transcribe and compile the complaints. That amount does not include the amount of time the auditing staff or other county employees will spend investigating the tips.

Some will argue all this will be worth it if just one or two instances of significant government waste, or possibly even criminal activity, are uncovered. If those exist, then count me among those who would love to see it revealed and the guilty parties punished.

But I don't think the tradeoff of trust, privacy and resources will be worth it. This hotline fosters a "gotcha" mentality that may do more harm than it does to help.

Jeff Webb can be reached, anonymously or otherwise, at (352) 754-6123, or webb@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 22, 2007, 00:52:55]